About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherPrinceton University Press

ISBN-100691095515

ISBN-139780691095516

eBay Product ID (ePID)2235316

Product Key Features

Number of Pages320 Pages

Publication NameQuantum Philosophy : Understanding and Interpreting Contemporary Science

LanguageEnglish

Publication Year2002

SubjectPhysics / Quantum Theory, Philosophy & Social Aspects, History & Philosophy, Physics / General

TypeTextbook

AuthorRoland Omnès

Subject AreaMathematics, Science

FormatTrade Paperback

Dimensions

Item Height0.7 in

Item Weight17.5 Oz

Item Length9.5 in

Item Width6.6 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceCollege Audience

Reviews"With a contagious sense of wonder, Omnes invites his readers, who need no expertise beyond an active curiosity, to share in the exhilarating denouement of humanity's 2,500-year quest to fathom the natural order." -- Booklist, "The line separating physics from philosophy, like the one between the quantum world and the classical, is often blurred. Roland Omnès . . . affirms the connections between the two fields." ---Daniel B. Radov, American Scientist, With a contagious sense of wonder, Omnes invites his readers, who need no expertise beyond an active curiosity, to share in the exhilarating denouement of humanity's 2,500-year quest to fathom the natural order., [ Quantum Philosophy ] will prove to be [an] indispensable adjunct . . . to standard quantum mechanics and philosophy of science courses. -- Richard Scalettar, Physics Today, The line separating physics from philosophy, like the one between the quantum world and the classical, is often blurred. Roland Omn s . . . affirms the connections between the two fields. -- Daniel B. Radov, American Scientist, The line separating physics from philosophy, like the one between the quantum world and the classical, is often blurred. Roland Omnès . . . affirms the connections between the two fields., "[ Quantum Philosophy ] will prove to be [an] indispensable adjunct . . . to standard quantum mechanics and philosophy of science courses." ---Richard Scalettar, Physics Today, [Quantum Philosophy] will prove to be [an] indispensable adjunct . . . to standard quantum mechanics and philosophy of science courses., "[ Quantum Philosophy ] will prove to be [an] indispensable adjunct . . . to standard quantum mechanics and philosophy of science courses." --Richard Scalettar, Physics Today, "The line separating physics from philosophy, like the one between the quantum world and the classical, is often blurred. Roland Omnès . . . affirms the connections between the two fields."-- Daniel B. Radov, American Scientist, "The line separating physics from philosophy, like the one between the quantum world and the classical, is often blurred. Roland Omns . . . affirms the connections between the two fields." --Daniel B. Radov, American Scientist, The line separating physics from philosophy, like the one between the quantum world and the classical, is often blurred. Roland Omnès . . . affirms the connections between the two fields. -- Daniel B. Radov, American Scientist, With a contagious sense of wonder, Omnes invites his readers, who need no expertise beyond an active curiosity, to share in the exhilarating denouement of humanity's 2,500-year quest to fathom the natural order. -- Booklist, "[ Quantum Philosophy ] will prove to be [an] indispensable adjunct . . . to standard quantum mechanics and philosophy of science courses."-- Richard Scalettar, Physics Today, "The line separating physics from philosophy, like the one between the quantum world and the classical, is often blurred. Roland Omnès . . . affirms the connections between the two fields." --Daniel B. Radov, American Scientist, "The line separating physics from philosophy, like the one between the quantum world and the classical, is often blurred. Roland Omns . . . affirms the connections between the two fields."-- Daniel B. Radov, American Scientist, [ Quantum Philosophy ] will prove to be [an] indispensable adjunct . . . to standard quantum mechanics and philosophy of science courses., "With a contagious sense of wonder, Omnes invites his readers, who need no expertise beyond an active curiosity, to share in the exhilarating denouement of humanity's 2,500-year quest to fathom the natural order."-- Booklist, [Quantum Philosophy] will prove to be [an] indispensable adjunct . . . to standard quantum mechanics and philosophy of science courses. -- Richard Scalettar, Physics Today

IllustratedYes

Table Of ContentPreface Acknowledgments Prelude Pt. 1 The Legacy 1 Ch. I Classical Logic 6 Ch. II Classical Physics 23 Ch. III Classical Mathematics 47 Ch. IV Classical Philosophy of Knowledge 62 Pt. 2 The Fracture 79 Ch. V Formal Mathematics 84 Ch. VI The Philosophy of Mathematics 108 Ch. VII Formal Physics 124 Ch. VIII The Epistemology of Physics 147 Pt. 3 From Formal Back to Visual: The Quantum Case 159 Ch. IX Between Logic and Physics 163 Ch. X Rediscovering Common Sense 184 Ch. XI From the Measurable to the Unmeasurable 196 Ch. XII On Realism 216 Pt. 4 State of the Question and Perspectives 235 Ch. XIII A New Beginning 237 Ch. XIV What Is Science? 246 Ch. XV Method 255 Ch. XVI Vanishing Perspectives 269 Glossary 283 Name Index 291 Subject Index 295

