The Amazing Story of Quantum Mechanics

by Kakalios, James

  Those wishing to compare and contrast the predictions of science fiction with the reality of science may enjoy The Science in Science Fiction: 83 SF Predictions That Became Scientific Reality, Robert W. Bly (BenBella Books, 2005); Different Engines: How Science Drives Fiction and Fiction Drives Science, Mark L. Brake and Neil Hook (Macmillan, 2008); and Follies of Science: 20th Century Visions of Our Fantastic Future, Eric Dregni and Jonathan Dregni (Speck Press, 2006).

  Background information on the history of the pulp magazines can be found in Cheap Thrills: The Amazing! Thrilling! Astonishing! History of Pulp Fiction, Ron Goulart (Hermes Press, 2007); Pulpwood Days Volume One: Editors You Want to Know, edited by John Locke (Off-Trail Publications, Volume 2007); Alternate Worlds: The Illustrated History of Science Fiction, James Gunn (Prentice-Hall, 1975); Science Fiction of the 20th Century: An Illustrated History, Frank M. Robinson (Collectors Press, 1999); The Classic Era of American Pulp Magazines by Peter Haining (Prion Books, 2000); Pulp Culture: The Art of Fiction Magazines, Frank M. Robinson and Lawrence Davidson (Collectors Press, 1998); and The Great Pulp Heroes by Don Hutchinson (Book Republic Press, 2007).

  Those who would judge these pulps by their cover will find many excellent collections of the enduring artwork that promoted these disposable fantasies, including Worlds of Tomorrow: The Amazing Universe of Science Fiction Art, Forrest J. Ackerman with Brad Linaweaver (Collectors Press, 2004); Sci-Fi Art: A Graphic History, Steve Holand (Collins Design, 2009); Pulp Art: Original Cover Paintings for the Great American Pulp Magazines, Robert Lesser (Gramercy Books, 1997); From the Pen of Paul: The Fantastic Images of Frank R. Paul, edited by Stephen D. Korshak (Shasta-Phoenix, 2009); Out of Time: Designs for the Twentieth Century, Norman Brosterman (Harry N. Abrams, 2000); and Fantastic Science-Fiction Art 1926-1954, edited by Lester Del Ray (Ballantine Books, 1975).

  Readers interested in more information about Doc Savage and his merry band of adventurers will enjoy Philip Jos Farmer’s “biography” of the great man, Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life (Doubleday, 1973); a summary of the plot of each adventure is provided in A History of the Doc Savage Adventures, Robert Michael “Bobb” Cotter (McFarland and Company, 2009); and Doc Savage’s creator is profiled in Lester Dent: The Man, His Craft and His Market, by M. Martin McCarey-Laird (Hidalgo Pub. Co., 1994) and Bigger Than Life: The Creator of Doc Savage, Marilyn Cannaday (Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1990). Those interested in the secrets of the Shadow (such as his true identity—and no, its not Lamont Cranston) can consult The Shadow Scrapbook, by Walter B. Gibson (who wrote 284 of the 325 Shadow pulp novels, including the first 112) (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1979); Gangland’s Doom: The Shadow of the Pulps by Frank Eisgruber Jr. (CreateSpace, 2007); Chronology of Shadows: A Timeline of The Shadow’s Exploits by Rick Lai (CreateSpace, 2007); and Pulp Heroes of the Thirties, edited by James Van Hise (Midnight Graffiti, 1994).

  This is a golden age for fans of Golden Age pulps, comic strips, and comic books. There are many publishers who are reprinting, often in high-resolution, large-format hardcovers, comic strips from the 1920s and 1930s, featuring the first appearances of Dick Tracy, Little Orphan Annie, Maggie and Jiggs in Bringing Up Father, Popeye in Thimble Theater, and Walt and Skeezix in Gasoline Alley. Several volumes of Phil Nowlan’s and Dick Calkin’s Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (Hermes Press) and Alex Raymond’s Flash Gordon (Checker Press) are available. There are also hard-cover reprints of the Gold Key comics, with at least four volumes of Dr. Solar—Man of the Atom by Paul S. Newman and Matt Murphy (Dark Horse Books) in print. A string of issues of DC Comics’ Strange Adventures from 1955 to 1956 has been reprinted in black and white in an inexpensive Showcase Presents volume (DC Comics, 2008). Several volumes of the Marvel Comics Tales to Astonish and Tales of Suspense from this time period are also available, in Marvel Masterworks Atlas Era hardcovers (Marvel Publishing). The pulps themselves are also returning to print, and Sanctum Productions/Nostalgia Ventures every month is publishing classic Shadow and Doc Savage adventures from the 1930s and 1940s, often with the original interior and cover artwork reproduced. Some of the above, along with copies of Amazing Stories from the 1920s and 1930s, are available as e-books. We can now, in the present, download and read on our electronic book readers stories from the past, predicting what life would be like in the world of tomorrow. This is the future no one saw coming!

