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Editorial Review Product Description
In the first comprehensive biography of Erwin Schrödinger--a brilliant and charming Austrian, a great scientist, and a man with a passionate interest in people and ideas--the author draws upon recollections of Schrödinger's friends, family and colleagues, and on contemporary records, letters and diaries. Schrödinger led a very intense life, both in his research and in the personal realm.This book portrays his life against the backdrop of Europe at a time of change and unrest.His best known scientific work was the discovery of wave mechanics, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1933. In Dublin, he wrote his most famous and influential book What is Life?, which attracted some of the brightest minds of his generation into molecular biology. This highly readable biography of a fascinating and complex man will appeal to anyone interested in the history of our times, and in the life and thought of one of the great men of twentieth-century science. ... Read more Customer Reviews (7) 
Great physicist - dubious kind of guy
I was impressed by the freshness of Moore's writing and his diligence in unearthing the daily life of Erwin Schrodinger over so many years. What do you make of a guy who spent his life falling in love easily with so many women and then seducing them? A man who in his forties suffers what Moore euphemistically calls a 'Lolita complex'? He ends up with three daughters, none by his wife, who he remains married to until the end. At least the girls got good intellectual genes.
Schrodinger was no friend to the concept of 'bourgeois marriage', and it might be argued in these enlightened times that he was doing nothing wrong. However, his lifelong self-centred and adolescent attitude to relationships led to collateral damage to many (not all) of the woman with whom he involved himself. Typically it was the younger or less well-educated who were left holding the baby, or worse.
His work was mostly blindingly competent in the spirit of mathematical physics. A strong visualiser, he was close in philosophy to Einstein and had little patience with the Bohr-Born interpretation of his wave equation. His culture, approach, techniques and beliefs all seem curiously dated now, but this was a first rate scientific biography.
This version of the book has the physics as well as the sex. The level is not particularly daunting ... first degree in physics or maths is fine.
Anything you want to know--it is here for you!!
If you look on page 238 on Walter Moore's book and view the Solvay Conference of Physics in 1927,you should think carefully of the world that Erwin Schrodinger was part of. All of those great minds were around him,Curie, Pauli, Einstein, etc, plus he lived through two world wars, and he had to deal with the Nazis and so on. Has anyone every lived at a better(or worse) time?The Schrodinger equation was probably the greatest discovery of the 20th century,but because of the wave mechanics involved,most people credit Einstein with being the smartest guy around because they would rather talk about relativity than a complicated equation.Our QM world is based on his equation for the most part and he did this in 1925!There is no denying this is a most complete book,having virtually every detail of ES life mentioned (some where) in it. My problem with this is it really necessary?Physicists will probably like this book because they can relate to it much better,but I guess you could skip the math and just read on.You can see how the scientists of the time pretend not to compete with one another,yet it is evident Schrodinger is the man for most of this period in time. This story is that of a great physicist that many times is overlooked because of the company he kept.He was horrified by the dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima,as were most of his friends and considered it mass murder,but later managed to solve the Peierls equation which allows one to calculate the critical mass of a nuclear explosive.I would recommend this book for reading, but must warn you that every sexual encounter is included and you will not complete it in a day. It was quite interesting to read of the closeness between ES and Einstein.However,this exposure of how great ES was should impress upon you how often a man of such importance is virtually unheard ofin many parts of the modern world--even today.guyairey
The Great Mind: Erwin Schrodinger
If there is some way I could rate this book as five star plus, then I would love to do that. This is a very well researched book by an author who makes a passionate presentation of the mind and work of one of the greatest physicists of 20th century. Erwin Schrodinger is an enigmatic figure, a brilliant scientist, philosopher, poet and a humanist who lead a complex personal life; several love affairs allowed and approved by; his wife Annemarie, and husbands of his girlfriends. The author has examined and reviewed many archived materials from Schrodinger's family, friends, and universities/academic institutions who knew Schrödinger. The reader becomes fascinated by sheer brilliance, wisdom, sadness, and struggle in personal and professional life of Schrödinger.
Schrodinger was deeply philosophical in his thoughts than any other scientist of his time, but he apparently did not make far-reaching philosophical conclusions from his work in quantum physics. He was held back because he knew there was a lack of clarity. Schrödinger was deeply influenced by the thoughts of Schopenhauer, and developed strong interest in Buddhist philosophy and Vedanta (one of the six schools of Hindu philosophy.) Schrodinger intensively studied the works of Schopenhauer, Henry Warren, Max Welleser, Richard Garbe, Paul Deussen, Max Muller, and Rhys Davids to understand Hindu and Buddhist philosophies. Erwin's interest in Vedanta and Upanishads started at a young age when he was accustomed to cold hungry time in war-torn Vienna. His search for the truth never reached conclusion as his one time lover Hansi Bauer noted, but his belief in Vedanta remained the same since 1920 until his death. He was a life long believer of Vedanta. He lashed out Christian churches accusing them of gross superstition in their belief of individual souls.
