Idaho Commission for Libraries

Paul Dirac shared the Nobel Prize in Physics with Erwin Schrödinger in 1933 for his work in the mathematics of quantum mechanics. No, I’m not going to bore you with the math and I’ll try to keep this simple (so that I understand it too).

After the discovery of the positron in 1932 (confirming Dirac’s prediction in 1928), Dirac postulated (among many other things) that positrons are noticed because they are the ABSENCE of an electron. This can be compared to a fish, which doesn’t notice the water but does notice the bubbles (the absence of water).

We live in a sea of information and, like the fish, don’t notice it (and like the fish we use it without noticing it). We take notice of information only 1) in its absence and 2) when it disagrees with our preconceptions.

I haven’t fully developed this line of thought yet, but it’s perculating. There are definite implications for libraries here.

If you’d like to see the Dirac Equations, they’re at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirac_equation.

Mike Doellman