Jae Hyeon Park
Mr. Tyc
Calculus
October 30, 2013
Faust in Copenhagen
Faust in Copenhagen is story about seven physicists goes to small gathering of the group in Copenhagen and learn much more about themselves and their friends. In the group there were Lise Meitner, female, who is one of the high rank in field of experimentalist. Niels Bohr, Paul Dirac, Werner Heisenberg, and Wolfgang Pauli are the one of the top 10 in country’s physicists’ rank. While they may be the one of the top ten scientists they were also a professor mentored generations of future scientist. In Faust in Copenhagen they mention many of the famous physic equation such as relativity by Einstein, one of the most famous scientists in history. During the meeting in Copenhagen these talented scientist came up with Copenhagen interpretation where it was much more like relativity theory made by Einstein but it was ironed out with group of people struggling to complete the theory. On top of finishing Copenhagen interpretation Pauli, Heisenberg, Dirac, and other has created an inventions it led to implements that affect our life still to these day, activities and tools for future research. Ever since beginning of gathering all the physicists have different points of view and throughout the story the protagonists of the book will resolve around conflicts that would sometime contain love, respect, or theory that they have created.
The story of Faust in Copenhagen mostly describes around six scientists who came to the meeting, but there is one character who was supposedly in the group but didn’t came for one year because he wanted to take rest in spring. Wolfgang Pauli, he was going to attend the meeting but he later decided that he can be with them in meeting spiritually while enjoying his spring. Wolfgang didn’t join the meeting but he show up in story of the book quite a lot because how he is affecting everyone in the group by occasionally sending his theory or so. While this story is truly about seven physicist sharing their opinion and create an theory that is almost great is Einstein’s relativity theory, it is also about love and respects toward each other. Sometime Pauli can insults you when you have gave him incorrect information but he cares much about you then anyone else when you are his friend, respecting you because you are almost good as him in physics. While Pauli will show you majority of the respect in this book there is romance going through with two characters in this book, Lise and Bohr falls in love really short amount of time that you really wouldn’t consider it as romance, but it’s the effort that counts. Also, in this book it describes many invention and equation that the group came up with that people who studies physics uses to these days.
Although people can find Faust in Copenhagen boring easily, it is also true that once you have read it, many aspect of the book will grab you and make you become addicted with this book. One of amazing aspect of this book is way the author Gino Segre’s format, he will add many drawing that will attract reader from pure boredom of physics and give out visual aid for better understanding of the material in the book. Another amazing part of this book is that characters in this book are full of merit that you will never forget about them. Pauli could sometime insult you in many ways, but he always care about you and will never think that your ideas are stupid. Bohr breaks the concept of scientist being unhealthy, instead he is very outgoing character who is athletic and loves to go out play ski, hikes, and even sometime he finds joy in chopping down woods. Last but not least, in the story Pauli and Bohr would constantly go against each other, illustrating conflicts of two different characters, making story more interested. We as reader can’t deny the fact that this book has many merit, but sadly there are couple of demerits that could make few reader very bored. First is that this book is mainly discusses about physic which is subject that some people find it hard to comprehend or seeing as very unattractive subject to read about. Second the author Gino Segre has mixed character’s view point so sometime if reader wouldn’t pay attention while reading he would be lost on thinking Bohr was insulting Pauli instead of Pauli insulting Bohr because author sometime changes viewpoint to Bohr from Pauli, vice versa. In conclusion, Faust in Copenhagen was very amazing book that helped me a lot to pass time efficiently, but really wouldn’t recommend to people who isn’t intrusted to read book about physics or find the subject physics hard to approach.