The Quantum Enigma: A 20-Year Retrospective with Author Fred Kuttner

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Thousands of books have been written about quantum theory. Originally conceived in the early 20th Century, its successes — and mysteries — continue to make to make news, whether the topic is the latest quantum computer or a new interpretation of the “measurement problem.”  While modern science trumpets the theory’s successes on a practical level, a mystery remains: what does the theory tell us about what is “out-there,” about what the world is made of?  The famous two-slit experiment shows that what we thought were either particles or waves are in fact neither and both. at the same time.  Physicists describe the quantum world by a wave equation; but when we look at things in the world we do not see waves.  Instead, when we make an observation or take a measurement we see not a wave but instead a hard, physical world.  Under one interpretation, an observation is said to “collapse” the wave function. But how does this happen? Of the thousands of books written about quantum theory, The Quantum Enigma: Physics Encounters Consciousness, written by Bruce Rosenblum and Fred Kuttner 20 years ago, remains one of the most approachable and thought-provoking books on the topic.  Based on an outline for a popular science course the authors taught to non-science majors, the book introduces the readers to the history, framework, uses, and mysteries of this fascinating topic.  Celebrating the 20th year anniversary of the book’s publication, co-author Fred Kuttner joins host Philip Comella to discuss how Bruce and Fred wrote the book and whether physicists know anything more about the quantum world today than they did when the book was first published.

Check our video chat here!