Bernard d'Espagnat
Encyclopedia
Bernard d'EspagnatBernard d'Espagnat (b. Fourmagnac
, Midi-Pyrénées
, France
, 1921) is a French theoretical physicist
, philosopher of science, and author, best known for his work on the nature of reality.
Quote: "The doctrine that the world is made up of objects whose existence is independent of human consciousness
turns out to be in conflict with quantum mechanics
and with facts established by experiment."
In 1939, as d’Espagnat made plans to enter the Ecole Polytechnique
, World War II put his education on hold.
at the Institut Henri Poincaré
under the guidance of Louis de Broglie. He was a researcher at the Centre National de Recherche Scientifique CNRS, 1947-57. During this period he also worked with Enrico Fermi
in Chicago, 1951–52, and on a research project led by Niels Bohr
at the Institute in Copenhagen, 1953-54. He then pursued his scientific career at the Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Nucleaires (CERN
) in Geneva and, as a theoretical physicist, at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, 1954-59.
From 1959 until his retirement in 1987, D'Espagnat was a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Sciences at the Sorbonne University. He was director of the Laboratory of Theoretical Physics and Elementary Particles at the University of Paris XI (Orsay), 1980-87. He was a visiting professor at the University of Texas, Austin in 1977, and at the University of California - Santa Barbara in 1984.
He has been a member of the Brussels International Academy of the Philosophy of Science since 1975, and of the French Academy of Moral and Political Sciences since 1996. His experiments with Bell's inequalities
to further his concept of veiled reality won the attention of the John Templeton Foundation
. D'Espagnat became the 2009 Templeton Prize
winner in March for his "work which acknowledges that science cannot fully explain 'the nature of being.'"
. His first book, Conceptions of Contemporary Physics (1965), asked these questions and sketched possible resolutions, underscoring his insistence that scientists face the issues raised by their own pursuits.
Subsequently, d’Espagnat was an early interpreter of the deep philosophical significance of experimental research agendas in quantum physics. In his 1979 Scientific American article, “The Quantum Theory and Reality,” and best-selling 1979 book, À la recherche du réel, le regard d’un physicien (In Search of Reality, the Outlook of a Physicist), he encouraged physicists and philosophers to think afresh about questions long considered marginal but which today serve as the foundation for new fields of research into the nature of reality
.
In Le réel voilé, analyse des concepts quantiques (Veiled Reality, An Analysis of Present-Day Quantum Mechanical Concepts), d’Espagnat coined the term “veiled reality” and explained why significant experiments over the past decade had not restored conventional realism. On Physics and Philosophy (published in France in 2002 as Traité de physique et de philosophie) was hailed as “surely the most complete book to have been written on this subject and one likely to last a long time…” by Roland Omnès
. His most recent book is Candide et le physicien (Candide and the Physicist), written with Claude Saliceti and published in 2008, a layperson’s guide that answers 50 questions which pinpoint and correct preconceived ideas of contemporary physics and examine the many conceptual and philosophical changes those ideas reveal.
Fourmagnac
Fourmagnac is a commune in the Lot department in south-western France....
, Midi-Pyrénées
Midi-Pyrénées
Midi-Pyrénées is the largest region of metropolitan France by area, larger than the Netherlands or Denmark.Midi-Pyrénées has no historical or geographical unity...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, 1921) is a French theoretical physicist
Physicist
A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
, philosopher of science, and author, best known for his work on the nature of reality.
Quote: "The doctrine that the world is made up of objects whose existence is independent of human consciousness
Consciousness
Consciousness is a term that refers to the relationship between the mind and the world with which it interacts. It has been defined as: subjectivity, awareness, the ability to experience or to feel, wakefulness, having a sense of selfhood, and the executive control system of the mind...
turns out to be in conflict with quantum mechanics
Quantum mechanics
Quantum mechanics, also known as quantum physics or quantum theory, is a branch of physics providing a mathematical description of much of the dual particle-like and wave-like behavior and interactions of energy and matter. It departs from classical mechanics primarily at the atomic and subatomic...
and with facts established by experiment."
Early life
d’Espagnat was born on August 22, 1921 in Fourmagnac, France, but spent most of his early years in Paris, where his father, a post-impressionist painter, and mother imbued him with a love of classic literature and the arts. Attending some of the finest schools in Paris, he was drawn to the humanities, especially philosophy. Despite his love of philosophy, d’Espagnat focused on science and mathematics, believing that advances in philosophy would require the knowledge and practice of contemporary science.In 1939, as d’Espagnat made plans to enter the Ecole Polytechnique
École Polytechnique
The École Polytechnique is a state-run institution of higher education and research in Palaiseau, Essonne, France, near Paris. Polytechnique is renowned for its four year undergraduate/graduate Master's program...
, World War II put his education on hold.
Education and career
D'Espagnat obtained his Ph.D. from the SorbonneSorbonne
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
at the Institut Henri Poincaré
Institut Henri Poincaré
The Institut Henri Poincaré is a mathematical institute in Paris which has established itself over its eighty year history as an important meeting place for French and international mathematicians and theoretical physicists...
under the guidance of Louis de Broglie. He was a researcher at the Centre National de Recherche Scientifique CNRS, 1947-57. During this period he also worked with Enrico Fermi
Enrico Fermi
Enrico Fermi was an Italian-born, naturalized American physicist particularly known for his work on the development of the first nuclear reactor, Chicago Pile-1, and for his contributions to the development of quantum theory, nuclear and particle physics, and statistical mechanics...
in Chicago, 1951–52, and on a research project led by Niels Bohr
Niels Bohr
Niels Henrik David Bohr was a Danish physicist who made foundational contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum mechanics, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922. Bohr mentored and collaborated with many of the top physicists of the century at his institute in...
at the Institute in Copenhagen, 1953-54. He then pursued his scientific career at the Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Nucleaires (CERN
CERN
The European Organization for Nuclear Research , known as CERN , is an international organization whose purpose is to operate the world's largest particle physics laboratory, which is situated in the northwest suburbs of Geneva on the Franco–Swiss border...
