Conclusion

Amy E. Varela

pp. 263-265

in: Michel Bitbol, Schrödinger's philosophy of quantum mechanics, Berlin, Springer, 1996

Abstract

Quantum theories are unanimously considered as the result of a collective work. Each physicist, within a list including Planck, Einstein, Bohr, de Broglie, Heisenberg, Schrödinger, Dirac, Pauli, Born, Jordan, etc. is ascribed a role in the edification of the formalism and the empirical correspondence rules of quantum mechanics. By contrast, the interpretation of quantum mechanics is usually regarded as a subject of conflict or an instrument of sociological leadership, rather than a field of cooperation. This view is supported by the hot debates which took place between the founders of quantum mechanics, and which still take place today, about the meaning and scope of this theory. Yet, the further the debate progresses, the clearer it appears that parts of the conceptions which were once considered conflicting are likely to be incorporated together into an acceptable mature attitude towards quantum mechanics.