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Uncertainty: Einstein, Heisenberg, Bohr, and the Struggle for the Soul of Science
Werner Heisenberg’s “uncertainty principle” challenged centuries of scientific understanding, placed him in direct opposition to Albert Einstein, and put Niels Bohr in the middle of one of the most heated debates in scientific history. Heisenberg’s theorem stated that there were physical limits to what we could know about sub-atomic particles; this “uncertainty” would have...more
Paperback, 272 pages
Published
February 12th 2008
by Anchor
(first published February 20th 2007)
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قصة نشؤ نظرية "ميكانيكا الكم"، طرق وأساليب العلماء النظرية والتجريبية وكذلك الشخصية في صياغة هذه النظرية. صراع مبدأ الحتمية (السببية) مع مبدأ الريبة (اللايقين) ومحاولة فهم كيف تفكر الجسيمات ومطاردتها. حتى انتهى الأمر بصياغة مبدأ الريبة: (تقيس سرعة الجسيم أو قد تستطيع أن تقيس موضعه غير أنك لا تستطيع أن تنجز المهمتين معاً).
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ميكانيكا الكم: انقسم العلماء في تفسيراتهم إلى أسلوبين الأول ميكانيكا الموجات (طبيعة موجية) في زيورخ والثاني ميكانيكا المصفوفات (معادلات رياضية) في جوتنجن، وهناك...more
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ميكانيكا الكم: انقسم العلماء في تفسيراتهم إلى أسلوبين الأول ميكانيكا الموجات (طبيعة موجية) في زيورخ والثاني ميكانيكا المصفوفات (معادلات رياضية) في جوتنجن، وهناك...more
لم يسبق لي أن قرأت أو سمعت عن كتاب لتاريخ العلم و العلماء, والصورة النمطية المرسومة في ذهني للعلم و التي تكونت نتيجة أسلوب التدريس العقيم في المدرسة و الجامعة توحي بأن العالم عبارة عن شيء شبيه بمسخ غير إنساني يقضي وقته كله في البحث و التجريب و أن العالم هو عالم فقط يتحول لشخص عادي أو أقل من عادي حالما يخرج خارج وسطه المفضل, هذا الكتاب و بأسلوبه المشوق و السلس يعطي فكرة -و إن كانت غير واضحة تماما- عن حياة العلماء و كيف أن العنصر الإنساني من شغف و صراع و نضال كان حاسما في تكون العلم الذي بين أيدين...more
The early 20th century was by no means an orderly, calm period in the world of theoretical physics. New discoveries in relativity and quantum mechanics were casting increasing doubt on classical physics. Scientists were learning that some phenomena, taking place at the unseeable atomic level, seemed not to be deterministic and predictable, but probabilistic and not so predictable.
Uncertainty provides an informative overview of the major players during this era, and explores the disarray that a c...more
Uncertainty provides an informative overview of the major players during this era, and explores the disarray that a c...more
I read this book as if I was watching a movie in my head. This book has little to do with the complex formula of Quantum Mechanics but everything to do about the complex characters that created the concepts that led to Quantum Mechanics.
I was slightly amused to finish the book and feel I had a better understanding of how Quantum Mechanics came about but now i was more lost than ever as to the people that made it so. Its a lot to wrap your head around when your continually blown away how people...more
I was slightly amused to finish the book and feel I had a better understanding of how Quantum Mechanics came about but now i was more lost than ever as to the people that made it so. Its a lot to wrap your head around when your continually blown away how people...more
When I give a lecture on patient assessment I start off by saying “Begin your assessment from across the room. You want to first view your patients with as little influence upon them as possible. You know, like the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle: the process of looking at something changes it.” Then come the deer-in-the-headlight looks from most of my students. That’s perhaps the look that will obtain from many of the readers of this book. Unless you’re a theoretical physicist, taken a class i...more
When I was an philosophy undergraduate, I had this annoying itch. I was vaguely dissatisfied that almost none of my philosophy courses addressed the philosophical implications of developments of theoretical physics, particularly quantum mechanics - about which I knew next to nothing but the Heisenberg uncertainty principle somehow trickled down to the (un)conscious of a earnest nineteen-year-old. Growing up, I was distracted, but even if that itch subsided to a degree, it still nagged at me. Thi...more
تحدث " مبدأ الريبة " عن لايقينة العلم و سيّر علماء الفيزياء النظرية في ألمانيا - خاصة - وصراعهم المحموم لإثبات ميكانكا الكم بطريقة حتمية .. رغم ما أثبتته لهم التجارب من عشوائية و فوضى الإلكترونات . فلقد كان السؤال الأكثر إلحاحاً و الأكثر جدلاً حين ذاك هو : عن من الذي يجعل الإلكترون يقرر خطوته التالية .. ما الذي يجعله يقفز و يدور و يتفاعل و يتحرك ؟ ما السبب الذي يدفعه لذلك ، لماذا لا يخضع هذا الشيء الصغير لقوانيبن الطبيعة المتعارف عليها ، لم يصر على معاندتنا و يثير الحيرة في نفوسنا؟ كنت متحمسة لأ...more
Apr 15, 2013
Eddy Allen
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
arts-and-historical
The remarkable story of a startling scientific idea that ignited a battle among the greatest minds of the twentieth century and profoundly influenced intellectual inquiry in fields ranging from physics to literary criticism, anthropology and journalism
In 1927, the young German physicist Werner Heisenberg challenged centuries of scientific understanding when he introduced what came to be known as “the uncertainty principle.” Building on his own radical innovations in quantum theory, Heisenberg pr...more
In 1927, the young German physicist Werner Heisenberg challenged centuries of scientific understanding when he introduced what came to be known as “the uncertainty principle.” Building on his own radical innovations in quantum theory, Heisenberg pr...more
Overall, an adequate narrative - but really, that's all. I'm still at a loss to believe someone could write a book about the advent of quantum mechanics and the uncertainty principle without a single diagram.
