The Quantum Moment (Round-table Discussion)

Join us for a discussion of the book The Quantum Moment: How Planck, Bohr, Einstein, and Heisenberg Taught Us to Love Uncertainty (http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00J8R3ERC/), written by Robert P. Crease (philosopher) and Alfred Scharff Goldhaber (physicist).

http://photos2.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/8/5/9/d/600_438514205.jpeg

From Amazon:"The fascinating story of how quantum mechanics went mainstream.

The discovery of the quantum—the idea, born in the early 1900s in a remote corner of physics, that energy comes in finite packets instead of infinitely divisible quantities—planted a rich set of metaphors in the popular imagination.

Quantum imagery and language now bombard us like an endless stream of photons. Phrases such as multiverses, quantum leaps, alternate universes, the uncertainty principle, and Schrödinger's cat get reinvented continually in cartoons and movies, coffee mugs and T-shirts, and fiction and philosophy, reinterpreted by each new generation of artists and writers.

Is a "quantum leap" big or small? How uncertain is the uncertainty principle? Is this barrage of quantum vocabulary pretentious and wacky, or a fundamental shift in the way we think?

All the above, say Robert P. Crease and Alfred Scharff Goldhaber in this pathbreaking book. The authors—one a philosopher, the other a physicist—draw on their training and six years of co-teaching to dramatize the quantum’s rocky path from scientific theory to public understanding. Together, they and their students explored missteps and mistranslations, jokes and gibberish, of public discussion about the quantum. Their book explores the quantum’s manifestations in everything from art and sculpture to the prose of John Updike and David Foster Wallace. The authors reveal the quantum’s implications for knowledge, metaphor, intellectual exchange, and the contemporary world. Understanding and appreciating quantum language and imagery, and recognizing its misuse, is part of what it means to be an educated person today.

The result is a celebration of language at the interface of physics and culture, perfect for anyone drawn to the infinite variety of ideas."

Date: Meetup date is tentatively set to Sep 13, but might change depending on participants.

Condition for attendance: Attendees are expected to have read the book before the meetup.

Meetup type: Moderated discussion

Meetup charge: free, but attendees should order something for themselves from the restaurant. You can order when you arrive or during our meetup.

Dealing with over-capacity: while unlikely to happen, note that the last-arriving members may be asked not to enter the main room and to form their own mini-group at a table somewhere else.

Nature of our discussions/debates:

• Opinions expressed are encouraged to be backed by facts wherever possible;

• Members should gracefully take criticism of their opinion and not take the criticism personally;

• Members should show willingness to provide more facts and explanations in support of their opinion if this is requested by any other participant;

• Organizer acts as a moderator as well as a participant in the discussion.

Group's policy on RSVPs:

• Every member is expected to respect their RSVP for each event and keep it up to date. Two instances of non-respect of the RSVP will lead to the member being removed from the group.

• If a person can no longer attend, they must change their RSVP to No as soon as possible.

• Optional reading: the room we have has a table around which 12 people can sit; 3 more people may sit at corners (max capacity of 15). When the meetup is set up, the capacity is set to 18 initially and the meetup has a Waitlist up to few days before the meetup date which means that the first person on the Waitlist gets in automatically, as soon as a spot opens up. Few days before the meetup date, the capacity is lowered to 15 (but there will be still 18 Yes RSVPs) and Waitlist is removed (a Notify button will appear). During these final days, if the number of people in the Yes RSVP list drops below 15, the people on the "want a spot" list will get an email and whoever RSVP Yes faster will get the spot. The change from automatic to manual RSVP is to remove automatic RSVPing in the last days. The whole purpose of this setup is to allow maximum number of members to attend, while avoiding going over capacity of our room. 12 to 15 people is also near an optimal number for a discussion during which everyone can participate; more people in a larger room will mean some will not have a chance to participate or even hear others speaking. Meetup.com frequently changes how it functions (automatic Waitlist, etc.) and the above setting reflects the latest changes it has made.