Quantum mechanics turns 100 years old in 2025, which offers an opportunity to ask how some of the core ideas of quantum theory were introduced, debated, tested, and ultimately accepted. One of the central ingredients of quantum theory is entanglement, nowadays so important to next-generation technologies like quantum encryption and quantum computing. Yet the history of quantum entanglement has been far from straightforward. This talk will describe how a colorful group of physicists during the 1970s wrestled with entanglement, exploring the idea amid the California counterculture scene. Building on that history, the presenter's own group recently conducted a new series of experiments, together with Nobel laureate Anton Zeilinger and his team. Their “Cosmic Bell” experiments provided compelling evidence for quantum entanglement while constraining certain alternative models more thoroughly than ever before. 

David Kaiser is Germeshausen Professor of the History of Science and Professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is the author of several award-winning books on the history of modern physics, including How the Hippies Saved Physics: Science, Counterculture, and the Quantum Revival, which received the Davis Prize from the History of Science Society and was named "Book of the Year" by Physics World magazine. His latest book, Quantum Legacies: Dispatches from an Uncertain World, was named a Choice Outstanding Academic Title and honored as among the best books of the year by Physics Today and Physics World magazines. Kaiser directs a research group on early-universe cosmology in MIT's Center for Theoretical Physics, and has also designed and helped to conduct novel experimental tests of quantum theory. A Fellow of the American Physical Society, Kaiser has received MIT's highest awards for excellence in teaching. His work has been featured in Science, Nature, the New York Times, and The New Yorker magazine. His group's efforts to conduct a "Cosmic Bell" test of quantum entanglement, together with Nobel laureate Anton Zeilinger, were featured in the documentary film, Einstein's Quantum Riddle.

We invite you to support the author by purchasing a copy of their book from Browseabout Books. Call-in orders are accepted at (302) 226-2665 or you can stop by the store to purchase a copy. For store hours, please visit their website.

The library's “Science and Society - Making Sense of the World Around Us” lecture series is co-organized and moderated by Fred Dylla, Executive Director Emeritus of the American Institute of Physics and author of Scientific Journeys, Linda Dylla, former public information officer at the Jefferson Laboratory and the U.S. Department of Energy, and Colin Norman, the former News Editor at Science.

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