Quantum Sense and Nonsense

Jean Bricmont (born in 1952) is a theoretical physicist and a professor at the Université Catholique de Louvain. He works on statistical and mathematical physics but has also written about philosophy of science. He is mostly known to the non-academic audience for co-authoring Fashionable Nonsense (also known as Intellectual Impostures) with Alan Sokal, in which they criticize abuses of scientific concepts by postmodernist thinkers and relativism in the philosophy of science.

“Quantum Sense and Nonsense goes into the quantum physics in considerably more depth … . I would recommend this title if you want to get a distinctly different picture of quantum physics and an understanding of why, even after 80-90 years, physicists may be happy with the results of the calculations … .” (Brian Clegg, Popular Science, popsciencebooks.blogspot.com, March, 2018)

• What are the Issues raised by Quantum Mechanics?.- The First Mystery: Interference.- "Philosophical" Intermezzo I: What is Determinism?.- How do Physicists deal with Interference?.- Schrödinger's Cat and Hidden Variables.- "Philosophical" Intermezzo II: What is Wrong with "Observations"?.-  The Second Mystery: Nonlocality.- How to do "The Impossible", a Quantum Mechanics without Observers: The de Broglie-Bohm Theory.- Many Worlds.- A  Revised History of Quantum Mechanics.- The Cultural Impact of Quantum Mechanics.- Summary of the Main Theses of this Book.