Quantum Physics at the Crossroads

FOLKLORE:
When I was but a young undergrad student, I read some interesting books about the history and foundations of quantum theory. In those books the Solvay conferences played a major role, particularly the 5th conference in 1927. I was informed that the official part of the proceedings was largely insignificant, and that all [...]

Why not von Neumann?

Anyone who read the comments on my last post will know that von Neumann is something of a hero of mine. Here’s a question that sometimes bothers me – why didn’t von Neumann think of quantum computing? Compare his profile with that of Feynman, who did think up quantum computing, and then ask [...]