In 1861, James Clerk-Maxwell published Part II of his four-part series 'On physical lines of force'. In it, he attempted to construct a vortex model of the magnetic field but after much effort neither he, nor other late nineteenth century physicists who followed him, managed to produce a workable theory. What survived from these attempts were Maxwell's four equations of electrodynamics together with the Lorentz force law, formulae that made no attempt to describe an underlying reality but stood only as a mathematical description of the observed phenomena. When the quantum of action was introduced by Planck in 1900 the difficulties that had faced Maxwell's generation were still unresolved. Since then theories of increasing mathematical complexity have been constructed to attempt to bring the totality of phenomena into order with little success. This work examines the problems that had been abandoned long before quantum mechanics was formulated in 1925 and argues that these issues need to be revisited before real progress in the quantum theory of the electromagnetic field can be made.

In 1861, James Clerk-Maxwell published Part II of his four-part series 'On physical lines of force'. In it, he attempted to construct a vortex model of the magnetic field but after much effort neither he, nor other late nineteenth century physicists who followed him, managed to produce a workable theory. What survived from these attempts were Maxwell's four equations of electrodynamics together with the Lorentz force law, formulae that made no attempt to describe an underlying reality but stood only as a mathematical description of the observed phenomena. When the quantum of action was introduced by Planck in 1900 the difficulties that had faced Maxwell's generation were still unresolved. Since then theories of increasing mathematical complexity have been constructed to attempt to bring the totality of phenomena into order with little success. This work examines the problems that had been abandoned long before quantum mechanics was formulated in 1925 and argues that these issues need to be revisited before real progress in the quantum theory of the electromagnetic field can be made.

The Critique of the Quantum Power of Judgement analyzes the a priori principles which underlie the empirical knowledge provided by quantum theory. In contrast to other transcendental approaches to quantum physics, none of the transcendental principles established by Kant is modified in order to cope with the new epistemological situation that arises with the asumption of the quantum postulate. Rather, by considering Bohr's views, it is argued that classical concepts provide the mathematical formalism of quantum theory with physical reference through symbolic analogies in the strict Kantian sense. The main result of the investigation is the determination of the highest principle under which quantum objects are subsumed. This principle states that the conditions of the possibility of the systematic unity of contextual experience are at the same time the conditions of the possibility of quantum objects. Upon this principle rests the possibility of any a priori synthetic knowledge of quantum objects. Therefore, the Critique of the Quantum Power of Judgement yields the prolegomena to any future quantum metaphysics.

Excision of errors and confusion about quantum mechanics -- and stimulation of thoughtful and adventurous readers are pre-eminent rationales of this entire work; these requiring definitions and analysis of underlying concepts of quantum mechanics, of quantum field theory -- why probability is given by the absolute square, what wavefunctions are and are not and why, and many others -- and also examination of some from the philosophy of science. People's beliefs about quantum mechanics are often just the reverse of what fundamental principles give, seen most spectacularly with the EPR 'paradox'. The puzzles, the mystical, the bizarre, come merely from negligence, from blunders, including the outlandish belief that the universe must be explained using classical physics. Careless, unthinking physicists, and gullible journalists who naively accept their confusion as statements about nature, cause so much misunderstanding and nonsense about physics. Among the many examples considered are the non-existence in quantum mechanics of waves and particles, so of wave-particle duality; the reason that general relativity must be the quantum theory of gravity; the mystery of the cosmological constant: why people believe in it though it would be obvious to a high school student that there cannot be any, it must be zero; the absurdity (and wild incorrectness) of much of the discussion about the vacuum; the required locality of quantum mechanics and the impossibility of action-at-a-distance; and many others. Many blunders, not only about physics, come from abuse of language, the use of words, phrases, sentences without content, with con- notation but no denotation, of names --- quantum mechanics, particles, waves, and so on -- that deceive and misrepresent, of questions that ask nothing. It is not only in physics that answers to questions without meaning smother and hide.

For many physicists quantum theory contains strong conceptual difficulties, while for others the apparent conclusions about the reality of our physical world and the ways in which we discover that reality remain philosophically unacceptable. This book focuses on recent theoretical and experimental developments in the foundations of quantum physics, including topics such as the puzzles and paradoxes which appear when general relativity and quantum mechanics are combined; the emergence of classical properties from quantum mechanics; stochastic electrodynamics; EPR experiments and Bell's Theorem; the consistent histories approach and the problem of datum uniqueness in quantum mechanics; non-local measurements and teleportation of quantum states; quantum non-demolition measurements in optics and matter wave properties observed by neutron, electron and atomic interferometry. Audience: This volume is intended for graduate students of physics and those interested in the foundations of quantum theory.

"Many mysteries of the atom have came unraveled, but one remains intractable- what Frank Close calls the 'Infinity puzzle'. The problem was simple to describe. Although clearly very powerful, quantum field theory ... was making one utterly ridiculous prediction: that certain events had an infinite probability of occurring. ... The Infinity Puzzle charts the birth and life of the idea, and the scientists, ... who realized it. Based on numerous firsthand interviews and extensive research, this book captures an era of great mystery and greater discovery. Even if the Higgs boson is never found, renormalization- the pursuit of an orderly universe- has led to one of the richest and most productive intellectual periods in human history."--Book jacket.

The interpretation of quantum mechanics in this book is distinguished from other existing interpretations in that it is systematically derived from empirical facts by means of logical considerations as well as methods in the spirit of analytical philosophy, in particular operational semantics. The new interpretation, using a two-model approach overcomes the well-known conceptional problems and paradoxes of ?orthodox? quantum theory. This interdisciplinary book should be of interest to scholars, teachers, and students in the fields of physics and philosophy of science.