YQI Nontechnical Talk: Quantum Mechanics & Drawing

For this double feature event, historian of physics Michel Janssen and Illustrator Cartoonist Laurent Taudin join forces to present the story of the genesis of quantum mechanics. The presentation is based on Constructing Quantum Mechanics (Oxford, 2019/2023), a two-volume book, for which Michel and his co-author, Pittsburgh particle theorist Tony Duncan, were awarded the 2026 Pais Prize for History of Physics by the American Physical Society. Using the metaphor of building a cathedral, Michel will give an overview, as concise and non-technical as possible, of the construction, between 1900 and 1927, of the cathedral of quantum mechanics, drawn in various stages by Laurent. The event will be concluded with a conversation between Michel and Laurent about their long-time collaboration, merging art and science in several books and articles.