The Story of Quantum Mechanics

by Victor Guillemin, Robert Guillemin (Illustrator), V. Guillemin

Overview

Written by a renowned MIT mathematician, this introduction to the evolution of quantum physics also explores the subject's philosophical implications. Topics include the development of physics from antiquity onward, research pertaining to elementary particles, and the relationship between physical science and issues of philosophy and religion. 48 illustrations. 1968 edition.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780486428741
Publisher:	Dover Publications
Publication date:	03/16/2012
Series:	General Science Series
Pages:	368
Product dimensions:	5.37(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Mathematician Victor Guillemin is a leader in the field of symplectic geometry who has also made fundamental contributions to mathematical physics, spectral theory, and microlocal analysis. The author of many textbooks and monographs, he is a tenured Professor in MIT's Department of Mathematics, where he has supervised more than 40 doctoral students.

Table of Contents

1 THE SCIENCE OF MOTION
Newtonian Mechanics
The Experimental-Deterministic Philosophy
The Twentieth Century
2 THE HISTORY OF ATOMISM
Origins of the Atomic Concept
The Chemical Atoms
The Molecules of the Physicists
The Coming of the Atomic Age
3 ATOMIC STRUCTURE
"Size, Mass and Motion"
Discovery of the Electron
The Atom Models of Thomson and Rutherford
The Bohr Atom Model
4 RADIANT ENERGY
Light Waves
Interference of Light Waves
Light Particles
The Bohr Theory of Atomic Radiation
5 CONSEQUENCES OF THE WAVE-PHOTON CONCEPT
Waves and Particles
Causality and Probability
6 MATTER WAVES
A New Mechanics
Particles and Waves
Waves and Atoms
7 THE PRINCIPLE OF UNCERTAINTY
Wave Packets
Precision of Measurement
Further Implications of Quantum Mechanics
8 APPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS
The Particle in a Box
Natural Radioactivity
The Solid State
Seeing with de Broglie Waves
Out of the Atomic Substratum
9 ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
Transmutation of Elements
Particles and More Particles
Discovering Particles
Particle Accelerators
Studying Particles
10 ORGANIZATION OF PARTICLES
A Table of Particles
The Leptons
The Mesons
The Baryons
Antiparticles
11 PARTICLE CHARACTERISTICS
Forces
Conservation Laws and Stability
Conservation Laws and Probabilities
Strangeness and Isotopic Spin
Resonances
Summary of Particle Experiments

12 IDEAS AND THEORIES
Quantum Field Theory
The Electrostatic Field
The Strong-Force Field
Action at a Distance
13 SYMMETRIES
Symmetries and Conservation Laws
The Nonconservation of Parity
Group Theory
Quarks
14 MORE THEORIES
S-Matrix Theory
Feynman Diagrams
Particle Energy Levels
Space and Time
Summary of Particle Theories
15 PHILOSOPHICAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE NEW PHYSICS
Science and Philosophy
Spiritual Values in the Old and the New Physics
16 CAUSALITY
Causality in Philosophy
Causality in Classical Science
17 FREE WILL
The Free Will Problem
The Nature of the Will
Free Will and Causality
Ethical Problems
18 "DETERMINISM, FREE WILL AND THE NEW PHYSICS"
Laplace versus the Uncertainty Principle
Diverse Interpretations
Criticisms
GLOSSARY OF SCIENTIFIC TERMS
FOR ADDITIONAL READING
INDEX

Editorial Reviews

"Clear and coherent...One of the most exciting aspects of the book is the author's account of how the consequences and implications of the breakthroughs in quantum mechanics challenged the mechanistic, deterministic philosophy fostered by classical science."

From the Publisher