Quantum Mechanics: Historical Contingency and the Copenhagen Hegemony

by James T. Cushing

Why does one theory "succeed" while another, possibly clearer interpretation, fails? By exploring two observationally equivalent yet conceptually incompatible views of quantum mechanics, James T. Cushing shows how historical contingency can be crucial to determining a theory's construction and its position among competing views.

Since the late 1920s, the theory formulated by Niels Bohr and his colleagues at Copenhagen has been the dominant interpretation of quantum mechanics. Yet an alternative interpretation, rooted in the work of Louis de Broglie in the early 1920s and reformulated and extended by David Bohm in the 1950s, equally well explains the observational data. Through a detailed historical and sociological study of the physicists who developed different theories of quantum mechanics, the debates within and between opposing camps, and the receptions given to each theory, Cushing shows that despite the preeminence of the Copenhagen view, the Bohm interpretation cannot be ignored. Cushing contends that the Copenhagen interpretation became widely accepted not because it is a better explanation of subatomic phenomena than is Bohm's, but because it happened to appear first.

Focusing on the philosophical, social, and cultural forces that shaped one of the most important developments in modern physics, this provocative book examines the role that timing can play in the establishment of theory and explanation.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction

328 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1994

About the author

James T. Cushing was born 4 February 1937 in Long Beach, California. In 1959, he earned a BS in physics from Loyola University Chicago; a year later, he earned an MS in physics from Northwestern University. For his doctorate, he focused his research on theoretical particle physics under the guidance of adviser Max Dresden. Jim received his PhD in 1963 from the University of Iowa.