In Search Of Schrodinger's Cat: Updated Edition

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No: There's no such things as "infinitely small" things -- things are there, or not there. But they may be too small for you to detect. The story seems to be that Quantum Mechanics is so weird, a cat can be both alive and dead until we look!

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In 1984, Gribbin published In Search of Schrodinger's Cat: Quantum Physics and Reality, the book that he is best known for, which continues to sell well 28 years after publication. It has been described as among the best of the first wave of physics popularisations preceding Stephen Hawking's multi-million-selling A Brief History of Time. Gribbin's book has been cited as an example of how to revive an interest in the study of mathematics. No leía este libro desde que tenía unos 16 o 17 años. En aquel entonces comenzaba a enamorarme algo de la física y este libro definitivamente hizo parte del proceso. Hoy quiero que otros se enamoren del tema y quería saber que podía aprender del libro para mi propio ejercicio de divulgación. The first two parts of the book explore the discussions, and scientific developments as quantum theories began to emerge from classical Newtonian approaches. One can even set up quite ridiculous cases. A cat is penned up in a steel chamber, along with the following device (which must be secured against direct interference by the cat)... Schrodinger? I don't think I have met him. Does he live hereabouts?" I knew I had made a mistake the moment the question left my lips, because the cat's face darkened like thunder.In the last section the signature of a century-long debate, logic hurling, a plethora of thought experiments, and lots of recipes from the quantum cookbook grace the book. Without pulling any mathematical punches the author neatly explains lasers, masers, semiconductors, quantum computers, entanglement, and things of not-so-distant or far away future. The third part probes some of the deeper mysteries, possibilities and paradoxes of quantum mechanics. Also it was interesting finally to find out what stands behind the overused metaphor of Schrodinger's cat:-) Oh... Now I remember." I said. (I did only vaguely - but I wanted to save myself from getting scratched, which I seemed to be in imminent danger of.) "Wasn't he the famous quantum scientist?" Schrödinger's story is a critique of the idea of quantum blurriness. But, some pop sci author read the story, thought it was meant to be interpreted literally ("Large felines can exhibit quantum blurriness") and countless others retell the explanation, not the story. It's like hearing that the Emperor's New Clothes is about the eye-opening power of fashion without reading the tale yourself.

Learning Gotcha: How We Misunderstood Schrödinger’s Cat Learning Gotcha: How We Misunderstood Schrödinger’s Cat

It's really really well written, even by the high standards of popular science set by the luminaries, and remains deliciously readable even after more than three decades since its publication. If you asked an intelligent well-read but non-scientific person to summarise the most important contributions of science to our present lives and suggest the possible benefits or hazards of scientific progress in the near future, you’d surely be given a list that included: Both events happened, but we don't know which alternate universe we're in. Maybe every possible outcome creates a new timeline. (I flip a coin and put it under my hand. Are we in a spooky quantum state?)

The only reasonable explanation for this, says Deutsch, is that the superposition actually represents 256 different computers operating in 256 different parallel universes…”the fact that quantum computing works proves that many worlds exist.” The book does show its age at parts but his amazement at PCs and LASERs does not change the fact that they are awesome and stem from the study of quantum mechanics. A larger flaw is his matter-of-fact presentation of certain controversial theories as "yeah, that's the way it is; don't bother investigating further."

An Elizabethan male dramatist (or female?), unbeknownst to himself succinctly put this --"To be or not to be". On quantum computing: Deutsch has drawn important conclusions from the success of quantum computing. A store, usually called a register, made up of 8 qubits could remember 256 numbers simultaneously. Oh! The best thing about this theory is (to many) that God is not inclined here to play addictive games like dice. When you decide to open the box the world instantly splits into two with a dead cat in one and a purring and very much alive cat in another. The world you observe will make the result for you.As an incurable optimist it is the interpretation of quantum mechanics that appeals most to me. All things are possible. And by our actions we choose our own paths through the many worlds of the quantum...one of the anecdotes told and retold about Niels Bohr is that when someone came to him with a wild idea purporting to resolve one of the puzzles of quantum theory in the 1920’s he replied, “Your theory is crazy. But it’s not crazy enough to be true.”” Philosophically, the issue reminds me of how we think about infinitely small quantities. Do infinitesimals exist? John R. Gribbin is a British science writer, an astrophysicist, and a visiting fellow in astronomy at the University of Sussex. The topical range of his prolific writings includes quantum physics, biographies of famous scientists, human evolution, the origins of the universe, climate change and global warming. His also writes science fiction. Your observation (at a subatomic level) is the modicum of truth-seeking, like a heavy-bottomed flashlight in the dark or that old hand-held camera, that will ensure a freeze frame of surety within this slithy, gyrating confederacy of indeterminacy. Another theory, the MWI or Many World Interpretation is not big on uncertainty but hurls another outrageous curveball.