How the Hippies Saved Physics: Science, Counterculture, and the Quantum Revival
About this audiobook
The surprising story of eccentric young scientists who stood up to convention—and changed the face of modern physics
In the 1970s, amid severe cutbacks in physics funding, a small group of underemployed physicists in Berkeley decided to throw off the constraints of academia and explore the wilder side of science. Dubbing themselves the “Fundamental Fysiks Group,” they pursued a freewheeling, speculative approach to physics. Some dabbled with LSD while conducting experiments. They studied quantum theory alongside Eastern mysticism and psychic mind reading, discussing the latest developments while lounging in hot tubs. Unlikely as it may seem, this quirky band of misfits altered the course of modern physics, forcing mainstream physicists to pay attention to the strange but exciting underpinnings of quantum theory. Their work on Bell’s theorem and quantum entanglement helped pave the way for today’s advances in quantum information science.
A lively and entertaining Cinderella story, How the Hippies Saved Physics takes us to a time when only the unlikeliest heroes could break the science world out of its rut.
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About the author
David Kaiser is an associate professor at MIT, where he teaches in the Program in Science, Technology, and Society and in the Department of Physics. He completed PhDs in physics and the history of science at Harvard University. He is the author of the award-winning book Drawing Theories Apart: The Dispersion of Feynman Diagrams in Postwar Physics. His research has received awards from the American Physical Society, the History of Science Society, the British Society for the History of Science, and MIT, and he has also received several teaching awards from Harvard and MIT. He and his family live in Natick, Massachusetts.
Sean Runnette, a multiple AudioFile Earphones Award winner, has produced several Audie Award-winning audiobooks. He is a member of the American Repertory Theater company and has toured internationally with Mabou Mines, an avant-garde theater company. Sean's television and film appearances include Two If by Sea, Copland, Sex and the City, Law & Order, Third Watch, and lots and lots of commercials, for which he apologizes.
