David Ferry is a regents’ professor in the School of Electrical, Computer, and Energy Engineering in the Arizona State University (ASU), USA. He joined ASU as director of the Center for Solid State Electronics Research in 1983 and chaired its Department of Electrical Engineering from 1989 to 1992. He was also interim associate dean of Engineering for Research of ASU from 1993 to 1995. Prof. Ferry received his PhD in electrical engineering from the University of Texas in Austin, USA, and completed his National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellowship in physics from the University of Vienna, Austria. He has authored or coauthored more than 800 articles in refereed journals and for conferences. While he is an expert especially of quantum transport, he is also a renowned leader in the fabrication and measurements of nanostructured electron devices and has received the IEEE Brunetti Award for this work in 1999.

This book is largely a history of quantum mechanics that concentrates on various physical and philosophical interpretations of the theory. The various controversies that have arisen over the last century are well covered, as is the centrality of the Einstein-Bohr debate, which permeates much of the discussion. Ferry (Arizona State Univ.) concludes the text by arguing that "what Neils Bohr did, with his positivist conspiracy ... set back the understanding of the foundations of quantum mechanics, now by more than a century." Ferry is also clear that the quantum debate really does not matter if all one wants to do is calculations or find solutions to particular problems. However, it makes a difference if one wishes to fundamentally understand quantum mechanics' meaning. Ferry writes engagingly; chapter notes provide the reader with connections to primary and secondary sources. This book would complement academic collections in the history, philosophy, and interpretation of quantum mechanics.Summing Up: Recommended. Advanced undergraduates and above.--A. M. Strauss, Vanderbilt University

• In the Beginning. The Arrival of Bohr’s Atomic Theory. Arrival of the New Quantum Theory. Solvay. Interregnum. 1935. The Rising Storm. Bell’s Inequality. Measurement. What Does It All Mean.

David Ferry is a regents’ professor in the School of Electrical, Computer, and Energy Engineering in the Arizona State University (ASU), USA. He joined ASU as director of the Center for Solid State Electronics Research in 1983 and chaired its Department of Electrical Engineering from 1989 to 1992. He was also interim associate dean of Engineering for Research of ASU from 1993 to 1995. Prof. Ferry received his PhD in electrical engineering from the University of Texas in Austin, USA, and completed his National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellowship in physics from the University of Vienna, Austria. He has authored or coauthored more than 800 articles in refereed journals and for conferences. While he is an expert especially of quantum transport, he is also a renowned leader in the fabrication and measurements of nanostructured electron devices and has received the IEEE Brunetti Award for this work in 1999.

This book is largely a history of quantum mechanics that concentrates on various physical and philosophical interpretations of the theory. The various controversies that have arisen over the last century are well covered, as is the centrality of the Einstein-Bohr debate, which permeates much of the discussion. Ferry (Arizona State Univ.) concludes the text by arguing that "what Neils Bohr did, with his positivist conspiracy ... set back the understanding of the foundations of quantum mechanics, now by more than a century." Ferry is also clear that the quantum debate really does not matter if all one wants to do is calculations or find solutions to particular problems. However, it makes a difference if one wishes to fundamentally understand quantum mechanics' meaning. Ferry writes engagingly; chapter notes provide the reader with connections to primary and secondary sources. This book would complement academic collections in the history, philosophy, and interpretation of quantum mechanics.Summing Up: Recommended. Advanced undergraduates and above.--A. M. Strauss, Vanderbilt University

• In the Beginning. The Arrival of Bohr’s Atomic Theory. Arrival of the New Quantum Theory. Solvay. Interregnum. 1935. The Rising Storm. Bell’s Inequality. Measurement. What Does It All Mean.

David Ferry is a regents’ professor in the School of Electrical, Computer, and Energy Engineering in the Arizona State University (ASU), USA. He joined ASU as director of the Center for Solid State Electronics Research in 1983 and chaired its Department of Electrical Engineering from 1989 to 1992. He was also interim associate dean of Engineering for Research of ASU from 1993 to 1995. Prof. Ferry received his PhD in electrical engineering from the University of Texas in Austin, USA, and completed his National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellowship in physics from the University of Vienna, Austria. He has authored or coauthored more than 800 articles in refereed journals and for conferences. While he is an expert especially of quantum transport, he is also a renowned leader in the fabrication and measurements of nanostructured electron devices and has received the IEEE Brunetti Award for this work in 1999.

This book is largely a history of quantum mechanics that concentrates on various physical and philosophical interpretations of the theory. The various controversies that have arisen over the last century are well covered, as is the centrality of the Einstein-Bohr debate, which permeates much of the discussion. Ferry (Arizona State Univ.) concludes the text by arguing that "what Neils Bohr did, with his positivist conspiracy ... set back the understanding of the foundations of quantum mechanics, now by more than a century." Ferry is also clear that the quantum debate really does not matter if all one wants to do is calculations or find solutions to particular problems. However, it makes a difference if one wishes to fundamentally understand quantum mechanics' meaning. Ferry writes engagingly; chapter notes provide the reader with connections to primary and secondary sources. This book would complement academic collections in the history, philosophy, and interpretation of quantum mechanics.Summing Up: Recommended. Advanced undergraduates and above.--A. M. Strauss, Vanderbilt University

• In the Beginning. The Arrival of Bohr’s Atomic Theory. Arrival of the New Quantum Theory. Solvay. Interregnum. 1935. The Rising Storm. Bell’s Inequality. Measurement. What Does It All Mean.