Quantum Mechanics

`Van Fraassen's book will certainly stimulate discussion and debate on many matters. Moreover, his presentation of many of the formal results, his statement of the problems, and his clarification of the structure of the arguments will be of enduring benefit to those readers who will participate in those debates. His clear and very accessible accounts of many results, ... will serve as paradigms of how to present formal technical results and explain their non-technical implications without sacrificing either accuracy or depth. ... It is an excellent place for us all to learn about the structure of non-relativistic quantum theory and the formidable problems faced by anyone trying to provide an interpretation for this most perplexing of 20th-century physical theories.'International Studies in the Philosophy of Science, Vol 7, No 3 1993

• Part 1 Determinism and inderterminism in classical perspective: determinism; indeterminism and probability. Part 2 How the phenomena demand quantum theory: the empirical basis of quantum theory; new probability models and their logic. Part 3 Mathematical foundations: the basic theory of quantum mechanics; composite systems, interaction and measurement. Part 4 Questions of interpretation: critique of the standard interpretation; modal interpretation of quantum mechanics; EPR - when is a correlation not a mystery?; the problem of identical particles; identical particles - individuation and modality.