The Demon and the Quantum: From the Pythagorean Mystics to Maxwell's Demon and Quantum Mystery
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"Robert Scully, a diesel mechanic, enjoys tormenting scientists with demonic questions. Thereby he has produced a brilliant hiker's guide to the galaxy of atomic physics. He offers fresh insights into quantum theory, especially its profound interplay with information science, delivered with startling clarity and exuberant verve. For hikers eager to trot onward, endnotes by his father Marlan, a distinguished physicist, provide spirited but docile mathematical horses." - Dudley Herschbach, Nobel Laureate, Chemistry, Harvard University "I've read 'The Demon and the Quantum' with interest. The book is impressive, with much careful history and personal stories of early scientists. The main scientific message is that the marriage of laser physics (i.e., the ammonia beam maser) and quantum mechanics (i.e., the quantum eraser) resolves the Maxwell demon paradox. This is a deep insight worthy of contemplation." - Charles Townes, Nobel Laureate, Physics, Berkeley "Packed with deep thought, full of fascinating history, "The Demon and the Quantum rips the veil from the deepest mysteries of the universe. Scully exhibits masterful command of his subject, the fundamental role of information in the cosmos." - Seth Lloyd, Author, "Programming the Universe", MIT
Introduction 1Mathematics, Mysticism, and More: From Pythagoras and Plato to Pauli 7Mass in Motion: Kepler, Newton and Kelvin lay the foundations 25From Engines to Entropy: Carnot and Clausius develop the yardstick of engine efficiency 41From Statistical Entropy to Statistical Time: Thermodynamics evolves from being an engineer's coal pit to becoming a philosopher's gold mine 55Maxwells's Demon and Szilard's One Atom Engine: A heady mixture of entropy, information and consciousness 65Quantum Mechanics I: From magnets to masers 75Using Quantum Mechanics to Resolve the Maxwell Demon Paradox: Solving the demon problem with quantum mechanics but without information science, sweat or tears 93Quantum Mechanics II: The wave side of particles and the particle side of waves 105From Wigner's Friend to Quantum Eraser: Of Wigner's friends and their amnesia 121On Quantum Mechanics and the Big Questions: From quantum controversy to Pauli's spiritual complementarily 137Endnotes 165Acknowledgements 247Glossary 249Citations, Comments and Further Readings 257Index 263
