The great physicist Richard Feynman said that “nobody understands quantum mechanics.” Thus, a century after the founding of one of the most successful branches of science there is still no consensus about why things happen the way they do. The objective of this course is to simply describe the mystery. This will allow us to sit back and enjoy highlights of the epic debate between Niels Bohr and Albert Einstein.
The history of quantum theory contains all the elements of a great novel: mystery, weirdness, and — above all — irony. John Wheeler, who was a resident of Lincoln County, played an important role in this story. Several ideas from this subject have drifted into the public consciousness, such as parallel universes, entanglement, the uncertainty principle, and superposition. The class will explore these concepts, enabling participants to (1) follow discussions on this fascinating subject, and (2) astound their friends.
Instructor Tim Barrows received his Bachelor’s degree from Princeton in 1966 and a doctorate from MIT in 1971. He worked at Draper Laboratory for 38 years before retiring in 2021. His last decade at Draper was spent on NASA’s Artemis program. He is the lead author of a recent book, Dynamics and Simulation of Flexible Rockets.
Instructor Ted Williams is Professor Emeritus of Physics and Astronomy at Rutgers University and former Director of the South African Astronomical Observatory. He has a physics B.S. degree from Purdue University and astronomy Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology. Ted spent most of his career at Rutgers, where he pursued observational studies of galaxies and developed astronomical instrumentation, while teaching a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses in physics and astronomy. He has spent innumerable nights at telescopes around the world, including observatories in California, Arizona, Texas, and Hawaii, as well as Chile, China, and South Africa, and an orbiting facility on the Space Shuttle (Ted stayed firmly on the ground). He has taught a number of astronomy courses for Coastal Senior College.