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Writings on Physics and Philosophy
Like Bohr, Einstein and Heisenberg, Wolfgang Pauli was notonly a Nobel laureate and one of the creators of modernphysics, but also an eminent philosopher of modern science.This is the first book in English to include all his famousarticles on physics and epistemology. They were actuallytranslated during Pauli's lifetime by R. Schlapp and are nowedited and annotated by Pauli's former assistant Ch. Enz.Pauli writes about the philosophical significance ofcomplementarity, about space,time and causality, symmetryand the exclusion principle, but also about therole of theunconscious in modern science. His famous article on Kepleris included as well as many historical essays on Bohr,Ehrenfest,and Einstein as well as on the influence of theunconscious on scientific theories.The book addresses not only physicists, philosophers andhistorians of science, but also the general public.
- GenresSciencePhilosophyPhysics
296 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 27, 1994
6 people are currently reading
126 people want to read
About the author
Wolfgang Pauli
72 books51 followersDr. Wolfgang Ernst Pauli, Ph.D. (Ludwig-Maximilians University, 1921), was a theoretical physicist and one of the pioneers of quantum mechanics, for which he was awarded the 1945 Nobel Prize in Physics. His paper on Einstein's theory of relativity, written two months after receiving his doctorate, remains a standard reference on the subject to this day. In the field of quantum theory, the "Pauli exclusion principle" is named for him; he also developed the theory of nonrelativistic spin.
In 1928, Pauli was appointed Professor of Theoretical Physics at ETH Zurich in Switzerland. He held visiting professorships at the University of Michigan in 1931, and the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton in 1935. He was awarded the Lorentz Medal in 1931.
At the end of 1930, shortly after his postulation of the neutrino and immediately following his November divorce, Pauli had a severe breakdown. He consulted psychiatrist and psychotherapist Carl Jung who, like Pauli, lived near Zurich. Jung immediately began interpreting Pauli's deeply archetypal dreams, and Pauli became one of the depth psychologist's best students. He soon began to criticize the epistemology of Jung's theory scientifically, and this contributed to a certain clarification of the latter's thoughts, especially about the concept of synchronicity. A great many of these discussions are documented in the Pauli/Jung letters, today published as Atom and Archetype . Jung's elaborate analysis of more than 400 of Pauli's dreams is documented in Psychology and Alchemy .
The German annexation of Austria in 1938 made Pauli a German citizen, which became a problem for him in 1939 after the outbreak of World War II. In 1940, he tried in vain to obtain Swiss citizenship, which would have allowed him to remain at the ETH. Pauli moved to the United States in 1940, where he was employed as a professor of theoretical physics at the Institute for Advanced Study. In 1946, after the war, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States and subsequently returned to Zurich, where he mostly remained for the rest of his life. In 1949, he was granted Swiss citizenship.
In 1958, Pauli was awarded the Max Planck medal. In that same year, he fell ill with pancreatic cancer.
In 1928, Pauli was appointed Professor of Theoretical Physics at ETH Zurich in Switzerland. He held visiting professorships at the University of Michigan in 1931, and the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton in 1935. He was awarded the Lorentz Medal in 1931.
At the end of 1930, shortly after his postulation of the neutrino and immediately following his November divorce, Pauli had a severe breakdown. He consulted psychiatrist and psychotherapist Carl Jung who, like Pauli, lived near Zurich. Jung immediately began interpreting Pauli's deeply archetypal dreams, and Pauli became one of the depth psychologist's best students. He soon began to criticize the epistemology of Jung's theory scientifically, and this contributed to a certain clarification of the latter's thoughts, especially about the concept of synchronicity. A great many of these discussions are documented in the Pauli/Jung letters, today published as Atom and Archetype . Jung's elaborate analysis of more than 400 of Pauli's dreams is documented in Psychology and Alchemy .
The German annexation of Austria in 1938 made Pauli a German citizen, which became a problem for him in 1939 after the outbreak of World War II. In 1940, he tried in vain to obtain Swiss citizenship, which would have allowed him to remain at the ETH. Pauli moved to the United States in 1940, where he was employed as a professor of theoretical physics at the Institute for Advanced Study. In 1946, after the war, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States and subsequently returned to Zurich, where he mostly remained for the rest of his life. In 1949, he was granted Swiss citizenship.
In 1958, Pauli was awarded the Max Planck medal. In that same year, he fell ill with pancreatic cancer.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 11, 2016
Mostly all papers by the cryptic, Nobel-prize winner Pauli gathered in this collection are largely outdated by the development of physics in the last 60 years.
I nevertheless found historically interesting the link of the complementarity principle - remainding that Pauli was a fervent contributor of the Copenhagen interpretation of Quantum Mechanics - to the unconscious-conscious relationship explored by Carl Jung.
Chapter n.16 interestingly and briefly enough describes the evolution of science in the western thought. The last chapter is dedicated to the unusual exploration of the intellectual fight between Kepler and Fludd, or the advancing logical-mathematical description of the cosmos vs. the hermeneutical, alchemical one.
I nevertheless found historically interesting the link of the complementarity principle - remainding that Pauli was a fervent contributor of the Copenhagen interpretation of Quantum Mechanics - to the unconscious-conscious relationship explored by Carl Jung.
Chapter n.16 interestingly and briefly enough describes the evolution of science in the western thought. The last chapter is dedicated to the unusual exploration of the intellectual fight between Kepler and Fludd, or the advancing logical-mathematical description of the cosmos vs. the hermeneutical, alchemical one.
May 23, 2022
My reading of this book was on hold for a long time. Fortunately, I have time to finish it.
It is always great to read articles and books written by all the famous scientists, especially those about their ideas on science and philosophy. This book is undoubtedly a good collection of Pauli's writings. It is a collection of short articles which won't take you too long to read.
However, this book is not for a general reader without decent knowledge in physics. In order to understand this book very well, you have to at least major in physics, with the knowledge of undergraduate quantum mechanics and some ideas of particle physics.
On the other hand, this book is a translated version from German. You may feel the English is unnatural when reading it. Also, there are so many phrases, sentences and even paragraphs untranslated, making some articles tough to understand.
Therefore, this won't be a book I recommend, if you don't understand physics and German. The preface states clearly the reason of unfinished translation. It was a really unfortunate story. However, it is sad that no one has completed this job after so many years.
It is always great to read articles and books written by all the famous scientists, especially those about their ideas on science and philosophy. This book is undoubtedly a good collection of Pauli's writings. It is a collection of short articles which won't take you too long to read.
However, this book is not for a general reader without decent knowledge in physics. In order to understand this book very well, you have to at least major in physics, with the knowledge of undergraduate quantum mechanics and some ideas of particle physics.
On the other hand, this book is a translated version from German. You may feel the English is unnatural when reading it. Also, there are so many phrases, sentences and even paragraphs untranslated, making some articles tough to understand.
Therefore, this won't be a book I recommend, if you don't understand physics and German. The preface states clearly the reason of unfinished translation. It was a really unfortunate story. However, it is sad that no one has completed this job after so many years.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews