Erwin Schrodinger and the Quantum Revolution - Hardcover

by John Gribbin (Author)

A lively, fascinating biography of the father of quantum mechanics by the bestselling author of the science classic, In Search of Schrödinger's Cat

Erwin Schrödinger, best known for his famous "Schrödinger's Cat" paradox, is one of the most famous physicists of the early twentieth century and a member of a new generation of quantum physicists, including Werner Heisenberg, Paul Dirac, and Niels Bohr. Yet Schrödinger's scientific discoveries only scratch the surface of what makes him so fascinating. More rumpled than Einstein, a devotee of eastern religion and philosophy, and infamous for his alternative lifestyle, his major contribution to physics--and the work for which he received the Nobel Prize in 1933--was to some extent a disappointment to him. Regardless, Schrödinger's masterpiece became an important part of the new physics of his time. This book tells the story of Schrödinger's surprisingly colorful life during one of the most fertile and creative moments in the history of science.

• The first accessible, in-depth biography of the Nobel Prize-winning Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger
• Takes you into the heart of the quantum revolution and explains the captivating world of quantum mechanics, which underpins all of modern science
• Written by bestselling author John Gribbin, one of today's greatest popular science writers whose other books include In Search of Schrödinger's Cat , In Search of the Multiverse, and Alone in the Universe

Front Jacket

Erwin Schrodinger is the grandfather of quantum physics best known for his thought experiment of a cat in a box, simultaneously dead and alive, which demonstrated the maddening absurdity of quantum physics. Author of the bestselling classic "In Search of Schrodinger's Cat," John Gribbin now explores the physicist behind the box.

"Erwin Schrodinger and the Quantum Revolution" is a riveting biography of a giant of physics who was as passionate about philosophy and Eastern religion as he was about science, who broke social convention to the detriment of his career, and who was a reluctant revolutionary of quantum physics. Raised on the scientific tradition of the nineteenth century, Erwin Schrodinger's major contribution to the new science of the twentieth century was his masterpiece wave theory of quanta for which he received a Nobel Prize. Schrodinger remains an integral part of the new physics of the twenty-first century.

Few scientists are known as snappy dressers, but Schrodinger sometimes made Einstein look like a fashion icon. On one occasion he had trouble gaining admission to an important scientific meeting because of his bedraggled appearance. Far more problematic were his unorthodox domestic arrangements. He horrified the old-fashioned establishment at Oxford when he turned up in England with both his wife and his mistress, and he was later not considered for a job at Princeton, working alongside Einstein, for the same reason.

More than a century after the first skirmishes of the quantum revolution, it may be difficult to understand what a profound shock it was for brilliant scientists like Schrodinger and Einstein to be confronted by the specter of uncertainty at the atomic level. Gribbin creates an almost wistful picture of the solid, predictable universe understood by Newtonian physicists--a world in which immutable laws of nature governed every micron of movement in a clockwork system. How, then, could an electron be in two places at once, or move from one place to another without passing through the space between, or be in no definable place at all? John Gribbin explains the complexity of quantum mechanics, as well as the complex character of this quantum pioneer, in his signature, lucid approach that any curious mind can understand.

Back Jacket

A lively, fascinating biography of the father of quantum mechanics by the bestselling author of In Search of Schrodinger's Cat

Erwin Schrodinger, best known for his famous Schrodinger's Cat paradox, is one of the most famous physicists of the twentieth century and the father of quantum mechanics. "Erwin Schrodinger and the Quantum Revolution" is the first accessible, in-depth biography of the Nobel Prize-winning Austrian physicist Erwin Schrodinger. It takes you into the heart of the quantum revolution and explains the captivating world of quantum mechanics, which underpins all of modern science. Written by bestselling author John Gribbin, one of today's greatest popular science writers, this book unlocks the mysteries of quantum physics as it tells the memorable life story of one of the most colorful and unorthodox scientists of the twentieth century.

"Gribbin is an established master in the game of demystifying quantum mechanics"
-Jim Al-Khalili

Author Biography

JOHN GRIBBIN is one of today's most successful and prolific writers of popular science. He is the author of bestselling books, including" In Search of Schrodinger's Cat, In Search of the Multiverse," and "Alone in the Universe." He trained as an astrophysicist at Cambridge University and is currently a Visiting Fellow in Astronomy at the University of Sussex.