Description
Since its inception in the early decades of the twentieth century, quantum mechanics has joined Einstein's theory of relativity and Darwin's theory of evolution as a dominating scientific force. Nevertheless, the theory has steadfastly resisted interpretation within a conventional worldview. There is no consensus among workers in the field as to how to solve the difficult and profound problems posed by quantum mechanics. In the past, books dealing with these issues have been constrained by two complementary difficulties. At the instructional level, because the theoretical apparatus of quantum theory is complex and unfamiliar, textbooks are forced to concentrate on the technical aspects of the theory. At the popular level, considerable attention is devoted to the theoretical questions, but such presentations are necessarily limited by their nontechnical nature. The Quantum Challenge fills the gap between these two approaches. The authors present material with rigor and intellectual honesty in ways that are easily accessible to undergraduate physical science, mathematics and engineering students.