7th out of 122 books
—
19 voters
Physics and Philosophy: The Revolution in Modern Science
Nobel Prize winner Werner Heisenberg's classic account explains the central ideas of the quantum revolution, and his celebrated Uncertainty Principle. The theme of Heisenberg's exposition is that words and concepts familiar in daily life can lose their meaning in the world of relativity and quantum physics. This in turn has profound philosophical implications for the natur...more
Paperback, 176 pages
Published
August 3rd 2000
by Penguin Classics
(first published 1958)
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Heisenberg's historical account of the progression of thought in both physics and philosophy operates, at least in my eyes, as a means to illustrate his understanding of what exactly science is. The information presented in reference to the historical developments in both science (of course most notably physics, given the topic of the text) and philosophy tended towards that of an introductory text. Though for me this added a repetitive nature to some of the essays, it allows the text to be more...more
Here is Heisenberg's main account of the development of the quantum revolution and its, in some sense, standard interpretation (which he built in the Copenhagen infatuation). He presents the implications and the connections of the advent of quantum mechanics, and to a lesser extent of relativity theory, to modern thought and society. He is almost obsessed with the observation, which dates to Bohr in fact, that common language as we are endowed by daily experience is no suitable to describe unamb...more
ok. it's a great book. I'm giving three stars based on my personal experience with this book-- I do not fully understand his composition of this book. I have to ignore many passages to have a holistic impression of what he's arguing about.
Based on what I understand, I would give this book another name: "Language and Dispute: the evolution of human knowledge". I would say it's more about language and reality rather than physics and philosophy. The most charming part of this book to me, is his ana...more
Based on what I understand, I would give this book another name: "Language and Dispute: the evolution of human knowledge". I would say it's more about language and reality rather than physics and philosophy. The most charming part of this book to me, is his ana...more
Physics and Philosophy by Werner Heisenberg Review
Physics and Philosophy is a book published in 1962 by Werner Heisenberg, a “giant of modern physics”, about the theory of Quantum Mechanics and its philosophical implications. This book is certainly best read with prior knowledge of some classical and some quantum physics. I actually read it knowing little or nothing about quantum physics, and the parts that described in detail the physics seemed technical and hard to understand, yet still i coul...more
Some Knots Have Knotted Limbs
Toward the end of Physics and Philosophy Werner Heisenberg presciently mentions the incompatibility of quantum mechanics with relativity and the need for coherent concepts that allow for both theories without mathematical inconsistencies. Today unified field theories of quantum gravity that attempt to reconcile quantum mechanics with relativity are being explored by physicists in proposals like string theory. Heisenberg also mentions that the physicists of his time w...more
Toward the end of Physics and Philosophy Werner Heisenberg presciently mentions the incompatibility of quantum mechanics with relativity and the need for coherent concepts that allow for both theories without mathematical inconsistencies. Today unified field theories of quantum gravity that attempt to reconcile quantum mechanics with relativity are being explored by physicists in proposals like string theory. Heisenberg also mentions that the physicists of his time w...more
Apr 06, 2013
Laura
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
physics,
history-of-science
This work is an interesting historical window into the philosophical crisis caused by quatum thoery. Having come to academic maturity well after quantum mechanics was thoroughly formulated I've never had the crisis of philosophy presented here: as a student the duality of nature was presented as mathematically elegant description of how nature works and it didn't occur to me then any more than it occurs to my students today that this somehow subverts the tenants of natural science. Given the sta...more
This is really a book about physics that only lightly touches on philosophy. A good reason to read it would be to understand why it is that 20th century physics totally changed the world, something that I think is generally forgotten these days in spite of our (ab)use of technology, the prodigal wunderkind of the advances in science over the last 200 years or so. The thing to remember about Heisenberg's book is that it was written at the height of the Cold War, and therefore beneath the shadow o...more
"The observation itself changes the probability function discontinuously; it selects of all possible events the actual one hat has taken place." (54)
"We may remark at this point that modern physics is in some way extremely near to the doctrines of Heraclitus. If we replace the word 'fire' by the word 'energy' we can almost repeat his statements word for word from our modern point of view." (63)
"Natural science does not simply describe and explain nature; it is a part of the interplay between nat...more
