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Erwin Schrodinger
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Erwin Schrodinger is a prominent example showing how eastern philosophy can profoundly influence western thought in the field of fundamental science. While scientists like Schrodinger did not possess a direct knowledge of Sanscrit to discern first hand both the letter and spirit of Upanishads, there are persons like Robert Oppenheimer who were not lacking in such an advantage. The fact is that irrespective of east or west, the great minds everywhere have perceived that the ultimate reality remains timeless and changeless.
Erwin Schrodinger took the ideas developed by de Broglie, Heisenberg and others and put them together in a single equation that is named after him. Solving this equation can in principle predict the properties and reactivities of all atoms and molecules.
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The mathematics of Quantum mechanics can be formulated in a number of ways: the "matrix mechanics" of Werner Heisenberg, the "path integrals" of Richard Feynman, or the "wave mechanics" of Erwin Schrodinger. Wave mechanics is the most common formulation. It uses the language of infinite dimensional Hilbert Spaces; observables such as position and momentum are operators on such Hilbert Spaces.
It is evident that these thoughts recurred to Erwin Schrodinger when he devised his wave equation leading to discovery of wave mechanics. He found the reality of physics in wave motions and he ... based this reality on an underlying unity of mind. Schrodinger was well versed in the techniques of Bhagavat Gita and he knew that he was a "Jnanayogi.". His intellect showed him the way, and throughout his life he expressed in graceful essays his belief in Vedanta but he remained what the Indians called a Mahavit, a person who knows that theory but has failed to achieve a practical realization of it in his own life. He knew from Chandogya Upanishad "I am Mahavit, a knower of the world and not an Atmavit, a knower of the atman"
In discussing whether there is a conflict between physics and evolution, it is worthwhile to consider the example of Erwin Schrodinger and his book, What is Life?, published in 1944 before the importance of DNA was understood. Schrodinger was very clear about his reason for publishing; on page 4 he says "The obvious inability of present-day physics and chemistry to account for [the events that take place within a living organism] is no reason at all for doubting that they can be accounted for by these sciences."[1] Within the course of the book, he "invented" a long complex molecule present within each cell, which is ultimately responsible for operation of the cell and for the hereditary mechanism. In his chapter on "Order, Disorder and Entropy" he again stated that his only motive for writing the book was to show that "[L]iving matter, while not eluding the 'laws of physics' as established up to date, is likely to involve 'other laws of physics' hitherto unknown, which... once they have been revealed, will form just as integral a part of this science as the former." Nine years later Watson and Crick discovered the structure of DNA and today the entire human genome has been decoded.
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Thoughtful analysis of the physical considerations in fundamental biology has been attempted by Erwin Schrodinger in the book "What is Life" and ... by Freeman Dyson. Schrodinger in particular addresses the issue of entropy and discusses how size of the organism, with many related factors, is necessary in order to derive biological stability from the observed randomness of physical systems. Steven Nunes College Park, MD
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