Inquiry: Louisa Gilder: The Age of Entanglement: When Quantum Physics Was Reborn

Quantum Mechanics is one of the greatest scientific theories of the 20th Century. It is also one of the most confusing. Throwing “classic physics and mechanics” out the door, theorists like Einstein, Schrödinger and Bohr created a crazy set of “rules” to describe the motion of atomic and subatomic particles. But in the quantum world time becomes fluid, separate and unconnected systems can affect each other, and an observer can affect the state of a system just by being an observer! Is the lesson of quantum mechanics that there is no difference between Epistemology and Ontology, that “being” and “knowing” are intertwined? If it sounds crazy and complicated, it is because these folks are trying to describe the foundations of reality! As one physicist remarked: “if you think you understand quantum theory, then you do not understand quantum theory”. Tonight’s guest, LOUISA GILDER has written a complete history of quantum theory told through a series of imagined lively conversations taken from the writings of all the principles. This amazing book brings out the humanity of the scientists involved and manages to put a human face on a decidedly abstract yet important scientific endeavor. Her stunning book is THE AGE OF ENTANGLEMENT: WHEN QUANTUM PHYSICS WAS REBORN.