The Quantum Moment

Description

Time travel, parallel worlds, random behaviour: the language and the imagery of quantum mechanics are ubiquitous, yet the science - and its journey into everyday language - still confounds us. Robert P. Crease and Alfred Scharff Goldhaber tell how a controversial idea from an obscure branch of optics grew in complexity and authority, eventually dominating the scientific community and commanding the attention of the culture at large. Recounting fiery disputes between figures including Einstein, Schrodinger and Pauli, the authors trace popular images back to their scientific roots and uncover modern manifestations in everything from architecture and sculpture to the prose of John Updike. The Quantum Moment combines an exhilarating history of the quantum with shrewd insight into our experience of the everyday.

Author description

Robert P. Crease is a professor of philosophy and Alfred Scharff Goldhaber is a professor of physics; both at Stony Brook University. Crease's books include The Great Equations (ISBN 978 0 393 33793 8) and the highly praised World in the Balance (ISBN 978 0 393 34354 0).