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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 August 2012
In the next few pages I provide previews of the book: Section 1.1 is a statement of the main ideas. Section 1.2 is a chapter by chapter guide.
There are two principal themes: time's arrows and quantum measurement. In both areas I will make significant statements about what are usually called their foundations. These statements are related, and involve modification of the underlying hypotheses of statistical mechanics. The modified statistical mechanics contains notions that are at variance with certain primitive intuitions, but it is consistent with all known experiments.
I will try to present these ideas as intellectually attractive, but this virtue will be offered as a reason for study, not as a reason for belief. Historically, intellectual satisfaction has not been a reliable guide to scientific truth. For this reason I have striven to provide experimental and observational tests where I could, even where such experiment is not feasible today. The need for this hardheaded, or perhaps, intellectually humble, approach is particularly felt in the two areas that I will address. The foundations of thermodynamics and the foundations of quantum mechanics have been among the most contentious areas of physics; indeed, some would deny their place within that discipline. In my opinion, this situation is a result of the paucity of relevant experiment.
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