How to Understand Quantum Theory?

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Quantum theory unleashed mystery so comprehensible that they've baffled both scientists and philosophers to this day. How should we understand quantum physics? Will we ever get to the bottom of its enigmas? In a new book, physicist carlo ravelli addresses the conundrums of quantum theory with an explanation he believes makes sense of some of the strangeness. We'll be playing our conversation over two parts, and apologies, the audio quality didn't come out great.

It has been more than a century since the groundwork of quantum physics was first formulated and yet the consequences of the theory still elude both scientists and philosophers. Why does light sometimes behave as a wave, and other times as a particle? Why does the outcome of an experiment apparently depend on whether the particles are being observed or not? In the first of two episodes, Ian Sample sits down with the physicist Carlo Rovelli to discuss the strange consequences of quantum theory and the explanation he sets out in his book Helgoland. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod