Re: [Phys-l] readings on quantum mechanics for general public by founders of QM?

[Hugh Haskell <haskellh@verizon.net>]

At 2:23 PM -0700 4/23/11, Krishna Chowdary wrote:

> Please suggest essays, articles, or books by pioneers in quantum
> mechanics (I'm hoping for early pioneers, such as Planck, Bohr,
> Einstein, Heisenberg, Pauli, etc.) about quantum mechanics that were
> intended for the general public at the time they were published. I
> recognize that there are later textbooks which might be easier for
> contemporary students to understand, and I plan to use those as well,
> but those sources aren't too difficult to find and identify.
>
> Here are some examples for other topics:
>
> 1) Galileo's two "Dialogues" (Chief World Systems and New Sciences).
> You may object that these were not written for the general public, and
> that would be a separate and interesting discussion, but I put it in
> this category as he wrote in Italian and not Latin.
>
> 2) Einstein's "Relativity: The Special and General Theory". In his
> preface, Einstein explicitly indicates his proposed audience. I
> recognize that modern treatments that emphasize the geometric nature
> of spacetime might be preferred by some (including me), but it fits my
> parameters very well.
>
> While books like Gamow's "Thirty Years That Shook Physics: The Story
> of Quantum Theory" and Infeld's (with Einstein) "The Evolution of
> Physics" are pretty close to what I'm looking, I'm hoping from
> suggestions about what the pioneers themselves wrote about quantum
> physics.
>
> For context, this is for a team-taught interdisciplinary program that
> will be studying revolutions in physics and theater (and possibly
> music) in the early modern period (e.g. Galileo, Shakespeare) and in
> the early 20th century (relativity and QM for the physics). The
> program will be at the introductory and general education level. We'll
> read selections from Galileo and Einstein's book mentioned above.

I can't offer much in the way of a direct response beyond what John 
Denker has already said, except to note that both Gamow and Einstein 
were "in at the beginning" and so their view of what went on in those 
decades are certainly relevant.

Also, many of those players have written memoirs which more or less 
chart their courses through the birth of quantum physics, although 
they don't always concentrate on making the explanations of their 
work detailed enough to help in what it appears you are doing.

But on the theatre side, the essential reference is Kirsten 
Shepherd-Barr's book, "Science on Stage--From Doctor Faustus to 
Copenhagen" (Princeton, 2006). If you don't have it, you need to get 
it. It is an extensive listing and discussion of plays about all 
aspects of science and mathematics up to about 2005. The list has 
expanded substantially since, not only into more plays, but also to 
music, novels and even poetry. Shepherd-Barr is presently teaching in 
the English department at Oxford, in the UK.

A Google search will also provide an extensive list of contemporary 
plays about physics, some historical, some fictional, some amusing. 
It turns out that science is a pretty popular subject for playwrights 
and other practitioners of the performing arts.

Good luck. This is an area in which I am very interested, and I hope 
it succeeds.

Hugh
--

Hugh Haskell
mailto:hugh@ieer.org
mailto:haskellh@verizon.net

It isn't easy being green.

		--Kermit Lagrenouille