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Birth
Werner Heisenberg is born in Wurzburg Germany. -
measuring subatomic particles
While researching at Gottingen, Germany, Werner Heisenberg was working to conduct measurements of subatomic particles; however, doing so would require us to see them. In order to see something, we need to bounce other particles off of it, for example photons. In the case of subatomic particles, bouncing another off the one being measured can alter its position and momentum.
This caused a dilemma... -
The Uncertainty Principle
Heisenberg realized because of their quantum nature, there was a trade off when measuring subatomic particles, one can measure the position of the particle, or its velocity, but never both at the same time with any exactness. He named his theory “The Uncertainty Principle”
What is the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle? -
Nobel Prize
Werner Heisenberg is awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for the creation of quantum mechanics. Quantum mechanics became the foundation for the field of quantum physics. -
Physics and Philosophy: The Revolution in Modern Science
Heisenberg publishes his book “Physics and Philosophy: The Revolution in Modern Science”. In this book Heisenberg addresses the philosophical implications of quantum physics.
Words have meaning, we use them to describe the world we live in based on what we see and experience. However Heisenberg’s research into the subatomic realm revealed a new world, with new rules on how things behaved and reacted. So how can we describe something for which we don’t have words for?
cont... -
Death
Heisenberg dies in Munich, Germany at age 74.