) in Geneva and, as a theoretical physicist, at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, 1954-59.
From 1959 until his retirement in 1987, D'Espagnat was a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Sciences at the Sorbonne University. He was director of the Laboratory of Theoretical Physics and Elementary Particles at the University of Paris XI (Orsay), 1980-87. He was a visiting professor at the University of Texas, Austin in 1977, and at the University of California - Santa Barbara in 1984.
He has been a member of the Brussels International Academy of the Philosophy of Science since 1975, and of the French Academy of Moral and Political Sciences since 1996. His experiments with Bell's inequalities
Bell's theorem
In theoretical physics, Bell's theorem is a no-go theorem, loosely stating that:The theorem has great importance for physics and the philosophy of science, as it implies that quantum physics must necessarily violate either the principle of locality or counterfactual definiteness...
to further his concept of veiled reality won the attention of the John Templeton Foundation
John Templeton Foundation
"The John Templeton Foundation is a philanthropic organizationthat funds inter-disciplinary research about human purpose and ultimate reality. It is usually referred to simply as the Templeton Foundation...
. D'Espagnat became the 2009 Templeton Prize
Templeton Prize
The Templeton Prize is an annual award presented by the Templeton Foundation. Established in 1972, it is awarded to a living person who, in the estimation of the judges, "has made an exceptional contribution to affirming life's spiritual dimension, whether through insight, discovery, or practical...
winner in March for his "work which acknowledges that science cannot fully explain 'the nature of being.'"
Philosophical Outlook
D’Espagnat remained troubled by the scant attention most physicists paid to the interpretational questions raised by quantum mechanicsQuantum mechanics
Quantum mechanics, also known as quantum physics or quantum theory, is a branch of physics providing a mathematical description of much of the dual particle-like and wave-like behavior and interactions of energy and matter. It departs from classical mechanics primarily at the atomic and subatomic...
. His first book, Conceptions of Contemporary Physics (1965), asked these questions and sketched possible resolutions, underscoring his insistence that scientists face the issues raised by their own pursuits.
Subsequently, d’Espagnat was an early interpreter of the deep philosophical significance of experimental research agendas in quantum physics. In his 1979 Scientific American article, “The Quantum Theory and Reality,” and best-selling 1979 book, À la recherche du réel, le regard d’un physicien (In Search of Reality, the Outlook of a Physicist), he encouraged physicists and philosophers to think afresh about questions long considered marginal but which today serve as the foundation for new fields of research into the nature of reality
Metaphysics
Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world, although the term is not easily defined. Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms:...
.
In Le réel voilé, analyse des concepts quantiques (Veiled Reality, An Analysis of Present-Day Quantum Mechanical Concepts), d’Espagnat coined the term “veiled reality” and explained why significant experiments over the past decade had not restored conventional realism. On Physics and Philosophy (published in France in 2002 as Traité de physique et de philosophie) was hailed as “surely the most complete book to have been written on this subject and one likely to last a long time…” by Roland Omnès
Roland Omnès
Roland Omnès is the author of several books which aim to close the gap between our common sense experience of the classical world and the complex, formal mathematics which is now required to accurately describe reality at its most fundamental level.- Biography :Omnès is currently Professor...
. His most recent book is Candide et le physicien (Candide and the Physicist), written with Claude Saliceti and published in 2008, a layperson’s guide that answers 50 questions which pinpoint and correct preconceived ideas of contemporary physics and examine the many conceptual and philosophical changes those ideas reveal.
Books by d'Espagnat
- 1965 - Conceptions de la physique contemporaine; les interprétations de la mécanique quantique et de la mesure. Paris: Hermann.
- 1976 - Conceptual Foundations of Quantum Mechanics, 2nd ed. Addison Wesley.
- 1982 - Un atome de sagesse: Propos d'un physicien sur le réel voilé. Paris: Le Seuil.
- 1983 - In Search of Reality. Springer. Trans. of A la recherche du réel, le regard d'un physicien.
- 1984 - Nonseparability and the Tentative Descriptions of Reality.
- 1989 - Reality and the Physicist :Knowledge, Duration and the Quantum World. Cambridge Univ. Press. , 284 pages, by Bernard D'Espagnat;J C Espagnat Bernard D'Whitehouse ISBN 9780521338462. Transl. of Une incertaine réalité; le monde quantique, la connaissance et la durée.
- 1990 - Penser la science ou les enjeux du savoir.
- 1990 - Georges d'Espagnat.
- 1993 (with others) - Regards sur la matière des quanta et des choses.
- 1994 - Le Réel voilé, analyse des concepts quantiques. English Transl. (2003), Veiled Reality: An Analysis of Quantum Mechanical Concepts, 2003, Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado, 494 pages. ISBN 9780813340876 ISBN10: 081334087x
- 1997 - Physique et réalité, un débat avec Bernard d'Espagnat. Atlantica Séguier Frontieres. ISBN 9782863322161.
- 1998 - Ondine et les feux du savoir. Carnets d'une petite sirène.
- 1999 - Conceptual Foundations of Quantum Mechanics,Westview Press,Second Edition, Paperback · 352 Pages, ISBN 9780738201047
- 2006 - On physics and philosophy. Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691119649 Translation of 2002, Traité de physique et de philosophie.
- 2008 - Candide et le physicien (Candide and the Physicist), with Claude Saliceti.