Schrodinger's Cat query

[robina_williams]

This is my first posting, so I'm not sure it's in the right forum. Can anyone tell me, please, when or where Erwin Schrodinger said that he wished he'd never met that cat. I'm writing a fantasy series about a quantum cat (loosely based on Schrodinger's) and want to quote this remark, but I can't remember where I came across it and can't find it anywhere. Can anyone help, please?<br /><br />Thanks<br /><br />Robina<br />

 

[lampblack]

As nearly as I can tell, there is nothing in all of the world's Google-indexed web sites explaining precisely where, when and under what circumstances Schrodinger made the remark. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font color="#0000ff"><strong>Just tell the truth and let the chips fall...</strong></font> </div>

 

[kauboi]

They regard it as a rumor http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_creation/2006-02-06, under Schrodinger's Date

 

[lampblack]

While educating myself just now regarding Schrodinger and his cat, I stumbled across this letter published in the New York Times:<br /><br />To the Editor:<br /><br />Re ''Quantum Trickery: Testing Einstein's Strangest Theory'' (Dec. 27): That a particle can exist in all possible states simultaneously is actually supported by the fundamental nature of cats.<br /><br />Since cats have nine lives, a cat is always both dead and alive. For those adventuresome cats who are on their ninth life, that life can be seen as the start of the cat's ceasing to be a cat. As such it ultimately decays, as does a particle.<br /><br />It is fortunate for the adherents of traditional reality that Schrodinger did not pick a less resilient beast.<br /><br />Robert S. Herbst<br />Larchmont, N.Y.<br /><br />URL: http://www.nytimes.com<br /><br />January 3, 2006<br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font color="#0000ff"><strong>Just tell the truth and let the chips fall...</strong></font> </div>

 

[tom_hobbes]

Heisenberg reportedly said that the date or the location was uncertain. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font size="2" color="#339966"> I wish I could remember<br /> But my selective memory<br /> Won't let me</font><font size="2" color="#99cc00"> </font><font size="3" color="#339966"><font size="2">- </font></font><font size="1" color="#339966">Mark Oliver Everett</font></p><p> </p> </div>

 

[lampblack]

<font color="yellow">Heisenberg reportedly said that the date or the location was uncertain. </font><br /><br />Yes... and that Schrodinger actually made the remark -- and that he didn't. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font color="#0000ff"><strong>Just tell the truth and let the chips fall...</strong></font> </div>

 

[robina_williams]

Thank you so much for your replies -- they are so helpful. And I greatly enjoyed the witty letter from the New York Times, and Heisenberg's reported comment. Thanks for that -- I'm grateful.<br /><br />Robina<br />

 

[rogers_buck]

Heh, heh. A bad joke becomes a fact in a fantasy. Such is the way of the quantum world.<br />

 

[avidgamer]

Please let us know when the series becomes available <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" />

 

[robina_williams]

Thank you. The books are available now in paperback on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. The first book in the series is "Jerome and the Seraph"; the second book is "Angelos" and was published in print on May 15. I am halfway through writing book 3. The books feature paintings in their plots, and there are illustrated articles on my website www.robinawilliams.com . The books are only loosely based on Schrodinger's Cat -- but certainly that dead-and-alive cat is my principal character. My "Quantum Cat" is very much a fantasy creature (with three guises to date).

 

[avidgamer]

Thank you very much, I look forward to checking it out.

 

[robina_williams]

Thank you, foxbat. I quite agree with you: cats give the impression of being very superior creatures; and they're very beautiful, of course. I hope you'll find my books interesting. I'm writing book 3 in my Quantum Cat series now -- with some very basic (idiot level) astronomy in it. "Angelos" came out in paperback on May 15. My books are available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. I used to be a journalist, and I find writing books much harder.<br /><br />Robina<br />

 

[yevaud]

<i>“In ancient times cats were worshipped as gods; they have not forgotten this.”</i><br /><br /><i>Terry Pratchett</i> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Differential Diagnosis:  </em>"<strong><em>I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are</em></strong>."<br /> </p> </div>

 

[robina_williams]

Actually, I'd forgotten that Terry Pratchett said that -- thanks for the reminder. I've read all Terry Pratchett's books -- I think they're wonderful.<br /><br />I'm currently reading "The Light of Other Days" by Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter but I'm finding the WormCam technology in it difficult to understand.<br /><br />Robina<br /><br />

 

[tom_hobbes]

Belatedly I came across this which might be of use to you.<br /><br />http://www.mtsu.edu/~rbombard/RB/Texts/qcat.html <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font size="2" color="#339966"> I wish I could remember<br /> But my selective memory<br /> Won't let me</font><font size="2" color="#99cc00"> </font><font size="3" color="#339966"><font size="2">- </font></font><font size="1" color="#339966">Mark Oliver Everett</font></p><p> </p> </div>

 

[robina_williams]

Thank you so much, Tom. That's really kind of you.<br /><br />Robina

 

[lampblack]

<font color="yellow">I used to be a journalist, and I find writing books much harder.</font><br /><br />Scratch any reporter (especially if he/she is a newspaper reporter), and beneath the surface you find a would-be novelist. How nice to encounter somebody who actually made the leap! <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font color="#0000ff"><strong>Just tell the truth and let the chips fall...</strong></font> </div>

 

[robina_williams]

Thank you. I still can't manage a very long book, though -- I think "short" now, after having to write snappy articles that hook the reader quickly. I worked for a newspaper editor who routinely crossed out the first three paragraphs one had written -- quite annoying at first, when one had taken trouble to set the scene, add color etc. However, it made one get to the point quickly. <br /><br />Robina<br />