The Quantum Divide

Physics, chemistry and biology are all natural sciences, and physics is the most fundamental.

The natural sciences divide broadly into physics, chemistry and biology. Each of these sciences has its own body of knowledge and methodologies, and you can study and research them separately. Subcategories exist within these broader categories. The physics of the macroscopic world includes planetary movement and bowling ball movement, and Newton describes them in his “classical laws of physics.” The microscopic world – atoms, photons and other, even more basic particles – is the realm of quantum physics. Different laws govern there.

Scientists widely regard quantum mechanics to be the more basic, foundational theory. Somehow, however, the macroscopic world that classical physics describes must emerge from the microscopic, quantum world. The question is how to draw a line between the classical and the quantum – and whether that dividing line exists at all.

Classical physics depicts large objects’ behavior, while quantum physics addresses the microscopic world.

Physics is the most basic science. By the turn of the 20th century, the truth of classical physics as...