The Quantum Quandary

Apart from a few ‘minor’ unsolved problems the science of physics had reached such maturity towards the end of the 19th century that leading physicists could claim with confidence that no major new developments could be foreseen. Even Max Planck, who inaugurated one such development, is purported to have dissuaded young scientists from following careers in physics. This assessment, although misguided in retrospect, speaks for total accord among those scientists on the understanding of their science, without any need for, or arguments about alternative interpretations. Such agreement can only arise from absolute certainty on the basic premises of the subject. The cornerstone of 19th century physics, Newtonian mechanics as developed in the hands of Lagrange, Hamilton, Jacobi and others, was universally accepted and understood.

The situation, one hundred years on, could hardly be more different. The interpretation of quantum mechanics, which came to replace the Newtonian system, is as hotly disputed as ever and the common ground with the theory of relativity remains elusive and vague. The reason for the discord must lie somewhere in the transition from the classical to the new non-classical paradigm. What is proposed here, is to retrace the steps that led to the emergence of the new theoretical models, in an attempt to identify the point of conceptual bifurcation.