Quantum physics has tremendous philosophical implications, which revolutionized modern thought in science and philosophy because it did not agree with the philosophy of materialism expounded by Newton. Interpretation of quantum world suggested that strict determinism and predictability is not an accurate description of reality, and consciousness is an integral part of the laws of quantum physics. In other words, the human observer (biological system) and the observed (rest of the universe) is not merely a biological (cognition) phenomenon but more than that. One can not actually derive the Schrödinger wave equation from classical physics. It is a justification and hence the final equation is used to calculate the energy levels that fit the experimental results such as the observed UV spectra of a hydrogen atom. Schrodinger developed relativistic equation first and then the non-relativistic equation. The relativistically framed (without spin) equation did not agree with the experimental result because it did not include electron spin. It was not known at that time that electron has a spin. This equation was good for a particle with no spin and it was the same as fine structure formula of Sommerfeld.
According to Vedanta; there exists only one universal being called the Brahman, which comprises all of reality in an undivided unity. This being absolutely homogeneous in nature: It is pure thought, which is not an attribute but the substance devoid of any qualities. The Brahman is associated with a power or a principle of illusion called Maya. As a magician creates illusion during his act, Brahman through Maya creates the appearances of the material world. Maya is the cause of the material world, and an indivisible Brahman is present in all forms of existence. The soul in reality is an infinite Brahman enmeshed in the unreal world of Maya. The unenlightened soul is incapable of looking beyond this illusion, but an enlightened soul knows the difference between its true self and the external illusory world thus paving the way for identifying itself with Brahman. This unity and continuity concept of All in One expounded in Vedanta is consistent with quantum physics where the universe is superimposed inseparable waves of probability amplitudes. The existence of Heisenberg uncertainty phenomenon and quantum Zeno effect is an allegory to the illusions of Maya or a prelude to the indivisible, All in One, Supreme Brahman. This intense philosophical debate was taking place in the mind of young Erwin in the midst of discovering wave mechanics! Nov 1925 to Dec 1926 is a critical period for the development wave mechanics. Erwin's thought process was so upbeat that his creative power peaked during this period and remains without parallel in the history of science!
In personal life; Erwin had contempt for Nazis but never openly criticized the regime. Schrodinger left Berlin 1933 to protest Nazi regime, in the same year he was awarded Nobel Prize with Paul Dirac. At one time he considered a faculty position at Tata Institute (Indian Institute of Science) in Bangalore, India at the invitation of Nobel laureate C.V. Raman. Erwin's love interests include a long list of women; Felice Krauss, Lotte Rella, Ithi Junger, Hansi Bauer-Bohm, Hilde March, Sheila May Green, Kate Nolan, Betty Dolan, Lucie Rie, and maids of Vienna during war years. He had two daughters Ruth and Linda from his lovers. Hilde March, wife of physicist Arthur March, with whom he had a daughter was his pseudo-wife living side by side with wife Annemarie under the same roof.It is ironic that the personal stress associated with his daring extra martial affairs unperturbed by the pressures of the society, and sadness created by financial problems and deaths of his parents and the terrible guilt that ensured due to his inability to do more to care them may have helped rather than hindered his creativity. In a letter of 1930, he recalls how his father's death on the Christmas Eve of 1919 left little cheer in his soul for the festive season throughout his life. This demonstrates the emotional and human side of Erwin; the deaths of his parents shook his consciousness and left him with tremendous pain and loss. Schrödinger's life is filled with drama and sadness caused by several failed romances; three illegitimate children, infidelity, two wives, nervous breakdown of his wife Annemarie, and some of his lovers, and his own illness due to various health problems, and constant displacement due to war and the Nazi regime. Yet his contributions to mankind are immortal. At the end of the book you feel like crying at the triumph and tragedies of this great human being.
1. What Is Life?: with "Mind and Matter" and "Autobiographical Sketches"
2. Schrodinger's Kittens and the Search for Reality: Solving the Quantum Mysteries Tag: Author of In Search of Schrod. Cat
3. 'Nature and the Greeks' and 'Science and Humanism' (Canto original series)
4. Space-Time Structure (Cambridge Science Classics)
5. Letters on Wave Mechanics: Schrodinger-Planck-Einstein-Lorentz
6. The Historical Development of Quantum Theory: Erwin Schrodinger and the Rise of Wave Mechanics, Part 1 : Schrodinger in Vienna and Zurich 1187-1925 (Historical Development of Quantum Theory)
All aspects of Schrödinger covered
Walter Moore captures the life of Erwin Schrödinger, one of the most important theoretical physicists of the 20th century, covering his career, science, philosophy and personal life.
