Thursday, January 29, 2009

Real single particle quantum experiment

If the theoretical physicists ever studied how REAL observations are made (i.e. what are the practical principles behind the equipment doing the measurement) then they might find this video instructive.

http://www.hitachi.com/rd/research/em.html



Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg were smart guys, but both were dead before technology had advanced to the point where clean single particle measurements could be made, that's why the Copenhagen Interpretation is so lame. The problem is that theoretical physics became a religious tradition, i.e. it was more important to follow in the grand ideas of the venerated forefathers (Bohr & Heisenberg & others) then to actually clarify, repair & improve on the old ideas.

Many of the things that Darwin thought were not correct. Not because his overall ideas had gross problems, but rather because of incomplete knowledge in his time. For example, Darwin knew nothing of simple Mendelian genetics. Some people have even suggested that he might have been Lamarckian. Nonetheless, his overall theory stands as the greatest achievement in human thought of all time.

Biologists got the memo about keeping science scientific and thus the Modern Synthesis which repaired and clarified Darwin's ideas.

2 comments:

  1. Hi Eldon,

    This is a great video. Bohr, Heisenberg, Dirac et al also had this in mind when they developed Copenhagen interpretation of QM. Even if technology wasn't as advanced as today, they could detect single little spots on photographic plates, corresponding to single photons. After a long time of exposure, interference patterns appeared.

    Regards,
    Arjen

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  2. Hello. My name is Kurt Pensinger. I come from a substantial background in philosophy, so when I came across this blog in the religion category, I was very impressed both by the postings and the comments. It's remarkably scientific. I would here like to invite you (and anyone who sees this) to check out my own blog: http://reasonlogicanddebate.blogspot.com/ if you want to either go deeper and inquire further into the philosophy of god and religion, or add your own scientific/skeptical/witty piece onto the comment pages.

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