Helgoland / Carlo Rovelli ; translated by Erica Segre and Simon Carnell.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rovelli, Carlo, 1956- author.

Contributor:

Edward Potts Cheyney Memorial Fund.

Segre, Erica, translator.

Carnell, Simon, 1962- translator.

Standardized Title:

Helgoland. English

Language:

English

Italian

Subjects (All):

Quantum theory.

Quantum theory--Popular works.

Genre:

Popular works.

Physical Description:

vii, 187 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm

Place of Publication:

London : Allen Lane, 2021.

Summary:

One of the our most celebrated thinkers and the bestselling author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, Carlo Rovelli has entranced millions of readers with his singular perspective on the cosmos. In Helgoland, he examines the enduring enigma of quantum theory. In June 1925, twenty-three-year-old Werner Heisenberg, suffering from hay fever, retreated to a treeless, wind-battered island in the North Sea called Helgoland. It was there that he came up with the key insight behind quantum mechanics. A century later, this theory has given us modern technology and nuclear energy but remains disconcerting, enigmatic and fiercely debated. Helgoland is the story of quantum physics and its bright young founders who were to become some of the most famous Nobel winners. It is a celebration of youthful rebellion and intellectual revolution. It is a transformative journey. Here Carlo Rovelli, a master storyteller and influential scientist, illuminates competing interpretations and offers his own original theory: the 'relational' interpretation of quantum mechanics, where the world is fundamentally made of relations and events rather than permanent substances. Where we, as every other thing around us, exist in our interactions with one another, in a never-ending game of mirrors. A riveting voyage, full of wonder and delight, Helgoland revolutionizes our understanding of the universe and our place in it.

Contents:

Looking into a strangely beautiful interior

A curious bestiary of extreme ideas

Is it possible that something is real in relation to you but not in relation to me?

The web of relations that weaves reality

The unambiguous description of an object includes the objects to which it manifests itself

'For nature it is a problem already solved'

But is it really possible?

Notes:

Translated from Italian.

Originally published in Italian by Adelphi Edizioni, Milan in 2020.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Edward Potts Cheyney Memorial Fund.

Other Format:

ebook version :

ISBN:

9780241454695

0241454697

OCLC:

1233306043

Publisher Number:

99987451393