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Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences

Discontinuous Memory and the Making of Quantum Mechanics

Richard Staley

Published Oct 1, 2011• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

Book Review| October 01 2011 Discontinuous Memory and the Making of Quantum Mechanics Guido Bacciagaluppi and Antony Valentini. Quantum Theory at the Crossroads: Reconsidering the 1927 Solvay Conference. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009. xxv + 530 pp., illus., index. ISBN: 978-0-521-81421-8. $126.00 (hardcover).David C. Cassidy. Beyond Uncertainty: Heisenberg, Quantum Physics, and the Bomb. New York: Bellevue Literary Press, 2008. 480 pp., illus., index. ISBN: 978-1-934137-13-0. $27.00 (hardcover).Suman Seth. Crafting the Quantum: Arnold Sommerfeld and the Practice of Theory, 1890–1926. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2010. viii + 378 pp., illus., index. ISBN: 978-0-262-01373-4. $32.00 (hardcover). Richard Staley Richard Staley *Department of the History of Science, University of Wisconsin–Madison, 226 Bradley Memorial Building, 1225 Linden Drive, Madison, WI 53706-1528; rastaley@wisc.edu. Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences (2011) 41 (4): 447–456. https://doi.org/10.1525/hsns.2011.41.4.447 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Richard Staley; Discontinuous Memory and the Making of Quantum Mechanics. Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences 1 October 2011; 41 (4): 447–456. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/hsns.2011.41.4.447 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentHistorical Studies in the Natural Sciences Search This content is only available via PDF. © 2011 by the Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. Please direct all requests for permission to photocopy or reproduce article content through the University of California Press's Rights and Permissions website, http://www.ucpressjournals.com/reprintinfo.asp.2011 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

