Helgoland: Making Sense of the Quantum Revolution

by Carlo Rovelli

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Rovelli returns to the windswept island where a 23-year-old Heisenberg invented matrix mechanics in 1925 and uses that scene to defend the relational interpretation of quantum mechanics. He links quantum physics to the Indian philosopher Nagarjuna's doctrine of emptiness to argue that objects exist only in their interactions.

Published:: 2020
Pages:: 224

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In the Conversation

In this collection, Helgoland: Making Sense of the Quantum Revolution references 3 other books.

It draws on The Order of Time, The Elegant Universe and A Brief History of Time.

Scroll down to read the exact passages where other authors reference this book and what they say about it.

What This Book Draws On

The books Rovelli references and why each one mattered to the argument.

Helgoland extends the relational argument Rovelli first developed in The Order of Time, applying the same 'properties exist only in interactions' thesis from time to matter itself.

References

The Order of Time

by Carlo Rovelli

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Rovelli positions his relational quantum interpretation in dialogue with the string-theory worldview Brian Greene lays out in The Elegant Universe.

References

The Elegant Universe

by Brian Greene

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Discussing the measurement problem, Rovelli references Hawking's cosmological popularizations in A Brief History of Time as the backdrop against which his interpretation must compete.