Einstein, Bohr and the Quantum Dilemma

by Andrew Whitaker

The debate between Bohr and Einstein, which raged in the 1920s and 1930s, is still highly relevant today. It involved the two greatest physicists of the twentieth century and played a large part in Einstein's going into an effective scientific exile. The debate concerned the quantum theory, probably the most successful physical theory of all time. This book explores the details of the conflict, as well as its significance for contemporary views on the foundations of quantum theory. The author gives sympathetic accounts of the views of both Bohr and Einstein, and a thorough study of the argument between them. The book also includes nontechnical and nonmathematical accounts of the development of quantum theory and relativity, as well as the work of David Bohm and John Bell in the 1950s and 1960s that restored interest in Einstein's views. The author also includes a full account of the many current experimental and theoretical developments in quantum theory.

Genres: Science, Physics

367 pages, Paperback

First published January 26, 1996

Reviews

[WarpDrive · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good book about the different "interpretations" of Quantum Mechanics. While the book is supposedly targeted at a wide audience (including laypeople with little proficiency in maths), in reality it does require prior knowledge of Quantum Mechanics, in order to be fully appreciated.
The initial summary of "classical" physics is masterful, very effectively and economically achieved with great conceptual clarity. The part about Quantum Mechanics is quite good as well, and the "core" of the book (the different interpretations) is very interesting and nicely presented.
The only reasons why I do not give it a 5-star are the two following minor issues, which do not really detract significantly from the overall good quality of this book:
- being published in the late 90's, this book is necessarily a bit outdated in its last section, when it deals with the latest trends/developments
- I do personally feel that the big effort by the author to remove any mathematics from the book has sometimes gone really a bit too far - there were some areas where a more formally mathematical exposition, rather than a cumbersome natural language exposition, would have helped clarity and precision. Maybe an appendix with a more mathematical treatment of some items of discussion would have helped.

Overall, a solid 4-star book.

[Sandor Balogh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very thoroughgoing analysis of the two views, but Whitaker, along with the entire profession, overlooked that Einstein withdrew relativity theory as an independent theory, and suggests to re/think it as a 4 space (yes, four space)dimensional field theory, He did this in 1952, but the profession completely ignores is, including Whitaker, when he writes that Einstein "never put forward a clear position..." on p. 325.
For Einstein's essay see http://www.relativitybook.com/resourc..., last chapter,, where he suggests a "a theory which describes exhaustively physical reality, including four-dimensional space, by a field."

If you are interested in the theory, contact blueskies246@aol.com

[Francisco Rodríguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Contents of the book would get 5*.
The way it is written made it slightly boring to read, as it was so precise and clarifies everything.

But it did open my mind to interpretations of quantum theory! So good overall

[Devon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intuitively, hidden variables have always seemed to me the most logical way to explain the probabilistic nature of quantum mechanical predictions. I picked up this book with the intent of gaining a conceptual understanding of why hidden variables interpretations of quantum mechanics have been so thoroughly shunned, and if there remains any hope for them.

The book is written in a style that takes some getting used to: the sentences are often strangely constructed in a way that reads like stilted conversation. My first impression was that I was reading the work of a true science geek. While Whitaker makes some effort to appeal to a layperson in terms of keeping the math minimal and throwing in a few attempts at humor, his primary objective clearly is to provide a nuanced overview of quantum interpretations over the past century. This makes for an intrinsically technical read, even minus the math.

The book is organized chronologically, and as such begins with a couple chapters on classical physics. These are obviously there to set context, but seemed probably unnecessary for anyone willing to wade through the rest of the book. At the other end of the book, he gives a nod to 'recent' developments in quantum theory (the book was published in '96). The chapter is interesting but seems cursory and is likely somewhat out-dated.

The most interesting stuff was in the middle, and I may go back and give those chapters another read. It does a great job of giving nuanced descriptions of (and variations on) the central concepts that any quantum theory must address and the important outstanding paradoxes (e.g. EPR). I found his treatment of locality and realism and their primacy over causality and determinism especially interesting. He gives what seems like a balanced perspective of all the major interpretations and their variations, distinguishing characteristics, similarities, flaws, and experimental results.

While the book is framed in some ways as a debate between Einstein and Bohr, in fact it gives all the major players a voice and refutes the idea that there are just two competing theories. Whitaker argues that many of the interpretations, when carried through with rigor, are more similar than dissimilar and leave a consistent set of questions and problems open.

Oh, and Einstein seems to have lost this one - though Bohr may not have totally won.