Einstein's Physics for the Lay Person: How Einstein Revolutionized Our Understanding Of The Universe by Madeleine Santos

Author:Madeleine Santos [Santos, Madeleine]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2018-03-14T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 4 Quantum Theory

There are two types of physicists: experimental and theoretical. The experimental physicist attempts to explain or discover physical phenomena by performing experiments while the theoretical physicist tries to develop a theoretical framework to explain or predict the results of experiments and observations in Nature. In 1897, the eminent experimental physicist J.J. Thompson discovered the electron and ushered in the the atomic age. As experimental physicists flocked into atomic research, the theoretical physicists scrambled to develop a framework to explain the myriad of data that the experimentalists were discovering.

Quantum theory (or quantum mechanics, as it is interchangeably called) emerged as the dominant theoretical framework for explaining what was happening at the micro level of the universe. Today, it is considered one the most - if not the most - accurate scientific theory ever developed. In this chapter, we will discuss its early development. Along the way, we will learn some amazing fundamental truths about the world of the infinitesimal and meet the geniuses who peeled the onion layers so we can know “God’s thoughts” at the other end of the universe’s spectrum.

As we learn about each fundamental truth at the quantum level and meet the genius who discovered it, please pay special attention to the role that Einstein played (directly or indirectly) in influencing the discovery. If you recall our analogy with Michael Jordan and his imagined influence on the NBA championships won by Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Kawhi Leonard, it is in this chapter that you will see Einstein’s actual non-imagined influence on the discoveries that led to the Nobel Prizes that were awarded to the giants of quantum mechanics.

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