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Definition:
The field of quantum mechanics was developed by physicists including, Heisenberg, and
Schrodinger in the 1920s and 1930s, producing a revolution in the way we need to view
the natural world. Previously, the natural world had been viewed as deterministic -
for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, for example. Using known
natural laws, it was thought to be possible at least in principle to predict what
would happen in a system so long as sufficient information was known about its
beginning state.
According to quantum mechanics, however, this did not hold true on the sub-atomic level. Instead, only probabilistic or statistical knowledge could be obtained. Thus, we can predict what is likely to occur, and we can even figure out how likely (or unlikely) certain events may be. However, we cannot determine what will definitely occur.
Also Known As: none
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Related Resources:
What is the Philosophy of Science?
The Philosophy of Science is concerned with, obviously enough, science - specifically, how science operates, what the goals of science should be, what relationship science should have with the rest of society, the differences between science and other activities, etc. Everything that happens in science has some relationship with the Philosophy of Science and is predicated upon some philosophical position, even though that may be rarely evident.What is Philosophy?
What is philosophy? Is there any point in studying philosophy, or is it a useless subject? What are the different branches of philosophy - what's the difference between aestheitcs and ethics? What's the difference between metaphysics and epistemology?
