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The fascinating story of how quantum mechanics went mainstream.
The discovery of the quantum - the idea, born in the early 1900s in a remote corner of physics, that energy comes in finite packets instead of infinitely divisible quantities - planted a rich set of metaphors in the popular imagination.
Quantum imagery and language now bombard us like an endless stream of photons. Phrases such as multiverse, quantum leap, alternate universe, the uncertainty principle, and Schrodinger's cat get reinvented continually in cartoons and movies, coffee mugs and T-shirts, and fiction and philosophy - phrases reinterpreted by each new generation of artists and writers.
Is a quantum leap big or small? How uncertain is the uncertainty principle? Is this barrage of quantum vocabulary pretentious and wacky or a fundamental shift in the way we think?
All of the above, say Robert P. Crease and Alfred Scharff Goldhaber in this groundbreaking book. The authors - one a philosopher, the other a physicist - draw on their training and six years of co-teaching to dramatize the quantum's rocky path from scientific theory to public understanding. Together, they and their students explored missteps, mistranslations, jokes, and gibberish in public discussions of the quantum. Their book - The Quantum Moment - explores the quantum's manifestations in everything from art and sculpture to the prose of John Updike and David Foster Wallace. The authors reveal the quantum's implications for knowledge, metaphor, intellectual exchange, and the contemporary world. Understanding and appreciating quantum language and imagery, and recognizing its misuse, is part of what it means to be an educated person today.
The result is a celebration of language at the interface of physics and culture, perfect for anyone drawn to the infinite variety of ideas.
The fascinating story of how quantum mechanics went mainstream.
The discovery of the quantum - the idea, born in the early 1900s in a remote corner of physics, that energy comes in finite packets instead of infinitely divisible quantities - planted a rich set of metaphors in the popular imagination.
Quantum imagery and language now bombard us like an endless stream of photons. Phrases such as multiverse, quantum leap, alternate universe, the uncertainty principle, and Schrodinger's cat get reinvented continually in cartoons and movies, coffee mugs and T-shirts, and fiction and philosophy - phrases reinterpreted by each new generation of artists and writers.
Is a quantum leap big or small? How uncertain is the uncertainty principle? Is this barrage of quantum vocabulary pretentious and wacky or a fundamental shift in the way we think?
All of the above, say Robert P. Crease and Alfred Scharff Goldhaber in this groundbreaking book. The authors - one a philosopher, the other a physicist - draw on their training and six years of co-teaching to dramatize the quantum's rocky path from scientific theory to public understanding. Together, they and their students explored missteps, mistranslations, jokes, and gibberish in public discussions of the quantum. Their book - The Quantum Moment - explores the quantum's manifestations in everything from art and sculpture to the prose of John Updike and David Foster Wallace. The authors reveal the quantum's implications for knowledge, metaphor, intellectual exchange, and the contemporary world. Understanding and appreciating quantum language and imagery, and recognizing its misuse, is part of what it means to be an educated person today.
The result is a celebration of language at the interface of physics and culture, perfect for anyone drawn to the infinite variety of ideas.
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About the Author:
Robert P. Crease is a professor and chairman of the Department of Philosophy at Stony Brook University, New York. He is the organizer of the Trust Institute at Stony Brook, which presents interdisciplinary programs about contemporary issues. His articles and reviews have appeared in the Atlantic Monthly, the New York Times Magazine, the Wall Street Journal, Newsday, and elsewhere. He writes a monthly column, ''Critical Point,'' on the social dimensions of science for Physics World magazine. His books include The Great Equations and World in the Balance, among others. He lives in New York City with his family.
Alfred Scharff Goldhaber is a professor of physics at Stony Brook University.
Review:
Alfred Scharff Goldhaber is a professor of physics at Stony Brook University.
“Rich and entertaining... [The Quantum Moment] is an introduction to the brave new world we inhabit.”
- Amir Alexander, New York Times
“A fascinating tour of the lives and afterlives of some of the most captivating concepts of quantum theory.”
- David Kaiser, author of How the Hippies Saved Physics
“A delight! A tour de force that is both illuminating and extraordinarily readable.”
- Gino Segre, author of Ordinary Geniuses: How Two Mavericks Shaped Modern Science
“This is an amazing book for scientists and humanists alike! Every page yields surprises―not only about the complex history of quantum physics but about how it impacts our understanding of ourselves in daily life. Required reading for anyone concerned with casting the fate of humankind in a radically new light.”
- Edward S. Casey, author of The World at a Glance
“Reading The Quantum Moment is a very fun way to learn about where quantum physics comes from and the strange, even astonishing places it has gone with or without the physicists for whom it is the language of their craft.”
- Peter Galison, author of Einstein’s Clocks, Poincare’s Maps, professor of science and physics, Harvard University
“Fascinating... Crease and Goldhaber have written an accessible and entertaining history that embraces both the science and the silliness of quantum mechanics.”
- Publishers Weekly
“An entertaining read.”
- Jim Baggott, Nature
“Approachable... the authors are at their most entertaining when they expose the hollow understanding of physics that many who use its terms possess.”
- Max Ross, Los Angeles Review of Books
- Amir Alexander, New York Times
“A fascinating tour of the lives and afterlives of some of the most captivating concepts of quantum theory.”
- David Kaiser, author of How the Hippies Saved Physics
“A delight! A tour de force that is both illuminating and extraordinarily readable.”
- Gino Segre, author of Ordinary Geniuses: How Two Mavericks Shaped Modern Science
“This is an amazing book for scientists and humanists alike! Every page yields surprises―not only about the complex history of quantum physics but about how it impacts our understanding of ourselves in daily life. Required reading for anyone concerned with casting the fate of humankind in a radically new light.”
- Edward S. Casey, author of The World at a Glance
“Reading The Quantum Moment is a very fun way to learn about where quantum physics comes from and the strange, even astonishing places it has gone with or without the physicists for whom it is the language of their craft.”
- Peter Galison, author of Einstein’s Clocks, Poincare’s Maps, professor of science and physics, Harvard University
“Fascinating... Crease and Goldhaber have written an accessible and entertaining history that embraces both the science and the silliness of quantum mechanics.”
- Publishers Weekly
“An entertaining read.”
- Jim Baggott, Nature
“Approachable... the authors are at their most entertaining when they expose the hollow understanding of physics that many who use its terms possess.”
- Max Ross, Los Angeles Review of Books
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherBlackstone Audio, Inc.
- Publication date2014
- ISBN 10 1483024113
- ISBN 13 9781483024110
- BindingAudio CD
- Number of pages1
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