Einstein, Bohr and the Quantum Dilemma

The debate between Bohr and Einstein, which raged in the 1920s and 1930s, is still highly relevant today. It involved the two greatest physicists of the twentieth century and played a large part in Einstein's going into an effective scientific exile. The debate concerned the quantum theory, probably the most successful physical theory of all time. This book explores the details of the conflict, as well as its significance for contemporary views on the foundations of quantum theory. The author gives sympathetic accounts of the views of both Bohr and Einstein, and a thorough study of the argument between them. The book also includes nontechnical and nonmathematical accounts of the development of quantum theory and relativity, as well as the work of David Bohm and John Bell in the 1950s and 1960s that restored interest in Einstein's views. The author also includes a full account of the many current experimental and theoretical developments in quantum theory.