Spooky Action at a Distance
Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2016 12:10 am
That's the name of a fun book on quantum mechanics that explores the phenomenon of nonlocality in physics. Nonlocality, VERY briefly, is the suggestion in quantum mechanics and other branches of physics that there might be no such thing as place and no such thing as distance.
Yes, it really is a fun read, not only because the writing is accessible to the layperson, but any astrologer will get a kick out of this quote by a physics professor, "if we take nonlocality seriously, if what happens here depends on what the stars are doing, it makes physics virtually impossible. If we really have to look to the stars to see our future, then I don't see how we can do physics anymore."
I think he's got that a little wrong, in the sense that you can still do physics and try to uncover unknown forces and, uh, the unknown. Meanwhile some of us will look to the stars as well.
Yes, it really is a fun read, not only because the writing is accessible to the layperson, but any astrologer will get a kick out of this quote by a physics professor, "if we take nonlocality seriously, if what happens here depends on what the stars are doing, it makes physics virtually impossible. If we really have to look to the stars to see our future, then I don't see how we can do physics anymore."
I think he's got that a little wrong, in the sense that you can still do physics and try to uncover unknown forces and, uh, the unknown. Meanwhile some of us will look to the stars as well.