Einstein Defiant

"I find the idea quite intolerable that an electron exposed to radiation should choose of its own free will, not only its moment to jump off, but also its direction. In that case, I would rather be a cobbler, or even an employee in a gaming house, than a physicist." -Albert EinsteinA scandal hovers over the history of 20th century physics. Albert Einstein—the century's greatest physicist—was never able to come to terms with quantum mechanics, the century's greatest theoretical achievement. For physicists who routinely use both quantum laws and Einstein's ideas, this contradiction can be almost too embarrassing to dwell on. Yet Einstein was one of the founders of quantum physics and he spent many years preaching the quantum's importance and its revolutionary nature.The Danish genius Neils Bohr was another founder of quantum physics. He had managed to solve one of the few physics problems that Einstein ever shied away from, linking quantum mathematics with a new model of the atom. This leap immediately yielded results that explained electron behavior and the periodic table of the elements.Despite their mutual appreciation of the quantum's importance, these two giants of modern physics never agreed on the fundamentals of their work. In fact, they clashed repeatedly throughout the 1920s, arguing first over Einstein's theory of "light quanta"(photons), then over Niels Bohr's short-lived theory that denied the conservation of energy at the quantum level, and climactically over the new quantum mechanics that Bohr enthusiastically embraced and Einstein stubbornly defied.This contest of visions stripped the scientific imagination naked. Einstein was a staunch realist, demanding to know the physical reasons behind physical events. At odds with this approach was Bohr's more pragmatic perspective that favored theories that worked, even if he might not have a corresponding explanation of the underlying reality. Powerful and illuminating, Einstein Defiant is the first book to capture the soul and the science that inspired this dramatic duel, revealing the personalities and the passions—and, in the end, what was at stake for the world.Table of ContentsFront MatterA RADICAL FACT RESISTED1 The Opposite of an Intriguer2 Not German at All3 I Never Fully Understood It4 Independence and Inner Freedom5 A Mercy of Fate6 Picturesque Phrases7 Scientific Dada8 Such a Devil of a Fellow9 Intuition and Inspiration10 Bold, Not to Say Reckless11 A Completely New Lesson12 Slaves to Time and Space13 Where All Weaker Imaginations Wither14 A Triumph of Einstein Over BohrA RADICAL THEORY CREATED15 Something Deeply Hidden16 Completely Solved17 Exciting and Exacting Times18 Intellectual Drunkenness19 The Observant Executrix20 It Might Look Crazy21 Taking Nothing Solemnly22 How Much More GratifyingA RADICAL UNDERSTANDING DEFIED23 Sorcerer’s Multiplication24 Adding Two Nonsenses25 Admiration and Suspicion26 An Unrelenting Fanatic27 The Secret of the Old One28 Indeterminacy29 A Very Ple