Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxt!houxm!mtuxo!mtunh!mtung!mtunf!ariel!vax135!cornell!uw-beaver!tektronix!hplabs!sri-unix.ARPA!JOSH%YKTVMH.BITNET@WISCVM.ARPA From: JOSH%YKTVMH.BITNET@WISCVM.ARPA Newsgroups: net.physics Subject: The Wave Function Message-ID: <389@sri-arpa.ARPA> Date: Fri, 12-Jul-85 21:37:34 EDT Article-I.D.: sri-arpa.389 Posted: Fri Jul 12 21:37:34 1985 Date-Received: Wed, 17-Jul-85 07:16:42 EDT Lines: 29 From: Josh KnightThe recent discussion of the reality (or lack thereof) of the wave function, reminded me of this ditty, attributed to Erich Huckel (the u in Huckel has an umlaut over it) circa 1926: "Gar Manches rechnet Erwin schon Mit seiner Wellenfunktion Nur wissen moecht man gerne wohl Was man sich dabei vorstellen soll" and its translation into English by Felix Bloch, circa 1976: "Erwin with his Psi can do calculations quite a few But one thing has not been seen Just what does Psi really mean." Taken from a commerative photograph that hung in the Stanford Physics Library, from some function honoring Bloch, I don't remember the occasion for the function. (NOTE: the "oe" in "moecht" should be an umlauted "o" but that's hard to type :-) Hey don't ask me, if they didn't know I sure don't. Josh Knight IBM T.J. Watson Research Center josh@yktvmh.BITNET, josh.yktvmh.ibm-sj@csnet-relay.ARPA