The Many Worlds of Hugh Everett III: Multiple Universes, Mutual Assured Destruction, and the Meltdown of a Nuclear Family

632 Pages·2010·4.42 MB·English

by  Peter Byrne

The Many Worlds of Hugh Everett III
The Many Worlds of Hugh Everett III

Multiple Universes, Mutual Assured Destruction, and the
Meltdown of a Nuclear Family

Peter Byrne
Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP

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© Peter Byrne 2010

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First published 2010

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Typeset by SPI Publisher Services, Pondicherry, India
Printed in Great Britain
on acid-free paper
by CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham, Wiltshire

ISBN 978–0–19–955227–6 (Hbk.)

1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
Dedicated to Stacey L. Evans
and our son, Miles Patrick Byrne.
These necromantic books are heavenly,
Lines, circles, scenes, letters and characters:
Ay, these are those that Faustus most desires.
Oh, what a world of profit and delight,
Of power, of honour, of omnipotence,
Is promised to the studious artizan!
All things that move between the quiet poles
Shall be at my command. Emperors and kings
Are but obeyed in their several provinces.
Nor can they raise the wind or rend the clouds.
But his dominion that exceeds in this
Stretcheth as far as doth the mind of man:
A sound magician is a demi-god.
Christopher Marlowe, Doctor Faustus, Act One, Scene One, 1592.
What is that little Devil’s pitchfork?
Mark Everett, 2007. Upon seeing ψ, the Greek letter (psi)
symbolizing the quantum mechanical wave function.
Contents

Forewords

Book 1: Beginnings

Introduction: The Story of Q
1 Family Origins: a Sketch
2 Katharine: the Dark Star
3 The Scientist as a Young Man
4 Stranger in Paradise
Book 2: Game World

5 Demigods
6 Decisions, Decisions—the Theory of Games
7 Origin of MAD
8 von Neumann’s Legacy
Book 3: Quantum World

9 Quantum Everett
10 More on the Measurement Problem
11 Collapse and Complementarity
12 The Philosophy of Quantum Mechanics
Book 4: Everett and Wheeler

13 Wheeler: the Radical Conservative
14 Genesis of Many Worlds
15 Alone in the Room
16 Tour of Many Worlds
17 The Battle with Copenhagen, Part I
18 The Battle with Copenhagen, Part II
19 The Chapel Hill Affair
Book 5: Possible World Futures

20 Preparing for World War III
21 From Wargasm to Looking Glass
22 Fallout
Book 6: Crossroads

23 A Bell Jar World
24 A Vacation in Copenhagen
Book 7: Assured Destruction

25 Everett and Report 50
26 Everett and the SIOP
Book 8: Transitions

27 Behind Closed Doors
28 Death’s Other Kingdoms
Book 9: Beltway Bandit

29 Weaponeering
30 The Bayesian Machine
31 The Death of Lambda
Book 10: Many Worlds Reborn

32 DeWitt to the Rescue
33 Records in Time
34 Austin
35 Wheeler Recants
Book 11: American Tragedy