What Is Real?

The Unfinished Quest for the Meaning of Quantum Physics

By: Adam Becker

Narrated by: Greg Tremblay

"A thorough, illuminating exploration of the most consequential controversy raging in modern science."—New York Times Book Review

An Editor's Choice, New York Times Book Review

Longlisted for PEN/E.O. Wilson Prize for Literary Science Writing

Longlisted for Goodreads Choice Award

Every physicist agrees quantum mechanics is among humanity's finest scientific achievements. But ask what it means, and the result will be a brawl. For a century, most physicists have followed Niels Bohr's solipsistic and poorly reasoned Copenhagen interpretation. Indeed, questioning it has long meant professional ruin, yet some daring physicists, such as John Bell, David Bohm, and Hugh Everett, persisted in seeking the true meaning of quantum mechanics. What Is Real? is the gripping story of this battle of ideas and the courageous scientists who dared to stand up for truth.

"An excellent, accessible account."—Wall Street Journal

"Splendid. . . . Deeply detailed research, accompanied by charming anecdotes about the scientists."—Washington Post

©2018 Adam Becker (P)2025 Basic Books

Critic reviews

"In What Is Real? Adam Becker tells a fascinating if complex story of quantum dissidents...An excellent, accessible account."—Wall Street Journal

"A thorough, illuminating exploration of the most consequential controversy raging in modern science...[Becker] leads us through an impressive account of the rise of competing interpretations, grounding them in the human stories, which are naturally messy and full of contingencies. He makes a convincing case that it's wrong to imagine the Copenhagen interpretation as a single official or even coherent statement."—New York Times Book Review

"Becker's book is one of the first attempts we have at telling this story in a way that acknowledges how it actually turned out—acknowledges, that is, who won these debates about the Copenhagen interpretation, who lost them, who pretended otherwise, and how they got away with it.... He has clearly done extensive and meticulous historical research."—David Z. Albert, New York Review of Books