physics

In Search of Schrödinger's Cat

In Search of Schrödinger's Cat is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand In Search of Schrödinger's Cat rather than just read about it. In short: In Search of Schrödinger's Cat: Quantum Physics and Reality (1984) is a popular science book by the physicist John Gribbin. He discusses in layman's terms the history, applications and interpretations of quantum mechanics.

Key takeaways

In Search of Schrödinger's Cat belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect In Search of Schrödinger's Cat to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of In Search of Schrödinger's Cat from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

In Search of Schrödinger's Cat: Quantum Physics and Reality (1984) is a popular science book by the physicist John Gribbin. He discusses in layman's terms the history, applications and interpretations of quantum mechanics. Gribbin followed it with Schrödinger's Kittens and the Search for Reality (1995).

Summary Part I The Quantum 1. Light discusses Isaac Newton's corpuscular theory of light, which was superseded by Christiaan Huygens's wave theory. He introduces Thomas Young's double-slit experiment. 2. Atoms discusses the history of atomic theory, and how Albert Einstein's explanation of Brownian motion clinched the existence of atoms. He discusses J. J. Thomson's discovery of the electron and Ernest Rutherford's discovery of the atomic nucleus. 3 Light & Atoms discusses Max Planck's proposal that light is absorbed or emitted as quanta, and Einstein's application of quantum theory to explain the photoelectric effect, confirmed by Robert Millikan. 4. Bohr's Atom discusses Niels Bohr's application of quantum theory to the atom. Bohr's model, in which electrons jump to higher or lower energy states by absorbing or emitting photons of specific frequency, explained the Balmer series of spectral lines for hydrogen and the structure of the Periodic Table and correctly predicted the properties of hafnium. Part II Quantum Mechanics 5. Photons & Electrons discusses photons, (coined by Gilbert N. Lewis to describe light quanta), whose existence was established by Arthur Compton's eponymous effect. Louis de Broglie proposed wave-particle duality, experimentally confirmed by Clinton Davisson and George Paget Thomson. He notes that "In 1906, J. J. Thomson received the Nobel Prize for proving that electrons are particles; in 1937 he saw his son awarded the Nobel Prize for proving that electrons are waves." Wolfgang Pauli's exclusion principle, that only two electrons can inhabit the same quantum state at the same time, explained the structure of atoms. He introduces spin and Bose-Einstein statistics (describing bosons, or particles with whole-integer spin) and Fermi-Dirac statistics (describing fermions, or particles with half-integer spin). 6. Matrices & Waves discusses Werner Heisenberg's matrix mechanics and Erwin Schrödinger's wave mechanics which, formulated independently, turned out to be mathematically equivalent. 7 Cooking With Quanta discusses applications of quantum mechanics. Paul Dirac's relativistic wave equation predicted the existence of antimatter, discovered by Carl David Anderson in 1932. Further applications include masers and lasers, semiconductors and superconductors. William and Lawrence Bragg's discovery of X-ray diffraction led to James Watson, Francis Crick and Rosalind Franklin's elucidation of the double helix structure of DNA. Part III …And Beyond 8. Chance & Uncertainty discusses interpretations of quantum theory, Bohr's principle of complementarity and Heisenberg's uncertainty principle. He returns to the double-slit experiment. 9. Paradoxes and Possibilities discusses the Bohr-Einstein debates, the clock-in-the box thought experiment and the EPR paradox. He introduces Schrödinger's eponymous thought-experiment, Wigner's friend, Wheeler's delayed choice experiment and the participatory universe. 10. The Proof of the Pudding discusses John Stewart Bell's theorem and its test by Alain Aspect. 11. Many Worlds discusses Hugh Everett III's Many-Worlds Interpretation and its applications in science fact and fiction. Epilogue Unfinished Business Gribbin discusses quantum electrodynamics, electroweak theory and quantum chromodynamics. He looks at more speculative proposals, like Roger Penrose's Twistor theory.

Reception and legacy In Schrödinger's Kittens and the Search for Reality (1995), Gribbin tries to tie the loose ends together with string theory. BBC World News cited In Search of Schrödinger's Cat as a model of science popularisation. In Chemistry World, Josh Howego writes "Gribbin comments on how difficult it is to trace a narrative history through the piecemeal development of quantum theory, but he manages to craft his story excellently, nonetheless." He praises his use of analogy. A review for an Oxford University blog concludes "I would still most definitely recommend this book for any aspiring physicist. Gribbin uses his excellent understanding of the essence of quantum mechanics to produce a book that is equal parts fascinating and educational." Isaac Asimov called it "a gripping account of the history of quantum mechanics and a clear description of its significance - and weirdness. Absolutely fascinating." Robert Macfarlane writes that "Margaret Atwood – who was one of the writers, along with Martin Amis, Ian McEwan, and Tom Stoppard, to get very excited about the new physics – read it, assimilated it, and credited Gribbin warmly in the back of her subsequent novel, Cat's Eye." A. S. Byatt called it "Precise yet mysterious … as beautiful as a poem and as exciting as a novel".

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with In Search of Schrödinger's Cat

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what In Search of Schrödinger's Cat claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to In Search of Schrödinger's Cat before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about In Search of Schrödinger's Cat ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of In Search of Schrödinger's Cat

In research: In Search of Schrödinger's Cat appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses In Search of Schrödinger's Cat in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: In Search of Schrödinger's Cat is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1984 English-language non-fiction books, 1984 non-fiction books, American non-fiction books, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for In Search of Schrödinger's Cat outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study In Search of Schrödinger's Cat in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what In Search of Schrödinger's Cat means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain In Search of Schrödinger's Cat out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is In Search of Schrödinger's Cat in simple terms?

Why does In Search of Schrödinger's Cat matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study In Search of Schrödinger's Cat?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on In Search of Schrödinger's Cat.