Scan barcode
A review by kevin_shepherd
Einstein's Dice and Schrödinger's Cat: How Two Great Minds Battled Quantum Randomness to Create a Unified Theory of Physics by Paul Halpern
4.0
“We see that while both [Albert Einstein and Erwin Schrödinger] maintained an interest in philosophy, Einstein was more inclined to favor Spinoza’s rigid view that the world’s laws were set from the beginning and might be logically deduced, while Schrödinger favored a more malleable perspective shaped by eastern beliefs in the veil of illusion in which society’s changing viewpoint molds truth.”
Having previously read Hoffman (Albert Einstein: Creator and Rebel, 1972) and Ferreira (The Perfect Theory, 2014), I felt like I had a fairly good handle on Einstein already. Erwin Schrödinger, on the other hand, was still something of an enigma. All I really knew (or thought I knew) about Schrödinger was his hypothetical cat—and even that wasn’t completely clear to me. I had no clue about the dynamics of their friendship. For example, I was totally unaware that it was Einstein who nominated Schrödinger for the Nobel Prize in 1933, even though he publicly took shots at Schrödinger’s quantum approach.
“The more success quantum theory has the sillier it looks.” ~Albert Einstein
Albert looked upon quantum mechanics, a theory he himself helped develop, as relevant but incomplete. Where Einstein saw deficiency (e.g. entanglement, indeterminacy and jumps between states) Schrödenger saw pliability and functionality. Quantum theory refuted relativity by its advocacy of random chance; relativity theory refuted quantum by its advocacy of determinism.
“It is hard to sneak a look at God’s cards. But that he would choose to play dice with the world is something I cannot believe for a single moment.” ~Albert Einstein, 1942
I enjoyed this read immensely, though I must admit that there were references (mainly mathematical) that went completely over my head. This deepened my fanboy appreciation for Einstein, and gave me a much better understanding of Schrödinger (and his cat).
__________________________________
“We have more reason to be grateful to [Albert Einstein] than to all the rabbis who have ever wailed, or who ever will.” ~Christopher Hitchens, 2007
Having previously read Hoffman (Albert Einstein: Creator and Rebel, 1972) and Ferreira (The Perfect Theory, 2014), I felt like I had a fairly good handle on Einstein already. Erwin Schrödinger, on the other hand, was still something of an enigma. All I really knew (or thought I knew) about Schrödinger was his hypothetical cat—and even that wasn’t completely clear to me. I had no clue about the dynamics of their friendship. For example, I was totally unaware that it was Einstein who nominated Schrödinger for the Nobel Prize in 1933, even though he publicly took shots at Schrödinger’s quantum approach.
“The more success quantum theory has the sillier it looks.” ~Albert Einstein
Albert looked upon quantum mechanics, a theory he himself helped develop, as relevant but incomplete. Where Einstein saw deficiency (e.g. entanglement, indeterminacy and jumps between states) Schrödenger saw pliability and functionality. Quantum theory refuted relativity by its advocacy of random chance; relativity theory refuted quantum by its advocacy of determinism.
“It is hard to sneak a look at God’s cards. But that he would choose to play dice with the world is something I cannot believe for a single moment.” ~Albert Einstein, 1942
I enjoyed this read immensely, though I must admit that there were references (mainly mathematical) that went completely over my head. This deepened my fanboy appreciation for Einstein, and gave me a much better understanding of Schrödinger (and his cat).
__________________________________
“We have more reason to be grateful to [Albert Einstein] than to all the rabbis who have ever wailed, or who ever will.” ~Christopher Hitchens, 2007