Distributed for The Grolier Club
Uncertainty and the Quantum Revolution
Essays examining the evolution of scientific understanding on the one hundredth anniversary of quantum mechanics.
A century ago, physics was upended by a small group of brilliant scientists. Uncertainty and the Quantum Revolution traces the fifty-year transformation, from 1895 to 1945, that shattered the predictability of the clockwork universe and gave rise to a new understanding of nature, one governed by probability rather than certainty. The 137 items in this Grolier Club publication include landmark books, autograph manuscripts, inscribed offprints, and signed letters exchanged among collaborators and rivals, with foundational works reaching back to the first printed edition of Euclid in 1482. Together, they follow the path from X-rays, radioactivity, and relativity to quantum mechanics, nuclear energy, and computing, showing how a few strange equations unlocked the technologies that shape modern life.
Foreword by Neil deGrasse Tyson.
Essays by Ivan Amato, Ryan Dahn, Peter Galison, Michael D. Gordin, David Kaiser, Derek Kaufman, Janna Levin, David Lindley, Hannah Marcus, Arati Prabhakar, Maria Rentetzi, Suman Seth, Alex Wellerstein, and Benjamin Wilson.
272 pages | 244 color plates | 8 x 10 | © 2026
Physical Sciences: History and Philosophy of Physical Sciences, Physics--Popular Books
Table of Contents
Foreword by Neil deGrasse Tyson
Uncertainty and the Quantum Revolution: 100 Years Since the Classical World Came Undone by Derek Kaufman
Without Relativity and Quantum Mechanics, GPS Would Be Lost by Arati Prabhakar and Ivan Amato
1 The Clockwork Universe – Out of the Dark Labyrinth by Hannah Marcus
2 Fields of Force and the Relativity of Time – Einstein’s Light Clock by Peter Galison
3 The Classical World Comes Undone – Stop Making Sense by Michael D. Gordin
4 Inside the Atom – Planets and Number Mysteries in the Early Quantum Theory by Suman Seth
5 From the Microscopic to the Cosmic – Searching in the Dark by Janna Levin
6 The Quantum Revolution – Redefining Reality by Ryan Dahn
7 Uncertainty and the Limits of Knowledge – Uncertainty Emerges from the Shadows by David Lindley
8 Quantum Fields and Antimatter – A Strange New World by David Kaiser
9 Splitting the Atom, Shattering Stability by Maria Rentetzi
10 The Manhattan Project – Science in the Shadows by Alex Wellerstein
11 To the Edge of Understanding – Cooperative Game Theory by Benjamin Wilson