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Cited by 2,985Quantum Mechanics and ApplicationsParticle physics theoretical and experimental studiesRelativity and Gravitational Theory

The DOI matches its Crossref record.

Speakable and Unspeakable in Quatum Mechanics

Bell, J. S., Mermin, N. David·1988·Physics Today
DOI 10.1063/1.2811599
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Abstract

‘… the history of cosmic theories may without exaggeration be called a history of collective obsessions and controlled schizophrenias; and the manner in which some of the most important individual discoveries were arrived at reminds one of a sleepwalker's performance …’ This is a quotation from A. Koestler's book The Sleepwalkers . It is an account of the Copernican revolution, with Copernicus, Kepler, and Galilei as heroes. Koestler was of course impressed by the magnitude of the step made by these men. He was also fascinated by the manner in which they made it. He saw them as motivated by irrational prejudice, obstinately adhered to, making mistakes which they did not discover, which somehow cancelled at the important points, and unable to recognize what was important in their results, among the mass of details. He concluded that they were not really aware of what they were doing … sleepwalkers. I thought it would be interesting to keep Koestler's thesis in mind as we hear at this meeting about contemporary theories from contemporary theorists. For many decades now our fundamental theories have rested on the two great pillars to which this meeting is dedicated: quantum theory and relativity. We will see that the lines of research opened up by these theories remain splendidly vital. We will see that order is brought into a vast and expanding array of experimental data. We will see even a continuing ability to get ahead of the experimental data … as with the existence and masses of the W and Z mesons.

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Metadata

Authors
Bell, J. S., & Mermin, N. D.
Affiliations
Cornell University (US)
Venue
Physics Today
Publisher
AIP Publishing
Published
1988-10-01
Volume
41
Issue
10
Pages
89-89
ISSN
  • 0031-9228 (ISSN-L)
  • 1945-0699
DOI
10.1063/1.2811599
OpenAlex
W2084883086
Cited by
2,985
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 62 · 2020: 67 · 2019: 89 · 2018: 62 · 2017: 71 · 2016: 117 · 2015: 126 · 2014: 159 · 2013: 129 · 2012: 149
Type
book review
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
Physics Today (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics › Quantum Mechanics and Applications
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Nuclear and High Energy Physics › Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Relativity and Gravitational Theory
Keywords
quantum mechanics, relativity, foundations of physics, history of physics, The Sleepwalkers, Copernican revolution, W and Z bosons

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