"We may remark at this point that modern physics is in some way extremely near to the doctrines of Heraclitus. If we replace the word 'fire' by the word 'energy' we can almost repeat his statements word for word from our modern point of view." (63)
"Natural science does not simply describe and explain nature; it is a part of the interplay between nat...more
Heisenberg the famous Nobel Prize winner takes us through the building up of our current understanding of Quantum Reality and the physics that lead up to this. He gives a good discussion of the Uncertainty principle of which he is so famous for and how this will impact the future of physics and how we see the world. The title is misleading however, don't expect much philosophy out of this book, and of course it was written when many ideas of modern physics were not even hardly fleshed out yet. I...more
This has got to be one of the most singular reading experiences ever. Ever. Heisenberg's book is so unusual, refreshing and unique - I'm not even sure on which shelf to put it. The funny thing is, this book is not so much about physics, or about philosophy, for that matter. Perhaps a more apt title would be The life and times of Werner H. It reads like a novel, and, in a way, it is a novel. I would call it a "novelized autobiography", for Werner talks about his life, his work, his thoughts in a...more
This was a history of physics and the philosophy of natural science, while at the same time being a defense of the Copenhagen Interpretation of quantum theory. It is grounded in the argument between classical physics and quantum physics that was then ongoing at the time of publication. Heisenberg gives equal time to the detractors of the Copenhagen Interpretation, even as he refutes each one. It is an interesting read today, as much of the old argument has been proven obsolete. A rather difficul...more
I thought I would wait until today December 5th, 2012 on Heisenberg's 111th birthday to write this review. Heisenberg was without a doubt a "wunderkind", a "giant" in physics and an vital contributor to the discovery and the progress of Quantum Mechanics. In 1900, Max Planck discovered something strange and scary, that energy did not flow in a steady continuum, but was delivered in discrete packets Planck later called "quanta." What I think was the greatest discovery of all time, Quantum Mechani...more
Heisenberg Nobel laureate of physics, decided to taint himself by using the merits of his classical education, to show the history of atomic and further quantum ideas and their place in western philosophy since the Greek's. I was joking about that tainted thing, it seems a few people here see it as a terrible thing that a scientist knew philosophy and philosophical history. Which is amazing considering that only a century before physics was a subject in philosophy and science generally was known...more
Tanti anni fa, quando ancora frequentavo il liceo, presi l’abitudine di conferire alle mie letture una continuità concettuale che potesse legarle tra loro, così da svolgere uno studio per quanto possibile sistematico e non troppo “dislocato”. E le abitudini, si sa, sono dure a morire. Riprendiamo dunque da dove abbiamo interrotto con l’ultima recensione: principio di indeterminazione, meccanica quantistica, filosofia della fisica. Sono questi, infatti, i temi del saggio di Werner Heisenberg, che...more
If the mark of intelligence is to take the complex and explain it cogently, then the mark of genius may be to take the incomprehensible and express it persuasively.
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It was Richard Dawkins, I think, who said that forcing children to attend Sunday school was child abuse. Exposing an innocent child to religion would permanently injury their confidence in their native power to comprehend the world.
It that doesn't work, we could always tell them about two slit experi...more
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It was Richard Dawkins, I think, who said that forcing children to attend Sunday school was child abuse. Exposing an innocent child to religion would permanently injury their confidence in their native power to comprehend the world.
It that doesn't work, we could always tell them about two slit experi...more
Aug 16, 2008
Robert
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Robert by:
Humanities class at UA
"What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning."
Heisenberg has great language subtlety in this book. It really pushes what you would considered exacting descriptions. He is obviously brilliant, and the nice thing is that he conveys it equally through science and written language.
Heisenberg has great language subtlety in this book. It really pushes what you would considered exacting descriptions. He is obviously brilliant, and the nice thing is that he conveys it equally through science and written language.
I bought this and having been looking forward to reading it since I read Charles Seife's Decoding the Universe.
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Werner Heisenberg was a German theoretical physicist who made foundational contributions to quantum mechanics and is best known for asserting the uncertainty principle of quantum theory. In addition, he made important contributions to nuclear physics, quantum field theory, and particle physics.
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“What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning.”
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I have written on my study a art about indeterminism in quantum physics indeterminism in quantum physics
. It is some kind of philosophical art, but...more
Aug 09, 2010 10:43am