Description
A Nobel laureate offers a brief lesson on physics' biggest mystery, accessibly explaining the two quantum revolutions that changed our understanding of reality.
At the start of the twentieth century, the first quantum revolution upset our vision of the world. New physics offered surprising realities, such as wave-particle duality, and led to major inventions: the transistor, the laser, and today's computers. Less known is the second quantum revolution, arguably initiated in 1935 during a debate between giants Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr. This revolution is still unfolding. Its revolutionaries-including the author of this short accessible book, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Alain Aspect-explore the notion of entangled particles, able to interact at seemingly impossible distances. Aspect's research has helped to show how entanglement may both upend existing technologies, like cryptography, and usher in entirely new ones, like quantum computing. Explaining this physics of the future, this work tells a story of how philosophical debates can shape new realities.
About the Author
Alain Aspect is professor at Institut d'Optique-Universite Paris-Saclay, professor at Ecole Polytechnique, and CNRS senior scientist emeritus. Among his many awards, Aspect was a co-recipient of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics "for experiments with entangled photons, establishing the violation of Bell inequalities and pioneering quantum information science." Teresa Lavender Fagan is a freelance translator living in Chicago; she has translated numerous books for the University of Chicago Press and other publishers.
Reviews
"Fascinating. . . . Aspect's beautiful experiment, completed in 1982, had a catalyzing effect on the scientific community. . . . The tiny spark of the second quantum revolution began to grow." -- David Kaiser, author of "Quantum Legacies," from the foreword
"Lively, accessible, and brisk, Aspect's book tells a compelling century-long story of groundbreaking discoveries. This is the perfect introduction to turn any reader into a quantum physics enthusiast." -- Florian Carle, manager of the Yale Quantum Institute
"This book tells a magnificent story of science, in which experimentation made it possible to resolve philosophical debates." * Pour la Science (France), on the French-language edition *
"Simple and excellent." * L'affranchi de Chaumont (France), on the French-language edition *
"A slim book that authoritatively outlines the foundations and paradoxical consequences [of quantum mechanics]." -- Piero Bianucci * La Stampa (Italy), on the Italian-language edition *
"Retraces one of the liveliest scientific debates of the last century." * Almanacco della Scienza (Italy), on the Italian-language edition *
"This book is a journey between theory and experiment, between mathematical models and reality, between science and technology." -- Massimo Inguscio, president emeritus of the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Italy, from the foreword to the Italian-language edition
Book Information
ISBN 9780226832012
Author Alain Aspect
Format Hardback
Page Count 112
Imprint University of Chicago Press
Publisher The University of Chicago Press
Weight(grams) 227g
Dimensions(mm) 203mm * 127mm * 15mm
At the start of the twentieth century, the first quantum revolution upset our vision of the world. New physics offered surprising realities, such as wave-particle duality, and led to major inventions: the transistor, the laser, and today's computers. Less known is the second quantum revolution, arguably initiated in 1935 during a debate between giants Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr. This revolution is still unfolding. Its revolutionaries-including the author of this short accessible book, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Alain Aspect-explore the notion of entangled particles, able to interact at seemingly impossible distances. Aspect's research has helped to show how entanglement may both upend existing technologies, like cryptography, and usher in entirely new ones, like quantum computing. Explaining this physics of the future, this work tells a story of how philosophical debates can shape new realities.
About the Author
Alain Aspect is professor at Institut d'Optique-Universite Paris-Saclay, professor at Ecole Polytechnique, and CNRS senior scientist emeritus. Among his many awards, Aspect was a co-recipient of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics "for experiments with entangled photons, establishing the violation of Bell inequalities and pioneering quantum information science." Teresa Lavender Fagan is a freelance translator living in Chicago; she has translated numerous books for the University of Chicago Press and other publishers.
Reviews
"Fascinating. . . . Aspect's beautiful experiment, completed in 1982, had a catalyzing effect on the scientific community. . . . The tiny spark of the second quantum revolution began to grow." -- David Kaiser, author of "Quantum Legacies," from the foreword
"Lively, accessible, and brisk, Aspect's book tells a compelling century-long story of groundbreaking discoveries. This is the perfect introduction to turn any reader into a quantum physics enthusiast." -- Florian Carle, manager of the Yale Quantum Institute
"This book tells a magnificent story of science, in which experimentation made it possible to resolve philosophical debates." * Pour la Science (France), on the French-language edition *
"Simple and excellent." * L'affranchi de Chaumont (France), on the French-language edition *
"A slim book that authoritatively outlines the foundations and paradoxical consequences [of quantum mechanics]." -- Piero Bianucci * La Stampa (Italy), on the Italian-language edition *
"Retraces one of the liveliest scientific debates of the last century." * Almanacco della Scienza (Italy), on the Italian-language edition *
"This book is a journey between theory and experiment, between mathematical models and reality, between science and technology." -- Massimo Inguscio, president emeritus of the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Italy, from the foreword to the Italian-language edition
Book Information
ISBN 9780226832012
Author Alain Aspect
Format Hardback
Page Count 112
Imprint University of Chicago Press
Publisher The University of Chicago Press
Weight(grams) 227g
Dimensions(mm) 203mm * 127mm * 15mm
