A Guess at the Riddle

Renowned philosopher of science David Z Albert offers an innovative approach to understanding the fundamental physical underpinnings of quantum mechanics. Albert shows how we can discern all the baffling features of quantum theory in a simple picture of the pushings and pullings of concrete and high-dimensional, fundamental physical “stuff.” From the celebrated author of Quantum Mechanics and Experience comes a “provocative” (Nature) and “deeply important” (Mind) attempt at making sense of the strange laws of quantum mechanics.A century ago, Niels Bohr and a circle of brilliant physicists argued that the search for an objective, realistic, and mechanical picture of the inner workings of the atom was doomed to fail. Today, there is widespread agreement among philosophers and physicists that Bohr and his colleagues were wrong. But the question of what a correct picture might be remains unsettled.In A Guess at the Riddle, philosopher David Z Albert offers a possibility. He argues that the strange features of quantum mechanics begin to make sense once we conceive of the wave function, vibrating and evolving in high-dimensional space, as the concrete, fundamental “stuff” of the universe. Constructing the defining elements of quantum mechanics from scratch, he shows how the entire history of our familiar, three-dimensional universe can be discerned in the wave function’s intricate pattern of ripples and whorls. A major new work in the foundations of physics, A Guess at the Riddle is poised to transform our understanding of the basic architecture of the universe.