Also, I must say I'm amused by the irony of Lindley's ability to write about the uncertainty princinple in so formulaic a manner. Every chapter bears a title that echoes the exact words of one of the scientists quoted within, almost always popping up in its last 2-3 pages. I thought at last...more
Also, I must say I'm amused by the irony of Lindley's ability to write about the uncertainty princinple in so formulaic a manner. Every chapter bears a title that echoes the exact words of one of the scientists quoted within, almost always popping up in its last 2-3 pages. I thought at last...more
I preferred The Age of Entanglement (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50...) for its explanations of the actual physics and for the deep descriptions of the people involved. It was only at around chapter 18 (of 19) of this book that I really felt like it was worth the investment. That isn't to say it wasn't really good. It was very good. It just wasn't a lot of new information, though it was engaging and interesting. But the part that really got me thinking was at the end when there was some d...more
جعل الكاتب من العلم موضوع قصصي يروي فيه الاحداث التي رافقت تطور فيزياء الكم
جاعلا من الامر يبدو كاقصة متسلسلة الاحداث
لكن سرعان ما تدرك أنك قد توهت في معمة الجدال بين العماء حول الذرة وغيرها من النظريات
في رأيَ كتاب مختص للفيزيائين المهتمين بالسير الذاتية لأعلام الفيزياء الحديثة.
جاعلا من الامر يبدو كاقصة متسلسلة الاحداث
لكن سرعان ما تدرك أنك قد توهت في معمة الجدال بين العماء حول الذرة وغيرها من النظريات
في رأيَ كتاب مختص للفيزيائين المهتمين بالسير الذاتية لأعلام الفيزياء الحديثة.
I found this narrative of the transition from a deterministic, Newtonian view of the physical world to the statistical probabilities (and uncertainty) of quantum interactions really entertaining. It had much the same feel as James Watson's Double Helix: a sort of clubby, intellectual-but-confused, adversarial-but-friendly atmosphere of early twentieth century science. Towards the end, David Lindley does go off on a minor tangent ranting about other historians of science who see this narrative di...more
Uncertainty> provides a thorough, historical overview of the legendary figures involved in the discovery of quantum mechanics and the bizarre and controversial revelation that the act of observing a particle changes the nature of the thing being observed. This detailed account diagnoses the idiosyncrasies of the key players and recounts the battles and breakthroughs that proved integral to the development and eventual (if decidedly begrudging) acceptance of Heisenberg's uncertainty principle...more
Uncertainty paints a clear and lucid account of the genesis of a nearly incomprehensible idea, Heisenberg's notorious uncertainty principle. I would recommend this book to any lay person anyone searching for a basic understanding of uncertainty and its tie to quantum theory, as well as anyone interested to learn about the personalities behind the cutting edge of physics in the middle part of the 20th century.
I think I liked this book. But I'm not sure.
(Sorry, I can't help it.)
In a futile quest to understand quantum mechanics, I consume every layman's book on the subject that I can find. If you're as obsessed with that mystifying subject as I am -- and if, like me, you lack the serious mathematics and physics background that you'd need to be able to acquire a *real* understanding -- then I think you'll enjoy this book.
"Uncertainty" is more of a history of the milieu from which quantum mechanics spran...more
(Sorry, I can't help it.)
In a futile quest to understand quantum mechanics, I consume every layman's book on the subject that I can find. If you're as obsessed with that mystifying subject as I am -- and if, like me, you lack the serious mathematics and physics background that you'd need to be able to acquire a *real* understanding -- then I think you'll enjoy this book.
"Uncertainty" is more of a history of the milieu from which quantum mechanics spran...more
Awesome book, perhaps a little dry at times, but it provides my favourite version of this slice in the history of physics. It does a great job of explaining the uncertainty principle and provides the context in which quantum mechanics has developed. Lindley does a fantastic job sketching out the characters of Heisenberg and Bohr and provides a great look at Einstein in his later years.
