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Work #1485 · Late

Atomic Physics and Human Knowledge

Niels Bohr
1958 · English (some essays translated from Danish/German)
Essay collection · Copenhagen interpretation / Bohrian complementarity / philosophy of science

Bohr's 1958 essay collection — late-Bohrian complementarity extended to biology, anthropology, and culture

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute Atomic Physics and Human Knowledge (Late)
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Relational
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom NDet
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Infinite
Space · Ontological Status Relational
Space · Curvature Curved
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Non-local
Matter · Extent Finite
Matter · Ontological Status Relational
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Non-local
Observer · Time Instance Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Immediate
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Active
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency Limited
Observer · Moral Authority Reason
Observer · Theological Method
Energy · Extent Finite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Irreversible
Information · Ontological Status Relational
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Non-conserved
Information · Granularity Discrete

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

Atomic Physics and Human Knowledge

1958 publication; essays composed 1932-1957. Bohr was 73 at publication, four years before his 1962 death.

Space

Atomic Physics and Human Knowledge

Copenhagen Institute / international lecture circuit. The essays span Bohr's post-1945 international engagements.

Matter

Atomic Physics and Human Knowledge

Six-essay collection (~110 pages in standard editions). Form is philosophical-pedagogical, varying with the original audiences.

Observer

Atomic Physics and Human Knowledge

Late Bohr extending complementarity beyond physics. The observer-philosopher-physicist is in his final productive period, integrating the complementarity framework across the disciplines.

Energy

Atomic Physics and Human Knowledge

Late-philosophical synthesising energies. The 1949 Einstein-discussion essay is particularly important as the principal Bohr autobiographical-philosophical reconstruction of the Bohr-Einstein debate.

Information

Atomic Physics and Human Knowledge

Six-essay collection. The 1949 Einstein-discussion essay is the most-cited individual entry.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

Atomic Physics and Human Knowledge

Late-Bohrian synthesis; canonical source for the Bohr-Einstein retrospective. The 1949 'Discussion with Einstein' essay is the principal autobiographical-philosophical document of the Bohr-Einstein debate — read continuously in the history and philosophy of physics.