23 April 09

Today marks the birthday of Max Planck, a German physicist who was born in 1858. He basically invented what we know as quantum theory. This is the understanding that energy states and transitions at the atomic level come only in discrete units (called quanta), not continuous variation. It's a little like the difference between riding an elevator, whose doors open only at individual floors, and an escalator or moving walkway, where in principle you could step off at any height or distance. I chose my longhorn cattle tie because the cattle and plugs of grass come only in discrete units.