The Einstein Paradox: The Debate on Nonlocality and Incompleteness in 1935

The famously controversial 1935 paper by Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen (EPR) took aim at the heart of the flourishing field of quantum mechanics. The paper provoked responses from the leading theoretical physicists of the day, and brought entanglement and nonlocality to the forefront of discussion. This book looks back at the seminal year in which the EPR paper was published and explores the intense debate it unleashed. These conversations in print and in private correspondence offer significant insight into the minds of pioneering quantum physicists including Niels Bohr, Erwin Schrödinger and Albert Einstein himself. Offering the most complete collection of sources to date – many published or translated here for the first time – this text brings a rich new context to this pivotal moment in physics history. Both researchers and students in the history and philosophy of science, and enthusiasts alike, will find this book illuminating.

Guido Bacciagaluppi is Associate Professor of Foundations of Physics at Utrecht University. His research interests lie in the philosophy of quantum mechanics, the philosophy of science, and the history of quantum mechanics. He co-authored a monograph on the 1927 Solvay conference with Antony Valentini, Quantum Theory at the Crossroads (Cambridge University Press, 2009), and previously collaborated with Elise Crull on Grete Hermann: Between Physics and Philosophy (Springer, 2017).

Elise Crull is Associate Professor of Philosophy at The City College of New York. Her research focuses on the philosophy of physics, the intersection between physics and metaphysics, and on general topics within history and philosophy of science. She co-authored a volume on the work of Grete Hermann with Guido Bacciagaluppi, Grete Hermann: Between Physics and Philosophy (Springer, 2017), and continues to promote scholarly work at the intersection of science, history, and philosophy.