Books

Books : reviews

John S. Bell.
Speakable and Unspeakable in Quantum Mechanics.
CUP. 1987

John Bell FRS, is one of the leading expositors and interpreters of modern quantum theory. He is particularly famous for his discovery of a crucial difference between the predictions of conventional quantum mechanics and the implications of local causality a concept insisted on by Einstein. This work has played a major role 1n the development of our current understanding of the profound nature of quantum concepts and of the fundamental limitations they impose on the applicability of the classical ideas of space, time and locality.

This book contains all of John Bell’s published and unpublished papers on the conceptual and philosophical problems of quantum mechanics. These have been reset, the references put in order, and minor corrections made. The author has written a short Preface putting the papers in context.

This collection will be of interest to graduate students and research workers in physics with an interest in the conceptual foundations of quantum theory. It will also be of value to philosophers of science.