Chapter 5 Togetherness
Einstein, through his explanation of the photoelectric effect, had been one of the grandfathers of quantum theory. However, he came to detest his grandchild. Like the vast majority of physicists, Einstein was deeply convinced of the reality of the physical world and trusted in the truthful reliability of science’s account of its nature. But he came to believe that this reality could only be guaranteed by the kind of naive objectivity that Newtonian thinking had assumed. In consequence, Einstein abhorred the cloudy fitfulness that Copenhagen orthodoxy assigned to the nature of the quantum world. His first onslaught on modern quantum theory took the form of a series of highly ingenious thought experiments, each of which purported in some way to circumvent the limitations of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. Einstein’s opponent in this contest was Niels Bohr, who each time succeeded in showing that a thorough-going application of quantum ideas to all aspects of the proposed experiment actually resulted in the uncertainty principle surviving unscathed. Eventually Einstein conceded defeat in this particular battle. After licking his wounds for a while, Einstein returned to the fray, staking out a new ground for contention. With two younger collaborators, Boris Podolsky and Nathan Rosen, he showed that 77
