Overview
- Provides the first detailed, balanced, and scientifically informed study of Heisenberg's notorious Weltformel
- Allows readers to form their own opinions
- A detailed study of the rise and fall of an approach to finding a final theory of physics
- Gives insights into the current search for quantum gravity
Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in History of Science and Technology (BRIEFSHIST)
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Table of contents (5 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Keywords
- History of Physics
- Philosophy of Physics
- Particle and Quantum Physics
- Weltformel Heisenberg
- Theory of Everything
- Post-Empirical Physics
- Non-Empirical Theory Assessment
- History of Quantum Field Theory
- Heisenberg and Pauli
- German Physics after World War II
- Failure in Science
- Non-linear spinor theory
- World Formula
- Unified Field Theory
About this book
This book presents the first detailed account of Werner Heisenberg’s failed attempt to find a theory of everything in the autumn of his career. It further investigates what we can learn from his failure in relation to the search for a final theory of physics, an endeavour that continues to define research in fundamental physics to this day. Thereby it provides the first historically informed contribution to the current debate on post-empirical physics and the state of particle physics.
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Alexander S. Blum received a PhD in theoretical particle physics from the University of Heidelberg in 2009. He then moved to the history of science, joining the Max Planck Institute in Berlin in 2010. In 2018 he started his own Max Planck Research Group, entitled "Historical Epistemology of the Final Theory Program."
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Heisenberg’s 1958 Weltformel and the Roots of Post-Empirical Physics
Authors: Alexander S. Blum
Series Title: SpringerBriefs in History of Science and Technology
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20645-1
Publisher: Springer Cham
eBook Packages: Physics and Astronomy, Physics and Astronomy (R0)
Copyright Information: The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-20644-4Published: 23 May 2019
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-20645-1Published: 14 May 2019
Series ISSN: 2211-4564
Series E-ISSN: 2211-4572
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: VII, 66
Number of Illustrations: 5 b/w illustrations
Topics: History and Philosophical Foundations of Physics, Philosophy of Science, Elementary Particles, Quantum Field Theory, Theoretical, Mathematical and Computational Physics