The Message of the Atoms, Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 1997 Essays on Wolfgang Pauli and the Unspeakable

When I meet a difficult problem, I begin to go around it, approaching it again and again from different directions. If I persistently continue these approaches, it can happen that no problem remains. (RolfNevanlinna, in a private discussion.) In 1976, after a mainly administrative period of some 15 years, I spent a couple of months at CERN, working in the Pauli Collection. When I found the Pauli-Fierz correspondence, I had the intuitive feeling that there was the key: that "it was an objective description, and that it was the only possible objective description" for the mysteries of quantum mechanics. Here I have cited Bohr in his 'last interview' (see Chap. 7), which I became acquainted with only later, but I was immediately convinced that Pauli's view was more profound than anything else I had read about in quantum mechanics. However, nowadays the investigation of the foundations of quantum theory is dominated by 'realism', which means that the influence of the psyche on our conception of reality is ignored. This book is an attempt to show that this is not possible in quantum mechanics.

I Problems.- 1. Purgatory.- 2. The Atoms Have the Floor.- 3. Scientism.- 4. The Power of Materialism.- II Facts and Interpretations.- 5. Ontology Implied by the Copenhagen Interpretation.- Original Texts of the Quotations Referred to in Chap. 5.- 6. Basic Features in Wolfgang Pauli’s Philosophy.- 7. On the Meaning of Complementarity.- 8. On the Criticism by Natural Scientists.- III Creation.- 9. Freedom.- 10. Numinosum.- 11. The World of Spirit.- 12. The Problem of the Fourth.- IV The Outline of Reality.- 13. The Psychophysical World.- 14. The Reality Beyond.- 15. Reality and Values.- 16. Hubris and Punishment (A Personal Vision).- Appendix: Italian Guests.- References.

The author describes the main features in the philosophy behind the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics. He hopes to convince the reader of the incompatibility of quantum mechanics with 'realism' if this is understood in the usual physical sense, without incorporating consciousness into the conception of reality. He also tries to pave the road for a timely discussion of the science-religion debate in view of a correct interpretation of the message of nature spelled out in the language of quantum physics.