Re: All science books should have similar disclaimers
So true. And this is one of the main experiments that shows how little we actually know about the physical world. I’m even of the belief that there is no sound argument in existence, although cogito ergo sum comes the closest out of anything I’ve seen in my little experience.
Basically, this experiment proves that we do not actually know what an electron is. Until now, science class has told you that it is a particle. This is one of the biggest faux pas in public education - they decide “well, since 99% of these kids will not go into physics, it won’t matter to them anyway.” But it seems clear to me that when something is unknown, you should give a human being a chance to discern for his/herself what is right.
An electron has a characteristic called particle-wave duality. It is entirely unknown how, when or why it acts like one or the other. This experiment shows that, when unmeasured, an electron behaves as a particle would. However, when measured (obviously to collect data), it mysteriously behaves like a wave. This is a scary concept. Our bodies are made up of atoms, which consist of countless electrons. If all the electrons in our bodies would ‘decide’ to act like waves…our bodies as we know them would cease to exist. This is the baseline and often times introductory argument to quantum mechanics. And really fucked up.
