Erwin Schrodinger And The Quantum Revolution

Description

Erwin Schrodinger was an Austrian physicist famous for his contribution to quantum physics. He won the Nobel Prize in 1933 and is best known for his thought experiment of a cat in a box, both alive and dead at the same time, which revealed the seemingly paradoxical nature of quantum mechanics. Schrodinger was working at one of the most fertile and creative moments in the whole history of science. By the time he started university in 1906, Einstein had already published his revolutionary papers on relativity. Now the baton of scientific progress was being passed to a new generation: Werner Heisenberg, Paul Dirac, Niels Bohr, and of course, Schrodinger himself. In this riveting biography John Gribbin takes us into the heart of the quantum revolution. He tells the story of Schrodinger's surprisingly colourful life (he arrived for a position at Oxford University with both his wife and mistress). And with his trademark accessible style and popular touch, he explains the fascinating world of quantum mechanics, which underpins all of modern science.

Promotion info

A fascinating and colourful biography of the father of quantum mechanics, by the bestselling author of the science classic, In Search of Schrodinger's Cat.

Reviews

"A fascinating tale of scientific endeavour ... Gribbin expertly elucidates the relationships and discoveries that shaped Schrodinger's thoughts, including his lengthy correspondence with Albert Einstein, which led to the famous cat-in-the-box thought experiment ... Anyone wishing to dip their feet in the muddy waters of quantum physics will enjoy this scientific soap opera. But it should be required reading for those eager to understand how the process of scientific discovery really works" New Scientist "Gribbin is an established master in the game of demystifying quantum mechanics" Jim Al-Khalili "The master of popular science writing" Sunday Times

Author description

John Gribbin gained a PhD from the Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge (then under the leadership of Fred Hoyle) before working as a science journalist for Nature and later New Scientist. He is the author of a number of bestselling popular science books, including In Search of Schrodinger's Cat, In Search of the Multiverse, Science: A History and The Universe: A Biography. He is a Visiting Fellow at the University of Sussex and in 2000 was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.