Commentary on Werner Heisenberg’s “Reality and Its Order”

Abstract

As Helmut Rechenberg (1937–2016) explains in his Introduction, the editors of Heisenberg’s Complete Works published the manuscript under the rubric non-scientific, i.e. commonly accessible works. Titled ‘Reality and its Order’ [original German title “Ordnung der Wirklichkeit”], it was written in the war years 1941/42, was quite personal in nature, and thus most likely not intended for publication. Therefore no reason existed for Heisenberg to list any sources when alluding to or citing lyrical poems, when he made use of poetic passages in fairy tales, followed various completed and expanding philosophical trains of thought, or mentioned some musical bars and themes, or the scientific ideas and historic developments of his time. These commentaries attempt to remedy this, as much as possible, while also showing the historical context he himself was living in—thus revealing the cultural bedrock which allowed for his thinking and work.

The text passages that are referred to in this commentary are identified by page number. Where a particular phrase is extracted for comment, it is additionally labeled by the comment number [C1] etc., as given in the main text.