A Guess at the Riddle

Essays on the Physical Underpinnings of Quantum Mechanics

David Z Albert

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English

Harvard Uni.Press Academi
09 January 2024

Philosophy: metaphysics & ontology; Mathematics & Sciences; Philosophy of science; Popular science; Quantum physics (quantum mechanics & quantum field theory)

From the celebrated author of Quantum Mechanics and Experience comes an original and exhilarating attempt at making sense of the strange laws of quantum mechanics.

A century ago, a brilliant circle of physicists around Niels Bohr argued that the search for an objective, realistic, and mechanical picture of the inner workings of the atom-the kind of picture that had previously been an ideal of classical physics-was doomed to fail. Today, there is widespread agreement among philosophers and physicists that those arguments were wrong. However, the question of what that picture might look like, and how it might fit into a comprehensive picture of physical reality, remains unsettled.

In A Guess at the Riddle, philosopher David Z Albert argues that the distinctively strange features of quantum mechanics begin to make sense once we conceive of the wave function, vibrating and evolving in high-dimensional space, as the concrete, fundamental physical ""stuff"" of the universe. Starting with simple mechanical models, Albert methodically constructs the defining features of quantum mechanics from scratch. He shows how the entire history of our familiar, three-dimensional universe can be discerned in the wave function's intricate pattern of ripples and whorls. A major new work in the foundations of physics, A Guess at the Riddle is poised to transform our understanding of the basic architecture of the universe.

By: David Z Albert
Imprint: Harvard Uni.Press Academi
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 210mm, Width: 140mm,
ISBN: 9780674291263
ISBN 10: 0674291263
Pages: 144
Publication Date: 09 January 2024
Audience: Professional and scholarly , General/trade , Undergraduate , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

David Z Albert is Frederick E. Woodbridge Professor of Philosophy at Columbia University and the author of Quantum Mechanics and Experience, Time and Chance, and After Physics. His writing has appeared in numerous scholarly journals of physics and philosophy, as well as in the New York Times, the New York Review of Books, and Scientific American.

Reviews for A Guess at the Riddle: Essays on the Physical Underpinnings of Quantum Mechanics

An enormously significant contribution to the philosophy of physics and to metaphysics more generally. In his usual charming and deceptively easy-to-follow style, Albert proposes a novel account of the relation between the fundamental and the non-fundamental-one of the central issues in metaphysics. This is sure to generate a great deal of discussion in the field. -- Barry Loewer, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, Rutgers University