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For other authors named Paul Halpern, see the disambiguation page.

19 Works 1,053 Members 31 Reviews

About the Author

Paul Halpern is professor of physics at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia and the author of fifteen popular science books. He is also a fellow of the American Physical Society. He lives near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Works by Paul Halpern

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Common Knowledge

Birthdate
1961-01-15
Gender
male
Nationality
USA

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Reviews

Almost as brilliant as Halpern's two subjects.
 
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ben_r47 | 5 other reviews | Feb 22, 2024 |
It’s hard for me to evaluate this book. As a biography of Einstein and Schrödinger and their interactions of the years, it’s interesting. As a look at how politics and life events can affect the ability of scientists to do their best science, it’s enlightening.


In terms of the actual science, I still mostly don’t get it. I think the coverage of Schrödinger’s cat and Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle is presented well, but I was already comfortable with those subjects. A lot of the other science is hard to follow. Now, that’s not the prime purpose of this book, and it’s a hard subject, so to some extent that’s reasonable, but it seems weird to me to carry the science well past their deaths when I don’t think it’s covered with sufficient depth to be truly educational to most.

That said, it’s not a bad book. The primary subject of Einstein and Schrodinger is presented in an interesting way with enough of the big picture timeline of the science to follow. But I wouldn’t expect to learn that much of the science even if it’s presented through the book in a way implying you can.
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jdm9970 | 4 other reviews | Jan 26, 2023 |
Nice overview of current state of physic in quantum mechanics theory up to gravitational waves and Higgs boson. The discovery of Higgs boson and possibly gravitational waves makes the book a little out of date.
 
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MadMattReader | 4 other reviews | Sep 11, 2022 |
Lorsque la mécanique quantique a bouleversé le monde ordonné d'Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein et Erwin Schrödinger étaient à l'avant-garde de cette révolution. Cependant, aucun des deux hommes ne s'est jamais satisfait de l'interprétation standard de la mécanique quantique et l'ont critiquée à leur manière : Einstein par son célèbre aphorisme Dieu ne joue pas aux dés, Schrödinger avec sa tout aussi célèbre fable du chat ni mort, ni vivant, démonstration flagrante de l'absurdité d'une théorie qui aurait mal tourné. Ce livre raconte la quête des deux savants, tout d'abord alliés puis concurrents, pour parvenir à une théorie du tout qui transcende les bizarreries du monde quantique.… (more)
 
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cflorin | 4 other reviews | Jul 9, 2022 |

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Statistics

Works
19
Members
1,053
Popularity
#24,476
Rating
½ 3.5
Reviews
31
ISBNs
90
Languages
7

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