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  • Published: 1 May 2013
  • ISBN: 9780552777599
  • Imprint: Black Swan
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 400
  • RRP: $32.99
Categories:

Erwin Schrodinger and the Quantum Revolution




A fascinating and colourful biography of the father of quantum mechanics, by the bestselling author of the science classic, In Search of Schrödinger's Cat.

Erwin Schrödinger was an Austrian physicist famous for his contribution to quantum physics. He won the Nobel Prize in 1933 and is best known for his thought experiment of a cat in a box, both alive and dead at the same time, which revealed the seemingly paradoxical nature of quantum mechanics.

Schrödinger was working at one of the most fertile and creative moments in the whole history of science. By the time he started university in 1906, Einstein had already published his revolutionary papers on relativity. Now the baton of scientific progress was being passed to a new generation: Werner Heisenberg, Paul Dirac, Niels Bohr, and of course, Schrödinger himself.

In this riveting biography John Gribbin takes us into the heart of the quantum revolution. He tells the story of Schrödinger's surprisingly colourful life (he arrived for a position at Oxford University with both his wife and mistress). And with his trademark accessible style and popular touch, he explains the fascinating world of quantum mechanics, which underpins all of modern science.

  • Published: 1 May 2013
  • ISBN: 9780552777599
  • Imprint: Black Swan
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 400
  • RRP: $32.99
Categories:

About the author

John Gribbin

John Gribbin gained a PhD from the Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge (then under the leadership of Fred Hoyle) before working as a science journalist for Nature and later New Scientist. He is the author of a number of bestselling popular science books, including In Search of Schrödinger's Cat, In Search of the Multiverse, Science: A History and The Universe: A Biography. He is a Visiting Fellow at the University of Sussex and in 2000 was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

John Gribbin is one of today's greatest writers of popular science and the author of bestselling books including In Search of Schrodinger's Cat, Stardust, Science: A History, Deep Simplicity and The Fellowship. He is famous to his many fans for making complex ideas simple, and says that his aim in his writing - much of it done with his wife Mary Gribbin - is to share his sense of wonder at the strangeness of the universe with his readers. John Gribbin trained as an astrophysicist at Cambridge University and is currently Visiting Fellow in Astronomy at the University of Sussex. He also enjoys working on science-fiction stories in his spare time, and does most of his writing in a shed in his back garden.

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Praise for Erwin Schrodinger and the Quantum Revolution

Gribbin is an established master in the game of demystifying quantum mechanics

Jim Al-Khalili

The master of popular science writing

Sunday Times

A fascinating tale of scientific endeavour . . . Gribbin expertly elucidates the relationships and discoveries that shaped Schrodinger's thoughts, including his lengthy correspondence with Albert Einstein, which led to the famous cat-in-the-box thought experiment . . . Anyone wishing to dip their feet in the muddy waters of quantum physics will enjoy this scientific soap opera. But it should be required reading for those eager to understand how the process of scientific discovery really works

New Scientist

Gribbin lucidly describes Schrödinger's Silver Surfer view of the universe, as well as revealing some of the more colourful details of Schrödinger's life... at its heart, this book is a fight for the soul of the quantum world

Daily Telegraph
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