Quantum Drama, Bohr-Einstein Debate to Entanglement reviewed

“Quantum Drama From the Bohr-Einstein Debate to the Riddle of Entanglement” by Jim Baggot and John L. Heilbron is a non-fiction book from Oxford Press, which is due for release this coming April.

I was expecting this review to be a difficult one, as it promised a historical walkthrough from the origins of quantum theory to the present day from the context of the physics world. What I found was an intriguing read that could disseminate enormous amounts of understanding via a structured delivery.

Quantum Drama From the Bohr-Einstein Debate to the Riddle of Entanglement

The read can educate any non-physics professional on the cornerstones supporting quantum theory, while engrossing them in the human debate and its social context of the time. Expert chapter craftsmanship by the authors lends itself to this balance between high-level understanding of complex topics, and the human story behind them.

Like a classical opera, the authors set the chapters into three acts. The prologue introduces the first set of key players, including Einstein and Bohr. It then introduces societal context pre-World War 1, along with some historical rivalries, such as the competing theories of Newton and Descartes. The book as a read informs of the ever-present discourse, disagreement, and drama, which fuels progress in physics.

After the prologue comes Act I: Correspondence to Complementarity. This is a 4 chapter act, which focuses on the early 20th century, where classical physics, noted for closing areas of discourse, meets challenge by those not satisfied at such limitations in seeking the truth.

This new drama in physics discourse heralded many things, including the birth of a coherent theory around atomism. I found this act delivers real theoretical awareness, while exploring the somewhat opposing dynamic between the young Einstein and Bohr from circa 1900 to 1926. It also explored the impact of World War 1 on the society, and how this influenced both men in this era. The connections made shine a timeless light on where physics sits in society. This interdependence is undisputable by rational people to this day.

Act II: Uncertainty to Orthodoxy is another 4 chapter act, which continues the journey from earlier theories and the birth of Quantum Mechanics at the Solvay conference in Brussels in 1927. It follows the journey in a similar manner to Act 1 chapters, but moves forward to World War 2, and what the authors call “The Americanization of Physics”. The gravitational centre of physics in Europe moves to the USA in this act. There, a drop in interest around the fundamental problems that physicists were trying to solve, led to Einstein re-igniting the fire of discourse in these areas. He did so from Princeton University, up to his death in 1955.

Act III: Orthodoxy to Uncertainty is another 4 chapter act. It smoothly continues the journey of revival in physics, where new theories arose from discourse around new interpretations of old problems that were once thought solved. The authors strike a good balance between the social context of the day behind this revival, and the actual theories raised on foot of it. They also pitch the constant struggle between closure and reassurance in these areas against the unrelenting pursuit of the truth. In the 1950s America, scientists, like today, had to thread carefully in a society that was set into a biased information environment. This social context made these chapters very intriguing indeed.

Act IV: Productive to Inequalities is a 5 chapter installment. The focus is on experiments proving new theories raised in Act III, to today’s physics world, and its associated drama. It features the societal and professional context for the shift in focus towards closure around the area of Quantum Mechanics. In the subsequent stages, researchers pursued leads generated by the accidental discovery of quantum polygons. This new direction led physicists on their journey towards quantum entanglement.

Act IV ends with recent times and an overview of more recent discoveries. Scientific exploration has given cause for physicists to consider a new direction in the exploration of Quantum Mechanics. Of note is the acceptance that non-local (not definable to the physical world) variables are part of the exploration of the boundaries between the physical (macro) world and the quantum (micro) world, should such barriers even exist!

Give the topic of this book, I found its design, content balance and overall craftsmanship to be of a quality that brings the world of professional physics closer to the reader in a manner that is digestible and engaging. Society often misunderstands its relationship with professional physics. Any reader who takes the time to explore this book will not be disappointed. It shows us how apparently abstracted areas of science are not actually abstracted at all. No matter your age, educational background, or place in life; I can think of no better grounding for any curious reader seeking the truth behind science’s place in society.

By John Mulhall @johnmlhll | john@maolte.ie is a writer with Irish Tech News for over 7 years and also a Founder, Writer, and Engineer with Maolte Technical Solutions Limited. You can learn more about John and his IT services company at https://maolte.ie.

See more stories by John here, and breaking stories on Irish Tech News here.