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Full Idea
Planck's quantum idea explained so much, including the observation that the chemical world is made up of discrete units - the elements. Discrete elements implied fundamental units of matter that were themselves discrete (as Dalton had said).
Gist of Idea
Quantum theory explains why nature is made up of units, such as elements
Source
Peter Watson (Convergence [2016], 4 'Intro')
Book Ref
Watson,Peter: 'Convergence' [Simon and Schuster 2016], p.107
A Reaction
The atomic theory was only finally confirmed by Einstein in 1905. This idea implies that the very lowest level of all must have distinct building blocks, but so far we have got down to 'fields', which seem to be a sort of 'foam'.
| 17533 | Radiation interference needs waves, but radiation photoelectric effects needs particles [Heisenberg] |
| 18530 | Nobody understands quantum mechanics [Feynman] |
| 21107 | Uncertainty says that energy can be very high over very short time periods [Krauss] |
| 20647 | Quantum theory explains why nature is made up of units, such as elements [Watson] |
| 21235 | The Schrödinger waves are just the maths of transforming energy values to positions [Farmelo] |
| 21203 | Uncertainty allows very brief violations of energy conservation - even shorter with higher energies [Martin,BR] |
| 21207 | The Exclusion Principle says no two fermions occupy the same state, with the same numbers [Martin,BR] |
| 19473 | The Schrödinger equation describes the evolution of an object's wave function in Hilbert space [New Sci.] |
| 19474 | Quantum states are measured by external time, of unknown origin [New Sci.] |
| 20466 | Quantum Theory describes events and possible interactions - not how things are [Rovelli] |
| 21182 | Quantum mechanics is our only theory, and is very precise, and repeatedly confirmed [Hesketh] |
| 21184 | Physics was rewritten to explain stable electron orbits [Hesketh] |
| 21187 | Virtual particles can't be measured, and can ignore the laws of physics [Hesketh] |