Are Quanta Real?: A Galilean Dialogue (A Midland Book)

"... thought-provoking and delightful. I believe that anyone interested in nature's deepest secrets would find great stimulation in this charmingly written little gem of a book." -- Douglas Hofstadter"... unusual, delightful, nonmathematical book... The reader is left in enjoyment and admiration." -- Scientific American"This is a wonderful book... " -- American Journal of Physics"... this imaginative work... elucidates the contrast between the classical, deterministic notions that seem inbred and the strange behavior of the microscopic quantum world.... by resurrecting Galileo's three questing friends, Jauch is able to pose questions a student would like to ask but too often is inhibited from doing so." -- The Key ReporterAn authority on both quantum mechanics and the work of Galileo, J. M. Jauch wrote this charming discourse in imitation of Galileo's celebrated dialogue "Two Major Systems of the World." The dialogue form is amusing as well as rewarding and appeals to the student of quantum mechanics, the philosopher or historian of science, and the lay person. "The central question at the Solvay Congress in 1927 was: Is quantum mechanics a "complete theory," or is the statistical character of its predictions merely the reflection of our ignorance of an underlying causal infrastructure? Today, after forty years of unchecked success of quantum mechanics on every front of physical science, the question still occupies the minds of many thoughtful students of quantum mechanics ... With a few exceptions destined for the specialist, all of this dialogue can be read and understood by anybody with sufficient interest in the epistemology of modern science. Many of the passages used are more or less faithful reproductions of actual conversations or statements from correspondence and published material."--The Introduction.