In this talk, Philip Ball explains how new ideas might help reconcile quantum mechanics with general relativity. Join Marcus du Sautoy and Philip Ball for the 2025 Charles Simonyi Lecture, Beyond Weird: One Hundred Years of Quantum Mechanics

A century ago, Werner Heisenberg’s ideas led to quantum mechanics, a theory that precisely describes how atoms behave. Despite its accuracy, scientists still debate what it tells us about reality.

In Beyond Weird, Philip Ball explores how popular stories of particles being in two places at once oversimplify the even stranger truths. 

Hosted by Marcus du Sautoy, Charles Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science at the University of Oxford.

About Philip Ball

Philip Ball is a science writer. He was an editor of Nature for more than 20 years, and is the author of around 30 books on science and its interactions with the wider culture. His book on quantum mechanics, Beyond Weird, was voted Physics Book of the Year by Physics World magazine in 2018. Philip was awarded the 2019 Lord Kelvin Medal from the Institute of Physics for public engagement in physics to a general audience, and is the recipient of the 2022 Wilkins-Bernal-Medawar Medal for contributions to the history, philosophy or social functions of science. His latest book is How Life Works (2024).