  INDEX

  Note: Page numbers in italics indicate photos and illustrations.

  Abbott, Edwin

  ablation

  absorption spectra. See atomic-light-emission spectra

  Across the Space Frontier (Klep)

  Action

  action at a distance

  Action Comics #

  adenosine triphosphate (ATP)

  Adventure Comics

  age of earth

  age of the universe

  Air Wonder Stories

  aircraft

  alpha particles

  and discovery of neutron

  and fusion

  and phosphorescence

  and radiation

  and radioactive decay

  and radioactive half life

  and scattering experiments

  and transmutation

  Alpher, Ralph

  aluminum

  The Amazing Colossal Man (1955)

  Amazing Fantasy

  Amazing Stories

  American Institute of Physics

  amorphous carbon

  amplification

  angular momentum. See also intrinsic angular momentum (spin)

  anti-Semitism

  antigravity

  arc reactor

  argon

  Aristotle

  Armageddon 2419 A.D. (Nowlan)

  arms race

  Arness, James

  artificial intelligence

  Asimov, Isaac

  The Atom

  atom smashers (particle accelerators)

  atomic energy

  The Atomic Kid (1954)

  atomic-light-emission spectra

  and Bohr model

  in comic books

  and de Broglie matter waves

  described

  and magnetic resonance imaging

  and matter waves

  and particle spin

  and the Schrödinger equation

  and transition rates

  and the ultraviolet catastrophe

  and uncertainty principle

  and wave functions

  atomic weapons. See nuclear weapons

  atomic weights

  The Attack of the Giant Leeches (1959)

  audio recordings

  automobiles

  barium

  Barker, Floyd

  Batman

  batteries

  The Beast of Yucca Flats (1961)

  Bednorz, Johannes

  The Beginning of the End (1957)

  The Beginning or the End (1947)

  bell curve

  Bell Labs

  and lasers

  and semiconductor diodes

  and solar cells

  and transistors

  beryllium

  Bester, Alfred

  beta particles

  and Cerenkov radiation

  decay of

  and light exposure on metals

  and particle decay

  and radioactive decay

  Bethe, Hans

  big bang

  biology

  blackbody radiation. See also atomic-light-emission spectra

  Blu-ray DVD players

  Bohr, Niels

  Bohr diagrams

  Bonestell, Chesley

  Born, Max

  Bose, Satyendra

  Bose-Einstein condensates

  Bose-Einstein statistics

  bosons

  brain scans

  Braun, Wernher von

  Britain

  Brownian motion

  Brush, Charles

  Buck Roger
s

  calculus

  Calkins, Dick

  “Can Man Free Himself from Gravity?”

  capacitors

  Captain Atom

  carbon

  carbon dating

  Carson, Jack

  cathode ray tube

  celestial mechanics

  cell phones

  ceramic superconductors

  Cerenkov, Pavel

  Cerenkov radiation

  Chadwick, James

  chain reactions

  Challengers of the Unknown

  charge density

  charges of particles

  Charlton (publisher)

  chemical bonds

  chemical reactions

  chemistry

  chromosomal damage

  Civil War Files

  climate change

  clockwork universe perspective

  cloud chamber

  “cold fusion,”

  collective consciousness

  Collier’s Magazine

  combustion

  comic books. See also specific titles

  compact discs (CDs)

  complex numbers

  compound interest

  computation speed

  computers

  hard-drives

  and magnetic resonance imaging

  in science fiction

  and transistors

  Concentrator

  A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (Twain)

  conservation of energy

  Considine, Joe

  constants

  constructive interference

  consumer electronics. See also specific devices

  Cooper, Leon

  Cooper pairs

  Copenhagen Institute

  cordless phones

  Cornell, Eric

  “Corpse Cavalry of the Yellow Vulture,”

  cosmic microwave background radiation

  The Cosmic Rape (Sturgeon)

  cosmic rays

  Cranston, Lamont

  critical mass

  cryptology

  crystals

  Daisy Manufacturing Company

  data security

  Davidson, Sidney

  Day, Doris

  DC Comics

  De Broglie, Louis

  de Broglie matter waves

  and atomic spectra

  and Bose-Einstein condensates

  and Dr. Manhattan

  and electron microscopes

  and electron orbits

  and the exclusion principle

  and nanostructured materials

  and nuclear fission

  and quantum mechanical tunneling

  and quantum mechanical wave functions

  and quantum theory

  and reflection

  and spin=0 particles

  and superfluids

  and temperature

  and two-electron wave functions

  and uncertainty principle

  and wave functions

  death rays. See also lasers

  Death Stalks the Shadow

  Debye, Pieter

  Decepticons

  decoherence

  The Demolished Man (Bester)

