The Infamous Boundary

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xii

   PDF

2. Prologue I Atoms

   • David Wick

   Pages 1-5

3. Prologue II Quanta

   • David Wick

   Pages 7-13

4. Revolution, Part I Heisensberg’s Matrices

   • David Wick

   Pages 15-22

5. Revolution, Part II Schrödinger’s Waves

   • David Wick

   Pages 23-32

6. Uncertainty

   • David Wick

   Pages 33-37

7. Complementarity

   • David Wick

   Pages 39-45

8. The Debate Begins

   • David Wick

   Pages 47-53

9. The Impossibility Theorem

   • David Wick

   Pages 55-62

10. EPR

    • David Wick

    Pages 63-68

11. The Post-War Heresies

    • David Wick

    Pages 69-81

12. Bell’s Theorem

    • David Wick

    Pages 83-90

13. Dice Games and Conspiracies

    • David Wick

    Pages 91-102

14. Testing Bell

    • David Wick

    Pages 103-113

15. Loopholes

    • David Wick

    Pages 115-121

16. The Impossible Observed

    • David Wick

    Pages 123-131

17. Paradoxes

    • David Wick

    Pages 133-151

18. Philosophies

    • David Wick

    Pages 153-166

19. Principles

    • David Wick

    Pages 167-180

20. Opinions

    • David Wick

    Pages 181-189

reprinted in the British trade journal Physics World in 1990, three separate and 5 lengthy replies from establishment physicists were printed in subsequent issues. For outsiders, especially scientists who rely on physicist's theories in their own fields, this situation is disquieting. Moreover, many recall their introduction to quantum mechanics as a startling, if not shocking, experience. A molecular biologist related how he had started in theoretical physics but, after hearing the ideology of quantum mechanics, marched straight to the Reg­ istrar's office and switched fields. A colleague recalled how her undergraduate chemistry professor religiously entertained queries from the class - until one day he began with the words: "No questions will be permitted on today's lecture." The topic, of course, was quantum mechanics. My father, an organic chemist at a Midwestern university, also had to give that dreaded annual lecture. Around age 16, I picked up a little book he used to prepare and was perplexed by the author's tone, which seemed apologetic to the point of pleading. It was my first brush with the quantum theory. 6 Eventually, I went to graduate school in physics. By then I had acquired an historical bent, which developed out of an episode in my freshman year in college. To relieve the tedium of the introductory physics course, I set out to understand Einstein's theory of relativity (the so-called Special Theory of 1905, not the later and more difficult General Theory of 1915). This went badly at first.

• mechanics
• quantum mechanics
• quantum physics
• quantum theory
• relativity
• theoretical physics
• theory of relativity

"He writes in a clear style with a touch of humor. ... I have no hesitation in recommending this book to anyone interested in history, philosophy or sociology in science" (Physics World, 1996)

"This book tells a fascinating story of seven decades of attempts to shed light upon quantum mechanics. It will be of great interest to chemists, physicists, and others wishing to learn about quantum mechanics and its philosophical and historical evolution." (The Chemical Intelligencer, 1997)

• Seattle, USA

  David Wick

Policies and ethics