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Relationship with Einstein (Part 1): Einstein and Spinoza

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Thoughts on Gödel (Part 2)
John Wheeler Scientist
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A year or so later I was at a cocktail party, half a dozen or so, and Gödel was there and I could ask him why he was unwilling to talk about the Uncertainty Principle, and I learned that he had walked and talked with Einstein enough to have been brainwashed out of any interest in quantum theory - to me a great tragedy because Gödel's insight might be the key thing. To me the quantum theory is the great mystery that we will some day unravel and understand "How come?" And the answer to that question will at the same time be the answer to the question "How come existence?" I can't believe that they are separate questions.

John Wheeler, one of the world's most influential physicists, is best known for coining the term 'black holes', for his seminal contributions to the theories of quantum gravity and nuclear fission, as well as for his mind-stretching theories and writings on time, space and gravity.

Listeners: Ken Ford

Ken Ford took his Ph.D. at Princeton in 1953 and worked with Wheeler on a number of research projects, including research for the Hydrogen bomb. He was Professor of Physics at the University of California and Director of the American Institute of Physicists. He collaborated with John Wheeler in the writing of Wheeler's autobiography, 'Geons, Black Holes and Quantum Foam: A Life in Physics' (1998).

Duration: 1 minute

Date story recorded: December 1996

Date story went live: 24 January 2008