What Is Quantum?
Marnie Chesterton travels to Helgoland, a remote island where quantum theory was born just over a century ago. Can a single question help her understand this tricky topic?
Quantum theory 鈥 our best understanding of the world at the smallest level 鈥 is famously weird and notoriously confusing. It鈥檚 a theory that seems to say particles can be in two places at once, or somehow 鈥渒now鈥 if you鈥檙e looking at them. Or at least, that鈥檚 what you might have heard. But is that really what quantum theory tells us about reality?
To find out, presenter Marnie Chesterton travels to the birthplace of quantum theory: the remote, windswept island of Helgoland. Here, in 1925, a young scientist called Werner Heisenberg made a leap of understanding that laid the foundations of quantum mechanics, and changed the world.
To mark a century of quantum, leading physicists from across the globe have gathered on Helgoland for a conference, and Marnie joins them with an unconventional plan. She鈥檚 allowed to ask them JUST ONE QUESTION, in the hope it can get to the heart of what this strange and difficult subject is really about: 鈥淲hat IS quantum?鈥
Presenter: Marnie Chesterton
Producers: Anand Jagatia
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Jazz George
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Broadcasts
- Tue 30 Dec 2025 09:30麻豆社 Radio 4
- Wed 31 Dec 2025 15:30麻豆社 Radio 4