An interesting and unusual portrayal of science - not just what science is and what the theories state, but how they came to be, what other scientists thought, and how they fought about it. I was familiar with quantum mechanics before reading this but I'd never read about its repercussions within physics. Unfortunately the book is a little dry, I often found my mind wandering because the writing didn't capture my attention.
A very fast, high level read on the origins and development of quantum mechanics, focusing on the people involved. I think the one thing I'll really take from this book is the author's presentation of the Schrodinger's Cat thought experiment as something Schrodinger proposed to illustrate the absurdity of an opposing theory, not in support of it (Einstein also proposed this thought experiment, in a slightly different form).
I think there were a total of two equations presented in this book, and...more
I think there were a total of two equations presented in this book, and...more
مبدأ الريبة.. او هكذا اراد تسميتة "بور"
كتاب شيق جداًَ و يتحدث عن الصراع الجدلي الأزلي الذي ابتدأ في مطلع القرن الفائت بين جباهذة الفيزياء في المانيا خصوصاً فيما يتعلق بنظرية الكم و محاولة إثباتها رغم عشوائيتها!
الكتاب كُتب بطريقة أدبية شيقة و هذا ما جعلني اكملة لآخرة رغم بعض ما كنت اواجهه بعد فهم بعض اجزاء الكتاب
كتاب شيق جداًَ و يتحدث عن الصراع الجدلي الأزلي الذي ابتدأ في مطلع القرن الفائت بين جباهذة الفيزياء في المانيا خصوصاً فيما يتعلق بنظرية الكم و محاولة إثباتها رغم عشوائيتها!
الكتاب كُتب بطريقة أدبية شيقة و هذا ما جعلني اكملة لآخرة رغم بعض ما كنت اواجهه بعد فهم بعض اجزاء الكتاب
It's more about how the scientists (including some of the greats of the day) wrestled with the new theories (and their implications) than the theories themselves. It's not enough to know that the deterministic gives way to the probablistic on the quantum level, but Lindley's engaging writing makes you wonder if it just might be.
I really liked this book. The author progresses the story by following history order. The style is entertaining and does not require significant scientific knowledge besides elementary atomic physics.
This wasn't a bad read on the history of the development of quantum mechanics, but too thin on the content of the theories. Readers can't appreciate what is at stake if they aren't given more specific details particularly when coming to terms with relativity and QM, the copenhagen interpretation etc. He's also bizarrely and unfairly harsh on Einstein.
Can't get enough of this shit. This story has probably been told a hundred times but the advent of quantum mechanics is described lucidly and dare I say enjoyably by lindley.
I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/10362908
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/10362908
I thought the author's view of Einstein was unfairly critical, and his description of the mysteries of quantum mechanics poor.
530.12 L746U 2007 - Wil Wheaton recco: http://wilwheaton.typepad.com/wwdnbac...
I was disappointed. Not completely, but what's the point of a book on Einstein, Heisenberg, et al without the formulas? Where were the scientific formulas? I'm not going to pretend I would have understood them all (ok or even 97% of them), but I was most interested in how they came up with the theories -- and I got the history and some of the science, but none of the specifics. I wanted to see some of those crazy mathematical symbols that are used in NUMB3RS.
I get that the book was written for...more
I get that the book was written for...more
ساعدني الكتاب جداً مع منهجي في الكيمياء و أيضا الرياضيات .. من الجميل أن تتوقف مرة عن التأفف من القوانين التي يدسونها بالمناهج الدراسية و تبدأ بقراءة قصة كفاح العلماء لإيجاد قانون واحد منها و كم استغرق منهم ذلك ..
كتاب تاريخي يتحدث عن الكثير .. بالأساس نظرية الكم .. بور و هايزنبرج و شرودنجر و آينشتاين و ديراك وكرامر و الحركة البراونية و الكثير جداً .. قضيت معه وقتاً ممتعاً و مفيداً
كتاب تاريخي يتحدث عن الكثير .. بالأساس نظرية الكم .. بور و هايزنبرج و شرودنجر و آينشتاين و ديراك وكرامر و الحركة البراونية و الكثير جداً .. قضيت معه وقتاً ممتعاً و مفيداً
2 likes · like · see review
كتاب رائع، كتاب عشته، عشت صراع وحوارات وابتسامات ونجاحات واخفاقات علمائه، كتاب يستحق القراءة بحق
Promising, but ultimately disappointing. The book paints detailed portraits of Heisenberg and Bohr, and is written at the right level for anyone who didn't venture beyond high-school physics. However, Lindley failed to convey the supposed controversy tied to the breakthrough of the uncertainty principle itself. The conclusion spiraled into a mish-mash of the principle's appearances in the mainstream consciousness, and its near-irrelevance to modern physicists. I am glad to have finished it so I...more
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قصة الذرة...مفيد
May 02, 2013 04:47am