In Search of Schrodinger's Cat

by GRIBBIN, JOHN

• ISBN13: 9780553342536
• ISBN10: 0553342533
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 1984-08-01
• Publisher: Bantam

Summary

Quantum theory is so shocking that Einstein could not bring himself to accept it. It is so important that it provides the fundamental underpinning of all modern sciences. Without it, we'd have no nuclear power or nuclear weapons, no TV, no computers, no science of molecular biology, no understanding of DNA, no genetic engineering. In Search of Schrodinger's Cat tells the complete story of quantum mechanics, a truth stranger than any fiction. John Gribbin takes us step by step into an ever more bizarre and fascinating place, requiring only that we approach it with an open mind. He introduces the scientists who developed quantum theory. He investigates the atom, radiation, time travel, the birth of the universe, superconductors and life itself. And in a world full of its own delights, mysteries and surprises, he searches for Schrodinger's Cat - a search for quantum reality - as he brings every reader to a clear understanding of the most important area of scientific study today - quantum physics. In Search of Schrodinger's Cat is a fascinating and delightful introduction to the strange world of the quantum - an essential element in understanding today's world.

Author Biography

After completing his PhD in astrophysics at the University of Cambridge, John Gribbin worked for five years on the editorial staff of the journal Nature, chiefly responsible for the daily Science Report in the Times. He left in 1975 to join the Science Policy Research Unit of the University of Sussex, working in the "futures" team on a study of the likely impact of climatic change on world food supplies. A book about the work of SPRU-Future Worlds-was the main result of this three-year stint. Since 1978, John Gribbin has been Physics Consultant to the weekly magazine New Scientist. His books published to date range from astronomy through geophysics and climatic change to human evolution, and include two novels written jointly with Douglas Orgill. They included White Holes (1977), Timewarps (1979), Genesis: The Origins of Man and the Universe (1981) and The Monkey Puzzle (co-author with Jeremy Cherefas, 1982): the novels are The Sixth Winter (1979) and Brother Esau (1982). As well as being a consultant to New Scientist, John Gribbin contributes to the "Futures" section of the Guardian and to broadcasts on the BBC World Service, British Forces Radio, and occasionally on the BBC's domestic services. His interest in the puzzle of gravity and warped spacetime goes back to his student days in Cambridge, when he won two awards for work on these themes. Married with two sons, John Gribbin was born in 1946 and lives in Lewes.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	vii
Introduction	xv
Prologue: Nothing Is Real	1	(6)
PART ONE THE QUANTUM
Light	7	(12)
Atoms	19	(14)
Light and Atoms	33	(18)
Bohr's Atom	51	(30)
PART TWO QUANTUM MECHANICS
Photons and Electrons	81	(20)
Matrices and Waves	101	(22)
Cooking with Quanta	123	(32)
PART THREE ...AND BEYOND
Chance and Uncertainty	155	(22)
Paradoxes and Possibilities	177	(38)
The Proof of the Pudding	215	(20)
Many Worlds	235	(20)
Epilogue: Unfinished Business	255	(22)
Bibliography	277	(14)
Index	291