  Dent, Lester

  Destination: Moon

  destructive interference

  Detroit News

  deuterium

  DeWitt, Bryce

  diamagnetism

  diamond

  Dick Tracy

  diffraction

  diffusion

  digital cameras

  digital information

  digital versatile discs (DVDs)

  diodes

  dipoles

  Dirac, Paul Adrien Maurice

  Disneyland (television)

  dissipative forces

  DNA

  Doc Savage

  doping

  Dr. Cyclops (1940)

  Dr. Manhattan (Jonathan Osterman)

  with Bohr

  and Cerenkov radiation

  hydrogen symbol

  and intrinsic field disruption

  predecessors of

  and wave function manipulation

  Dr. Solar—Man of the Atom

  drag

  duality

  DVDs (digital versatile discs)

  Eddington, Arthur

  Ehrenfest, Paul

  Einstein, Albert

  and Bose-Einstein statistics

  and development of quantum mechanics

  and light quanta

  and nuclear weapons

  on the photoelectric effect

  and quantum entanglement

  and speed of light

  electric dipole transitions

  electric fields

  electric motors

  electrical current

  and glow-in-the-dark materials

  and LEDs

  and resistance

  and semiconductors

  and solar cells

  electrolysis

  electromagnetism. See also magnetic fields

  and electromagnets

  and experimental science

  and “intrinsic field,”

  and light

  and matter waves

  and particle decay

  and propagation in vacuum

  and solid-state physics

  and the strong force

  and the ultraviolet catastrophe

  and visible light

  electron microscopes

  electrons

  and Bohr diagrams

  charge density

  and the exclusion principle

  internal angular momentum

  and “intrinsic field,”

  and lasers

  and leakage effect

  and metals

  orbits of

  and particle spin

  and quantum computers

  and quantum entanglement

  and radioactivity

  and scattering experiment

  and the Schrödinger equation

  and semiconductors

  and solar cells

  and spin

  and superconductors

  and thermoelectrics

  and transistors

  and uncertainty principle

  and wave functions

  electrostatic attraction

  and fission

  and hydrogen

  and intrinsic field

  and liquid crystals

  and metallic ions

  and quarks

  Schrödinger’s equation

  electrostatic repulsion

  Element X,

  elementary particles

  elevators

  ellipses

  emission spectra. See atomic-light-emission spectra

  Empire State Building

  encryption

  energy. See also kinetic energy

  availability of

  conservation of

  global energy consumption

  mass-energy equivalency

  measurements of

  and momentum

  and nanotechnology

  solar energy

  ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer)

  entanglement

  Enterprise

  Ernest, Marsden

  Evans, Leslie

  Everett, Hugh

  excimer laser

  exotic particles

  experimentation

  exponential time dependence

  fallout, radioactive

  the Fantastic Four

  Fantastic Voyage II: Destination Brain (Asimov)

  Faraday, Michael

  faster-than-light transmission of information

  fax machines

  Feiffer, Jules

  Fermi, Enrico

  Fermi-Dirac statistics

  fermions

  Fert, Albert

  Feynman, Richard

  field-effect transistors

  field theory


  “The Fifth Dimensional Catapult” (Leinster)

  film

  fine structure constant

  Finkelstein, David

  fire

  fission

  Five Weeks in a Balloon (Verne)

  The Flash

  Flash Gordon

  flash memory

  Flatland (Abbott)

  floating gates

  fluorescence

  flying cars

  Ford Motor Company

  Forrest, Hank

  fossil fuels

  Foster, Bill

  free electrons

  frequency of waves

  From the Earth to the Moon (Verne)

  functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)

  functions

  fundamental constants

  fusion

  Galaxy

  gamma rays

  and fusion

  and particle decay

  and radioactive half life

  and radioactivity

  Gamow, George

  gas lasers

  geeks

  Geiger, Hans

  Geiger counters

  gender issues

  gene sequencing

  General Dynamics

  General Theory of Relativity

  genetic mutation

  Gerlach, Walther

  German Physical Society

  Gernsback, Hugo

  giant magnetoresistance effect

  Gibbons, Dave

  gigantism

  Gila Flats Research Facility

  Gilbert, Alfred Carlton

  global communication

  glow-in-the-dark materials

  Goddard, Robert H.

  gold

  Gold Key comics

  Goldfinger (1964)

  Goliath

  Goudsmit, Samuel

  Gould, Chester

  graphite

  gravity

  The Great Comic Book Heroes (Feiffer)

  Greek nomenclature

  Groot

  ground state

  Groves, Leslie R.

  Grünberg, Peter

  Guido

  Haber, Heinz

  Hahn, Otto

  half-life

  hard drives

  heat. See also temperature

  heavy elements

  heavy water

  Heisenberg, Werner

  Helgoland

  helium

  and “cold fusion,”