Paul Halpern - Synchronicity: The Epic Quest to Understand the Quantum Nature of Cause and Effect

Synchronicity is a very informative and thought-provoking account of humankinds efforts from antiquity to the present to understand the causal structure of the everyday world and, during the past century, to unite that understanding with the apparently acausal nature of the quantum world of atoms and particles. Paul Halpern writes with remarkable clarity and insight in a very accessible and engaging style.

D AVID C. C ASSIDY, author of Beyond Uncertainty

Paul Halpern, a gifted expositor of science, takes the reader on an exciting ride through history, showing how physicists and their antecedent philosophers have sought to understand nature through its connectionsthrough synchronicity.

K ENNETH W. F ORD, author of Building the H Bomb

In this beautifully written page-turner, physicist Paul Halpern reveals as much about the secrets of the universe as he does about his own masterful ability to uncover hidden patterns in the history of ideas. With elegance, clarity, and penetrating insight, Synchronicity takes its readers on a sweeping journey through a dazzling array of intellectual traditions in search of what connects everything around us and beyond. A superb intellectual achievement.

J ULIEN M USOLINO, author of The Soul Fallacy

A roller coaster of a ride that covers more than two thousand years of philosophy and physics, culminating in a fascinating brain-bender of what we have to give up if we want to reconcile ideas like cause and effect with the bizarreness of our fundamental reality. Every possible interpretation, including those of the twentieth centurys greatest physicists, dissatisfies us in some way. In Paul Halperns capable hands, our uncertainties about the quantum Universe transform from frustration to wonder as various ideas are at last put to the test, deepening our appreciation of our mysterious quantum Universe.

E THAN S IEGEL, author of Beyond the Galaxy

Synchronicity is a sweeping account of humanitys understanding of the nature of causality. With great virtuosity, Paul Halpern weaves together all of the threads of this important story, from the ancient Greeks to modern physics, while entertaining the reader with insightful character studies and colorful anecdotes. A delightful book that anyone interested in the history of ideas will enjoy.

J OHN K OUNIOS, coauthor of The Eureka Factor

The development of scientific knowledge is often portrayed as some kind of superhighwayas a fast route to complete understanding of the world. This is far from the truth. Real science meanders, it twists and turns, runs this way and then that, and sometimes gets hopelessly lost. Synchronicity takes us on a delightful journey along the pathways of real science, and Paul Halpern is a most genial guide.

J IM B AGGOTT, author of Quantum Reality

From what primeval pattern was the fabric of the universe formed? What determined its warp and its woof? In this wonderfully readable book, which somehow never skimps on the science, Paul Halpern explores the mystery of causality through the ever-intriguing collaboration between Wolfgang Pauli and Carl Jung. Masterfully written, it is at once an inspiring story of how quirks and creativity drive breakthroughs in science and a cautionary tale of how our all-too-human desire to seek meaningful patterns can lead even the brightest minds astray.

A MANDA G EFTER , author of Trespassing on Einsteins Lawn

Copyright 2020 by Paul Halpern

Cover design by Ann Kirchner

Cover copyright 2020 Hachette Book Group, Inc.

Hachette Book Group supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.

The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the authors intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact permissions@hbgusa.com. Thank you for your support of the authors rights.

Basic Books

Hachette Book Group

1290 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10104

www.basicbooks.com

First Edition: August 2020

Published by Basic Books, an imprint of Perseus Books, LLC, a subsidiary of Hachette Book Group, Inc. The Basic Books name and logo is a trademark of the Hachette Book Group.

The Hachette Speakers Bureau provides a wide range of authors for speaking events. To find out more, go to www.hachettespeakersbureau.com or call (866) 376-6591.

The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Halpern, Paul, 1961 author.

Title: Synchronicity : the epic quest to understand the quantum nature of cause and effect / Paul Halpern.

Description: First edition. | New York : Basic Books, 2020. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020001433 | ISBN 9781541673632 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781541673649 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Pauli, Wolfgang, 19001958. | Jung, C. G. (Carl Gustav), 18751961. | Quantum entanglement. | Simultaneity (Physics) | Causality (Physics) | PhysicsPhilosophyHistory.

Classification: LCC QC174.17.E58 H35 2020 | DDC 539.7/25dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020001433

ISBNs: 978-1-5416-7363-2 (hardcover), 978-1-5416-7364-9 (ebook)

E3-20200707-JV-NF-ORI

Dedicated in honor of my father, Stanley Halpern, and to the memory of my mother, Bernice Halpern