“Behind all seen things lies something vaster; everything is but a path, a portal or a window opening on something other than itself. ”
~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Put simply, this newsletter is about space, physics, and the cosmos. It’s for people who are curious about these things - about the stars and the planets, the telescopes we’ve sent to explore them, and our efforts to reach beyond the Earth and out into the vast and dangerous universe around us.
I believe many people are eager to know more about these things. But I also know that much of what we know about the cosmos is buried in dusty scientific journals few people have the time or knowledge to read. My aim is to make the wonders of space and physics more accessible to everyone, no matter your background.
Who Is The Author?
Hi! I am Alastair Williams, the writer behind The Quantum Cat. I am a trained physicist with a background in extra-galactic astronomy (that is, essentially, the study of galaxies beyond our own). For the past decade I’ve worked in the private space industry, where I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to help design and fly many different spacecraft.
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A free subscription will get you two things:
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Why The Quantum Cat?
It was Erwin Schrödinger who famously introduced the quantum cat. He did so in an attempt to ridicule the established view of quantum physics: a theory he deemed so absurd it would argue that a cat could be both alive and dead at the same time. Cats, he wanted to believe, followed the laws of common sense; either here or there, either dead or alive.
Ever since, the meaning of the quantum cat has been debated. Is the cat really both dead and alive at once? What can such a thing even mean? Does the cat somehow split into two parallel universes, alive in one and dead in another? Yet one thing has always been clear: cats are indeed quantum beings.
The Quantum Cat, however, does not limit itself to quantum physics, or even science itself. At its core, this newsletter is about the relationship between humanity and science, about how this relationship has driven the long history of civilization, about the people and places where the relationship manifests itself today, and about the deep trends driving the future of all.
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Get In Touch
For all queries you can contact The Quantum Cat at: mailthequantumcat [at] gmail.com
I am happy to receive email on the following:
Offers to exchange recommendations on Substack or to discuss cross-posting
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Consulting (my main area of specialisation is satellite flight operations )
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Links you think I may find interesting or would like to bring to my attention
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