Physics and Beyond (German: Der Teil und das
Ganze: Gespräche im Umkreis der Atomphysik)
is a book by Werner Heisenberg, the German
physicist who discovered the uncertainty principle.
It tells, from his point of view, the history
of exploring atomic science and quantum mechanics
in the first half of the 20th century.
As the subtitle "Encounters and Conversations"
suggests, the core part of this book takes
the form of discussions between himself and
other scientists.
Heisenberg says: "I wanted to show that science
is done by people, and the most wonderful
ideas come from dialog".
With chapters like "The first encounter with
the science about atoms", "Quantum mechanics
and conversations with Einstein", "Conversation
about the relation between biology, physics
and chemistry" or "Conversations about language"
and "The behavior of an individual during
a political disaster", dated 1937-1941, a
reader can hear speaking such persons as Erwin
Schrödinger, Niels Bohr, Albert Einstein
or Max Planck, not only about physics, but
also about many other questions related to
biology, humans, philosophy, and politics.
Not only that, these conversations are often
situated in detailed description of the historical
atmosphere and a beautiful scenery, as many
of them were led in nature during the many
journeys they made, backpacking or sailing.
"'Do you see whales, Heisenberg?', 'Yes, I
see only whales, but I hope they are only
big waves.'", is one of humorous scenes when
the author, Bohr and other friends were sailing
in a dark night.
The book provides a first-hand account about
how science is done and how quantum physics,
especially the Copenhagen interpretation,
emerged.
"Nobody can reproduce these conversations
verbatim, but I believe that the spirit of
what the people said, and how they did, is
conserved," the author tries to explain in
the preface.
Many believe that the golden years of physics
around 1925, when "even small people could
do big things" are gone.
But the people who had been there continue
to speak to us through this book.
The book was published first in German 1969,
in English as Physics and Beyond (1971) and
in French in 1972 (La partie et le tout
