If you’re of a certain age, you know Alan Alda from his wonderful acting in television shows and in movies. But you may not know of his long-standing interest in science communication and his podcast Clear and Vivid (named for the characteristics that he feels all communication should have.)
Alda and I had a great conversation about the idea that we are made of waves, and what it means for our relationship to the universe. A slimmed-down version of that discussion is now available on his podcast. I hope you enjoy it!
Separately, as promised: to my last post, which covered various ways of depicting and interpreting wave functions, I’ve added explanations of the two quantum wave functions that I placed at the end. Tomorrow I’ll take a step back and consider wave functions from a larger point of view, taking a brief look at what they are (and aren’t), what’s “wavy” (and not) about them, and at their roles in contexts ranging from pre-quantum physics of the 19th century to quantum field theory of the 21st.
