Philosophical Reflections and Syntheses

Among the founding fathers of modern quantum physics few have contributed to our basic understanding of its concepts as much as E.P. Wigner. His articles on the epistemology of quantum mechanics and the measurement problem, and the basic role of symmetries were of fundamental importance for all subsequent work. He was also the first to discuss the concept of consciousness from the point of view of modern physics. G.G. Emch edited most of those papers and wrote a very helpful introduction into Wigner's contributions to Natural Philosophy. The book should be a gem for all those interested in the history and philosophy of science. From a review by Silvan S. Schweber in Physics Today, October 1996: "All of the essays in Volume VI are at the level of the curious nonexpert who possesses a minimal command of the quantum mechanical formalism. They are rigorous, lucid and challenging."

Contenu

Philosophical Reflections and Syntheses.- I Epistemology of Quantum Mechanics.- Discussion: Comments on Professor Putnam's Comments.- Two Kinds of Reality.- Epistemology of Quantum Mechanics.- Epistemological Perspective on Quantum Theory.- Reality and Quantum Mechanics / Realität and Quantenmechanik.- Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics.- The Limitations of Determinism.- The Nonrelativistic Nature of the Present Quantum Mechanical Measurement Theory.- II Quantum-Mechanical Measuring Process.- The Measurement of Quantum-Mechanical Operators / Die Messung quantenmechanischer Operatoren.- Theory of Quantum-Mechanical Measurement / Theorie der quantenmechanischen Messung.- The Problem of Measurement.- Some Comments Concerning Measurements in Quantum Mechanics.- On the Change of the Skew Information in the Process of Quantum-Mechanical Measurements.- The Subject of Our Discussions.- The Philosophical Problem.- Questions of Physical Theory.- On Bub's Misunderstanding of Bell's Locality Argument.- Review of the Quantum-Mechanical Measurement Problem.- III Consciousness.- Remarks on the Mind-Body Question.- The Place of Consciousness in Modern Physics.- New Dimensions of Consciousness.- The Existence of Consciousness.- IV Symmetries.- Invariance in Physical Theory.- On the Law of Conservation of Heavy Particles.- Symmetry and Conservation Laws.- The Role of Invariance Principles in Natural Philosophy.- Events, Laws of Nature, and Invariance Principles (Nobel address).- Events, Laws of Nature, and Invariance Principles.- Violations of Symmetry in Physics.- Symmetry Principles in Old and New Physics.- Symmetry in Nature.- V Relativity.- Relativistic Invariance and Quantum Phenomena.- Relativistic Equations in Quantum Mechanics.- VI Nuclear Physics.- On the Development of the Compound Nucleus Model.- Summary of the Conference (Properties of Nuclear States, Montreal 1969).- Summary of the Conference (Polarization Phenomena, Madison 1971).- Introductory Talk (Statistical Properties of Nuclei).- Concluding Remarks (Symmetry Properties of Nuclei, Solvay Conference 1970).- VII Broader Philosophical Essays.- The Limits of Science.- The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences.- The Growth of Science - Its Promise and Its Dangers.- Physics and the Explanation of Life.- On Some of Physics' Problems.- Physics and Its Relation to Human Knowledge.- The Problems, Future and Limits of Science.- The Extension of the Area of Science.- The Glorious Days of Physics.- Some Problems of Our Natural Sciences.