In this ambitious book Moore tries to shed light on all aspects ofSchrödinger's life, and tries to connect them, but no coherent picture evolves. I had the impression, however, thatthis is not Moore's fault, but that the pieces that made up Erwin Schrödinger did not fit into a coherent whole.
A gifted student from an early age on, he took on physics. After initially dwelling in different sub-fields, he developed wave mechanics at the (for creative work in theoretical physics) late age of 38. His almost unparalelled mathematical skills made this advance possible. Schrödinger never saw mathematics only as a tool, but he greatly appreciated it's beauty. Moore does an excellent job in describing the intellectual journey towards this discovery, as well as the giants on who's shoulders Schrödinger was standing. For this work Schrödinger received the Nobel prize in 1933.
In his later years, he dedicated a substantial part of his efforts to the search for a unified (quantum mechanics - relativity) theory of physics. Just like Einstein, with whom he had an extensive correspondence about the mater, he failed. Schrödinger's scientific work is explained in quite a bit of detail. Despite being quite familiar with differential equations, but without a background in theoretical physics, I must admit that I had a hard time following Schrödinger's insights as presented by Moore.
From his student days on, Erwin Schrödinger was a believer in the Indian teachings of Vedanta, proclaiming a one-ness of all minds, which make up reality. It is hard to see how a rational 20th century scientist could adhere so uncritically to an ancient religion. However, these beliefs seemingly did not influence his science much and neither did they influence his personal life.
His personal life was, nevertheless, unusual. He was a lover of interesting women, and he had many (I am all for that!), but many of his loves were still teenagers, while he was in his 30s and 40s (very weired!). For a man of such high intellectual capacity, this shows very poor moral judgment. He was not solely interested in sex, but sincerely in love with many of them and wrote them love poems.
Schrödinger also showed somewhat poor moral judgment in terms of politics, although the turmoils of the 20th century greatly affected him (he was removed from his professorship in Graz by the Nazis). He was not an opportunist, like so many of his fellow Austrian and German physicists. Although he leaned to the left, he basically was not interested in politics at all. An irresponsible neglect during the rise of fascism in Europe!
Moore brings together all these aspects of Erwin Schrödinger, and he does so with lots of knowledge of the local culture and history of the places Schrödinger visited and lived at (Vienna, Graz, Dublin, Cambridge). This is a well researched book in all aspects and one with lots of sympathy for "Erwin".
Scientific and sexual fireworks.
This is a masterful biography, but one need to have a profound knowledge of higher mathematics and a basic one in physics to fully understand it.
Walter Moore shows that Schrödinger's life and thought was at least controversial.
Life
Schrödinger's personal itinerary is exemplary for the 20th century. He was born in a comfortable upper-middle class, but his parents lost their savings in the German inflation after WW I. The result was famine and diseases. It marked the rest of his life. As a young man he was confronted with unemployment and nearly left physics for financial reasons!
He found a decent job only at the age of 34. Even after winning the Nobel Prize he was still confronted with 'pension' problems.
Science
Walter Moore gives us a magisterial and detailed analysis of the scientific discoveries of ES, from his humble beginnings to the elaboration of the quantum wave function and after.
It shows that ES was above all a mathematical genius and a not so brilliant experimenter.
ES remained all his life opposed to the complemantary (particle/wave) interpretation of quantum mechanics (the 'Kopenhagen oracle' for ES). For him, there were only waves!
Sex
Beside science, sex was the principal occupation of his life, with all combinations imaginable. He lived a ménage à trois and sometimes à quatre, but still fell in love with other women, also with very young ones for he had a Lolita complex. He could without doubt have been accused of paedophilia.
But his intense love affairs stimulated highly his scientific creativity.
One can only wonder if his 'wild' behaviour and negative view of bourgeois marriage were not fundamentally influenced by the fact that he couldn't marry his first true love, because her family found that he was too poor!
Politics
He had a deep contempt for the governing classes (politicians, clergy) who 'enslave men by violence and use the religious desire of many people to promote superstition to rule over the dispossessed'. He also distrusted democracy!
Philosophical world view
This is certainly one of the strangest aspects of his thoughts.
He was convinced that physics provided absolutely no answers to philosophical questions (e. g. free will). All his life he remained, like Einstein, an adept of determinism.
His philosophical views and ethical principles were completely dissociated from his real life!
As an adept of the Vedanta, he believed the Buddhist wisdom that a thing could be both A and non-A (horribile dictu)!
He was also heavily influenced by the philosophy of Schopenhauer.
This work gives excellent explanations of the Vedanta, and the philosophy of Mach and Schopenhauer.
It contains a very painful paragraph on Heidegger.
I see only one minus point: the author doesn't give Bohr's pertinent response to the EPR-article against the Copenhagen interpretation of qm.
This is a brilliant book and certainly the definitive biography of Schrödinger. It is by no means a hagiography and doesn't dodge some 'weird' aspects of Schrödinger's life.
Not to be missed.
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