Dr Faustus of Modern Physics - Department of Speech, Music and ...
Dr Faustus of Modern Physics - Department of Speech, Music and ...
Dr Faustus of Modern Physics - Department of Speech, Music and ...
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10.8. SNAPSHOT FROM BIRTH OF QUANTUM MECHANICS 55<br />
10.8 Snapshot from Birth <strong>of</strong> Quantum Mechanics<br />
The worlds leading physicists assembled at the Fifth Solvay International<br />
Conference on Electrons <strong>and</strong> Photons to draw the map <strong>of</strong> 20th century<br />
physics. Watch the main actors in their elegant hats.<br />
10.9 Cover Up: Boundary Layer<br />
Pr<strong>and</strong>tl’s deal was to claim that a small cause can have a large effect, which<br />
can be seen as poker bid which is difficult to subject to a call: To directly<br />
prove that the flap <strong>of</strong> a butterfly in the Amazonas cannot set <strong>of</strong>f a tornado<br />
in Texas is difficult because it requires the solution <strong>of</strong> very precise multiscale<br />
mathematical equations encompassing both butterflies <strong>and</strong> tornados <strong>and</strong> this<br />
was unthinkable 100 years ago is equally unthinkable today. A poker bid<br />
which cannot be called will win the game, <strong>and</strong> it worked also for Pr<strong>and</strong>tl,<br />
but there is a drawback: the theory cannot be experimentally verified. It is<br />
a pseudo-scientific theory with can neither be disproved nor proved, <strong>and</strong> as<br />
such represents a deal with the Devil.<br />
Figure 10.5: Turbulent boundary layer explaining everything.
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