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Author Topic:   Tell me about Werner Heisenberg

Grosshaus posted 11-22-98 12:57 PM ET
I'm supposed to write an essay about him, and I know only that he discovered the uncertainty principle.
Please help a man in need!
Lee Johnson posted 11-23-98 10:14 AM ET
They don't have libraries in Finland?
Roland posted 11-23-98 10:58 AM ET
Who needs libraries when you got the web ? Stand in awe before the wonders of the internet...
1901-76, German physicist. A founder of QUANTUM MECHANICS, he is famous for his uncertainty principle, which states that it is impossible to determine both the position and momentum of a subatomic particle (such as
the electron) with arbitrarily high accuracy. The effect of this principle is to convert the laws of physics into statements about relative, instead of absolute, certainties. Heisenberg's matrix mechanics, a form of quantum mechanics, was shown to be equivalent to Erwin SCHR�DINGER's wave mechanics. Heisenberg received the 1932 Nobel Prize in physics for his work in nuclear physics and quantum theory.
___________
Werner Heisenberg was a German physicist who lived between 1901-1976. He developed new theories in quantum mechanics which agreed with the results of previous experiments.
Heisenberg is most famous for his uncertainty principle, which explains the impossibility of simultaneously knowing an object's position and momentum. However, this principle is only significant for submicroscopic particles such as electrons. Another of Heisenberg's famous theories maintained that a scientist interacts with an object while measuring it, and thus has some affect on it.
Heisenberg also wrote the plans for the first nuclear reactor in Germany and promoted such peaceful uses of nuclear energy.
_____________
For more, try
http://beat.doebe.li/bibliothek/p00008.html
with some links.
And you gotta love their disclaimer:
"This is not an official homepage of Werner Heisenberg and it is not possible to contact Werner Heisenberg through this page!"
To quote DJ: ROTFLMAO!!!

Grosshaus, I think you mentioned that you understand german ? In that case:
http://www.uni-karlsruhe.de/~za525/weheisen.htm
It's all in two minute's use of altavista...
Lee Johnson posted 11-23-98 03:16 PM ET
Roland, the usual point of assignments like this one isn't the actual knowledge--the purpose is to sharpen the student's research skills. What does he learn by having someone else do his homework for him?
You haven't done him any favours...
It's easy to find stuff like this on the 'net on your own, but this guy can't even be bothered to type queries into a search engine, or look in an encyclopedia. I refuse to rescue people from their own laziness.
Gord McLeod posted 11-23-98 03:22 PM ET
I lean towards agreeing with you in principle, Lee, but he isn't going to learn very much more by typing a word or two into a search engine. And then too, Roland didn't exactly cut and paste volumes of material here. A brief overview at best - Grosshaus is going to have to do a LOT more research than just skimming what Roland gave him if he wants any sort of in-depth coverage at all. He's got enough info here to have a basic understanding now though, which should serve as a place to start.
Roland posted 11-24-98 06:18 AM ET
Yes, I also agree with you, Lee. But I just gave him some starting points. He still has to find more information, select it, put it into his report etc. So I hope I haven't spoiled too much of his task...
RM posted 11-24-98 02:00 PM ET
I have a friend who once read a course in 'information acquisition' or something like that, where one of his assignments was to find the answers to a number of questions and write down how he found them. He couldn't find one of the answers to the questions, so he asked a scientist at our university, who had worked with the subject the question was about.
What I am trying to say with this true story is that there is more than one way to find information, and asking someone is sometimes just as useful as searching for books in a library. This is especially true for new things that there are no written books about yet, or if the only books on the matter that exists are written in swahili.
Finding a book that mentions Werner Heisenberg would of course be easy.
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Author	Topic: Tell me about Werner Heisenberg
Grosshaus	posted 11-22-98 12:57 PM ET I'm supposed to write an essay about him, and I know only that he discovered the uncertainty principle. Please help a man in need!
Lee Johnson	posted 11-23-98 10:14 AM ET They don't have libraries in Finland?
Roland	posted 11-23-98 10:58 AM ET Who needs libraries when you got the web ? Stand in awe before the wonders of the internet... 1901-76, German physicist. A founder of QUANTUM MECHANICS, he is famous for his uncertainty principle, which states that it is impossible to determine both the position and momentum of a subatomic particle (such as the electron) with arbitrarily high accuracy. The effect of this principle is to convert the laws of physics into statements about relative, instead of absolute, certainties. Heisenberg's matrix mechanics, a form of quantum mechanics, was shown to be equivalent to Erwin SCHR�DINGER's wave mechanics. Heisenberg received the 1932 Nobel Prize in physics for his work in nuclear physics and quantum theory. ___________ Werner Heisenberg was a German physicist who lived between 1901-1976. He developed new theories in quantum mechanics which agreed with the results of previous experiments. Heisenberg is most famous for his uncertainty principle, which explains the impossibility of simultaneously knowing an object's position and momentum. However, this principle is only significant for submicroscopic particles such as electrons. Another of Heisenberg's famous theories maintained that a scientist interacts with an object while measuring it, and thus has some affect on it. Heisenberg also wrote the plans for the first nuclear reactor in Germany and promoted such peaceful uses of nuclear energy. _____________ For more, try http://beat.doebe.li/bibliothek/p00008.html with some links. And you gotta love their disclaimer: "This is not an official homepage of Werner Heisenberg and it is not possible to contact Werner Heisenberg through this page!" To quote DJ: ROTFLMAO!!! Grosshaus, I think you mentioned that you understand german ? In that case: http://www.uni-karlsruhe.de/~za525/weheisen.htm It's all in two minute's use of altavista...
Lee Johnson	posted 11-23-98 03:16 PM ET Roland, the usual point of assignments like this one isn't the actual knowledge--the purpose is to sharpen the student's research skills. What does he learn by having someone else do his homework for him? You haven't done him any favours... It's easy to find stuff like this on the 'net on your own, but this guy can't even be bothered to type queries into a search engine, or look in an encyclopedia. I refuse to rescue people from their own laziness.
Gord McLeod	posted 11-23-98 03:22 PM ET I lean towards agreeing with you in principle, Lee, but he isn't going to learn very much more by typing a word or two into a search engine. And then too, Roland didn't exactly cut and paste volumes of material here. A brief overview at best - Grosshaus is going to have to do a LOT more research than just skimming what Roland gave him if he wants any sort of in-depth coverage at all. He's got enough info here to have a basic understanding now though, which should serve as a place to start.
Roland	posted 11-24-98 06:18 AM ET Yes, I also agree with you, Lee. But I just gave him some starting points. He still has to find more information, select it, put it into his report etc. So I hope I haven't spoiled too much of his task...
RM	posted 11-24-98 02:00 PM ET I have a friend who once read a course in 'information acquisition' or something like that, where one of his assignments was to find the answers to a number of questions and write down how he found them. He couldn't find one of the answers to the questions, so he asked a scientist at our university, who had worked with the subject the question was about. What I am trying to say with this true story is that there is more than one way to find information, and asking someone is sometimes just as useful as searching for books in a library. This is especially true for new things that there are no written books about yet, or if the only books on the matter that exists are written in swahili. Finding a book that mentions Werner Heisenberg would of course be easy.