DOI
10.1525/hsns.2011.41.4.447

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Book Review| October 01 2011 Discontinuous Memory and the Making of Quantum Mechanics Guido Bacciagaluppi and Antony Valentini. Quantum Theory at the Crossroads: Reconsidering the 1927 Solvay Conference. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009. xxv + 530 pp., illus., index. ISBN: 978-0-521-81421-8. 126.00(hardcover).DavidC.Cassidy.BeyondUncertainty:Heisenberg,QuantumPhysics,andtheBomb.NewYork:BellevueLiteraryPress,2008.480pp.,illus.,index.ISBN:978−1−934137−13−0.126.00 (hardcover).David C. Cassidy. Beyond Uncertainty: Heisenberg, Quantum Physics, and the Bomb. New York: Bellevue Literary Press, 2008. 480 pp., illus., index. ISBN: 978-1-934137-13-0. 126.00(hardcover).DavidC.Cassidy.BeyondUncertainty:Heisenberg,QuantumPhysics,andtheBomb.NewYork:BellevueLiteraryPress,2008.480pp.,illus.,index.ISBN:978−1−934137−13−0.27.00 (hardcover).Suman Seth. Crafting the Quantum: Arnold Sommerfeld and the Practice of Theory, 1890–1926. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2010. viii + 378 pp., illus., index. ISBN: 978-0-262-01373-4. $32.00 (hardcover). Richard Staley Richard Staley *Department of the History of Science, University of Wisconsin–Madison, 226 Bradley Memorial Building, 1225 Linden Drive, Madison, WI 53706-1528; rastaley@wisc.edu. Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences (2011) 41 (4): 447–456. https://doi.org/10.1525/hsns.2011.41.4.447 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Richard Staley; Discontinuous Memory and the Making of Quantum Mechanics. Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences 1 October 2011; 41 (4): 447–456. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/hsns.2011.41.4.447 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentHistorical Studies in the Natural Sciences Search This content is only available via PDF. © 2011 by the Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. Please direct all requests for permission to photocopy or reproduce article content through the University of California Press's Rights and Permissions website, http://www.ucpressjournals.com/reprintinfo.asp.2011 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.
We reconsider the crucial 1927 Solvay conference in the context of current research in the foundations of quantum theory. Contrary to folklore, the interpretation question was not settled at this conference and no consensus was reached; instead, a range of sharply conflicting views were presented and extensively discussed. Today, there is no longer an established or dominant interpretation of quantum theory, so it is important to re-evaluate the historical sources and keep the interpretation debate open. In this spirit, we provide a complete English translation of the original proceedings (lectures and discussions), and give background essays on the three main interpretations presented: de Broglie's pilot-wave theory, Born and Heisenberg's quantum mechanics, and Schroedinger's wave mechanics. We provide an extensive analysis of the lectures and discussions that took place, in the light of current debates about the meaning of quantum theory. The proceedings contain much unexpected material, including extensive discussions of de Broglie's pilot-wave theory (which de Broglie presented for a many-body system), and a "quantum mechanics" apparently lacking in wave function collapse or fundamental time evolution. We hope that the book will contribute to the ongoing revival of research in quantum foundations, as well as stimulate a reconsideration of the historical development of quantum physics. A more detailed description of the book may be found in the Preface. (Copyright by Cambridge University Press (ISBN: 9780521814218).)
Largely drawn from “Quantum Theory at the Crossroads: Reconsidering the 1927 Solvay Conference” by Guido Bacciagaluppi and Antony Valentini, but also from several books by Pais (“Inward Bound” and “Subtle is the Lord”), plus other sources, we examine some of the very contemporary themes as to quantum measurement which were debated in the 5th Solvay meeting. In addition, we also discuss some issues given by Roland Omnes in “Understanding Quantum Mechanics” as to the problem of classical and quantum properties, which is at the forefront of the Quantum Gravity issues of how to reconcile semi classical physics with the presumed bridge between Planckian physics (presumably quantum in nature) with the rest of cosmology. The issues argued in part by the Solvay meeting as to Quantum measurements and the competing Pilot theory, as brought up by De Broglie, and how that plays out as to the later Hidden Variables and the alleged determinism foundations of an embedding structure for Quantum physics, still are with us, and make the Solvay meeting, 1927 a stellar event, still worth revisiting 90 years later.
Largely drawn from “Quantum Theory at the Crossroads : Reconsideringthe1927 Solvay Conference” by Guido Bacciagaluppi and Antony Valentini, but also from several books by Pais (“ Inward Bound” and “Subtle is the Lord”), plus other sources, we examine some of the very contemporary themes as to quantum measurement which were debated in the 5th Solvay meeting. In addition we also discuss some issues given by Roland Omnes in “Understanding Quantum Mechanics” as to the problem of classical and quantum properties, which is at the forefront of the Quantum Gravity issues of how to reconcile semi classical physics with the presumed bridge between Planckian physics (presumably quantum in nature) with the rest of cosmology. The issues argued in part by the Solvay meeting as to Quantum measurements and the competing Pilot theory, as brought up by De Broglie, and how that plays out as to the later Hidden Variables and the alleged determinism foundations of an embedding structure for Quantum physics, still are with us, and make the Solvay meeting, 1927 a stellar event, still worth revisiting 90 years later.
The 1927 Solvay conference was perhaps the most important in the history of quantum theory. Contrary to popular belief, questions of interpretation were not settled at this conference. Instead, a range of sharply conflicting views were extensively discussed, including de Broglie's pilot-wave theory (which de Broglie presented for a many-body system), Born and Heisenberg's 'quantum mechanics' (which apparently lacked wave function collapse or fundamental time evolution), and Schrödinger's wave mechanics. Today, there is no longer a dominant interpretation of quantum theory, so it is important to re-evaluate the historical sources and keep the debate open. This book contains a complete translation of the original proceedings, with essays on the three main interpretations presented, and a detailed analysis of the lectures and discussions in the light of current research. This book will be of interest to graduate students and researchers in physics and in the history and philosophy of quantum theory.