The quantum labyrinth : how Richard Feynman and John Wheeler revolutionized time and reality / Paul Halpern, PhD.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Halpern, Paul, 1961- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Feynman, Richard P. (Richard Phillips), 1918-1988.

Feynman, Richard P.

Wheeler, John Archibald, 1911-2008.

Wheeler, John Archibald.

Quantum theory.

Time.

Space and time.

Reality.

Physical Description:

ix, 311 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Basic Books, 2017.

Summary:

"In Fall 1939, Richard Feynman, a brash and brilliant recent graduate of MIT, arrived in John Wheeler's Princeton office to report for duty as his teaching assistant. The prim and proper Wheeler timed their interaction with a watch placed on the table. Feynman caught on, and for the next meeting brought his own cheap watch, set it on the table next to Wheeler's, and also began timing the chat. The two had a hearty laugh and a lifelong friendship was born. At first glance, they would seem an unlikely pair. Feynman was rough on the exterior, spoke in a working class Queens accent, and loved playing bongo drums, picking up hitchhikers, and exploring out-of-the way places. Wheeler was a family man, spoke softly and politely, dressed in suits, and had the manners of a minister. Yet intellectually, their roles were reversed. Wheeler was a raging nonconformist, full of wild ideas about space, time, and the universe. Feynman was very cautious in his research, wanting to prove and confirm everything himself. Yet when Feynman saw merit in one of Wheeler's crazy ideas and found that it matched experimental data, their joint efforts paid off phenomenally"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction: A revolution in time

Wheeler's watch

The only particle in the universe

All the roads not to paradise

The hidden paths of ghosts

The island and the mountains: mapping the particle landscape

Life as an amoeba in the foamy sea of possibilities

Time's arrow and the mysterious Mr. X

Minds, machines, and the cosmos

Conclusion: The way of the labyrinth

Epilogue: Encounters with Wheeler.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Halpern, Paul, 1961- Quantum labyrinth.

ISBN:

9780465097586

0465097588

OCLC:

968771418