The Uncertainty Principle: SELECTED SUMMARIES

By MAURICIO ENRIQUE FAU

"The success that the Newton's GRAVITY THEORY had took Marquis de Laplace, who was a scientist, to defend the idea that Universe was completely DETERMINIST. ACCORDING TO LAPLACE THERE ARE  NATURAL LAWS SO STRICT AND UNBREAKABLE THAT IF WE KNEW EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS IN UNIVERSE IN THE PRESENT MOMENT, WE COULD PREDICT WITH NO RISK OF EROR ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING WHAT'S COMING NEXT. FOR LAPLACE DETERMINISM DIDN'T ENCOMPASSED ONLY PHYSICAL WORLD BUT ALSO THE WHOLE HUMAN BEHAVIOR". We have summarized here the essential of "Principle Of Uncertainty", by the author.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BOOKS AND SUMMARIES BY MAURICIO FAU
• Release date: Sep 29, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201769291

MAURICIO ENRIQUE FAU

Mauricio Enrique Fau nació en Buenos Aires en 1965. Se recibió de Licenciado en Ciencia Política en la Universidad de Buenos Aires. Cursó también Derecho en la UBA y Periodismo en la Universidad de Morón. Realizó estudios en FLACSO Argentina. Docente de la UBA y AUTOR DE MÁS DE 3.000 RESÚMENES de Psicología, Sociología, Ciencia Política, Antropología, Derecho, Historia, Epistemología, Lógica, Filosofía, Economía, Semiología, Educación y demás disciplinas de las Ciencias Sociales. Desde 2005 dirige La Bisagra Editorial, especializada en técnicas de estudio y materiales que facilitan la transición desde la escuela secundaria a la universidad. Por intermedio de La Bisagra publicó 38 libros. Participa en diversas ferias del libro, entre ellas la Feria Internacional del Libro de Buenos Aires y la FIL Guadalajara.

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The Uncertainty Principle

SELECTED SUMMARIES

MAURICIO ENRIQUE FAU

Published by BOOKS AND SUMMARIES BY MAURICIO FAU, 2021.

While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

THE UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE

First edition. September 29, 2021.

Copyright © 2021 MAURICIO ENRIQUE FAU.

ISBN: 979-8201769291

Written by MAURICIO ENRIQUE FAU.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Hawking, Stephen | THE UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE

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Further Reading: Eric Hobsbawm: Summarized Classics

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Hawking, Stephen 

THE UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE

The success of Newton's THEORY OF GRAVITY led the Marquis de Laplace, who was a scientist, to defend the idea that the universe was completely DETERMINISTIC.

ACCORDING TO LAPLACE THERE ARE NATURAL LAWS SO STRICT AND UNBREAKABLE THAT IF WE KNEW EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS IN THE UNIVERSE AT THE PRESENT INSTANT, WE COULD PREDICT WITHOUT RISK OF ERROR ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING THAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN.

FOR LAPLACE, DETERMINISM ENCOMPASSED NOT ONLY THE PHYSICAL WORLD BUT ALSO ALL HUMAN BEHAVIOR.

The determinist position is scandalous for different types of people. Those who believe in miracles performed by God cannot accept determinism because then God would not be free to change the course of history.

Those who believe in HUMAN FREEDOM are also shocked, because the determinist position flatly denies that there is such a thing: men and women would not be free but would be totally determined to choose what they choose by the laws of human biology.

ALTHOUGH DETERMINISM DENIES HUMAN FREEDOM, IT WAS THE POSITION OF THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY UNTIL THE BEGINNING OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY.

This position began to crumble in the face of a ridiculous prediction: According to the laws known at the beginning of the 20th century, Lord Rayleigh and Sir James Jeans predicted that every hot body, such as a star, radiates INFINITE energy. This was inferred from the law according to which a hot body emits electromagnetic waves WITH EQUAL INTENSITY AT ALL FREQUENCIES. And since the number of different frequencies (cycles per second) is unlimited, the amount of energy radiated should also be unlimited.

It was necessary to avoid this prediction and this is achieved in only one way: by substituting the laws from which the prediction is deduced, by other better laws. For this purpose, the German Max Planck proposed that these electromagnetic waves radiated by a body (they can be radio waves, visible light, X-rays, etc.) cannot be radiated in arbitrary quantities but only in certain packets which he called QUANTS.

He further indicated that each quantum possessed an amount of energy that was greater the higher the frequency of the waves. Thus, at very high frequencies the amount of energy required would be greater than that available. So there would be little radiation at high frequencies and the RATE at which the body loses energy would be finite.

PLANCK'S QUANTUM HYPOTHESIS (1900) SERVED TO EXPLAIN THE EMISSION OF RADIATION BUT ITS CONSEQUENCES REGARDING DETERMINISM WERE NOT UNDERSTOOD UNTIL 1926 WHEN HEISENBERG FORMULATED THE UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE.

In order to PREDICT the