The Importance of Einstein

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I wonder if all of this work on quantum foundations at Princeton in the early 50s wasn't ultimately Einstein's fault. I mean, Einstein certainly influenced BOM. He apparently taught a class like a major. He gave a lecture that Everett was at though Everett doesn't... Isn't he a member? Yeah, he didn't remember later in life. On the other hand, other people say that Everett was there. And also, I don't know, Everett was a funny guy. But yeah, and certainly... There was a lot of sherry consumers.

There are many mysteries surrounding quantum mechanics. To me, the biggest mysteries are why physicists haven’t yet agreed on a complete understanding of the theory, and even more why they mostly seem content not to try. This puzzling attitude has historical roots that go back to the Bohr-Einstein debates. Adam Becker, in his book What Is Real?, looks at this history, and discusses how physicists have shied away from the foundations of quantum mechanics in the subsequent years. We discuss why this has been the case, and talk about some of the stubborn iconoclasts who insisted on thinking about it anyway.

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Adam Becker received his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Michigan. He is currently a science writer and a Visiting Scholar at the Center for Science, Technology, Medicine & Society at UC Berkeley. His book What Is Real? The Unfinished Quest for the Meaning of Quantum Physics comes out in paperback on Sept. 3, 2019.

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