SynopsisReviews the history and recent development of mathematics, logic, and the physical sciences to show that current work in quantum theory offers new answers to questions that have puzzled philosophers for centuries: Is the world ultimately intelligible? Are all events caused? Do objects have definitive locations?, In this magisterial work, Roland Omn s takes us from the academies of ancient Greece to the laboratories of modern science as he seeks to do no less than rebuild the foundations of the philosophy of knowledge. One of the world's leading quantum physicists, Omn s reviews the history and recent development of mathematics, logic, and the physical sciences to show that current work in quantum theory offers new answers to questions that have puzzled philosophers for centuries: Is the world ultimately intelligible? Are all events caused? Do objects have definitive locations? Omn s addresses these profound questions with vigorous arguments and clear, colorful writing, aiming not just to advance scholarship but to enlighten readers with no background in science or philosophy. The book opens with an insightful and sweeping account of the main developments in science and the philosophy of knowledge from the pre-Socratic era to the nineteenth century. Omn s then traces the emergence in modern thought of a fracture between our intuitive, commonsense views of the world and the abstract and--for most people--incomprehensible world portrayed by advanced physics, math, and logic. He argues that the fracture appeared because the insights of Einstein and Bohr, the logical advances of Frege, Russell, and G del, and the necessary mathematics of infinity of Cantor and Hilbert cannot be fully expressed by words or images only. Quantum mechanics played an important role in this development, as it seemed to undermine intuitive notions of intelligibility, locality, and causality. However, Omn s argues that common sense and quantum mechanics are not as incompatible as many have thought. In fact, he makes the provocative argument that the "consistent-histories" approach to quantum mechanics, developed over the past fifteen years, places common sense (slightly reappraised and circumscribed) on a firm scientific and philosophical footing for the first time. In doing so, it provides what philosophers have sought through the ages: a sure foundation for human knowledge. Quantum Philosophy is a profound work of contemporary science and philosophy and an eloquent history of the long struggle to understand the nature of the world and of knowledge itself., In this magisterial work, Roland Omnes takes us from the academies of ancient Greece to the laboratories of modern science as he seeks to do no less than rebuild the foundations of the philosophy of knowledge. One of the world's leading quantum physicists, Omnes reviews the history and recent development of mathematics, logic, and the physical sciences to show that current work in quantum theory offers new answers to questions that have puzzled philosophers for centuries: Is the world ultimately intelligible? Are all events caused? Do objects have definitive locations? Omnes addresses these profound questions with vigorous arguments and clear, colorful writing, aiming not just to advance scholarship but to enlighten readers with no background in science or philosophy. The book opens with an insightful and sweeping account of the main developments in science and the philosophy of knowledge from the pre-Socratic era to the nineteenth century. Omnes then traces the emergence in modern thought of a fracture between our intuitive, commonsense views of the world and the abstract and--for most people--incomprehensible world portrayed by advanced physics, math, and logic.He argues that the fracture appeared because the insights of Einstein and Bohr, the logical advances of Frege, Russell, and Godel, and the necessary mathematics of infinity of Cantor and Hilbert cannot be fully expressed by words or images only.Quantum mechanics played an important role in this development, as it seemed to undermine intuitive notions of intelligibility, locality, and causality. However, Omnes argues that common sense and quantum mechanics are not as incompatible as many have thought. In fact, he makes the provocative argument that the "consistent-histories" approach to quantum mechanics, developed over the past fifteen years, places common sense (slightly reappraised and circumscribed) on a firm scientific and philosophical footing for the first time. In doing so, it provides what philosophers have sought through the ages: a sure foundation for human knowledge. Quantum Philosophy is a profound work of contemporary science and philosophy and an eloquent history of the long struggle to understand the nature of the world and of knowledge itself., In this magisterial work, Roland Omnès takes us from the academies of ancient Greece to the laboratories of modern science as he seeks to do no less than rebuild the foundations of the philosophy of knowledge. One of the world's leading quantum physicists, Omnès reviews the history and recent development of mathematics, logic, and the physical sciences to show that current work in quantum theory offers new answers to questions that have puzzled philosophers for centuries: Is the world ultimately intelligible? Are all events caused? Do objects have definitive locations? Omnès addresses these profound questions with vigorous arguments and clear, colorful writing, aiming not just to advance scholarship but to enlighten readers with no background in science or philosophy. The book opens with an insightful and sweeping account of the main developments in science and the philosophy of knowledge from the pre-Socratic era to the nineteenth century. Omnès then traces the emergence in modern thought of a fracture between our intuitive, commonsense views of the world and the abstract and--for most people--incomprehensible world portrayed by advanced physics, math, and logic. He argues that the fracture appeared because the insights of Einstein and Bohr, the logical advances of Frege, Russell, and Gödel, and the necessary mathematics of infinity of Cantor and Hilbert cannot be fully expressed by words or images only. Quantum mechanics played an important role in this development, as it seemed to undermine intuitive notions of intelligibility, locality, and causality. However, Omnès argues that common sense and quantum mechanics are not as incompatible as many have thought. In fact, he makes the provocative argument that the "consistent-histories" approach to quantum mechanics, developed over the past fifteen years, places common sense (slightly reappraised and circumscribed) on a firm scientific and philosophical footing for the first time. In doing so, it provides what philosophers have sought through the ages: a sure foundation for human knowledge. Quantum Philosophy is a profound work of contemporary science and philosophy and an eloquent history of the long struggle to understand the nature of the world and of knowledge itself.

LC Classification NumberQC6