1.1 What do You Remember?
Quantisation is not something we should just accept: it's weird.
What do remember about the day you were first told about electron energy levels in atoms? Did you scream with outrage? Did you claw at the air as you desperately tried to cling to what suddenly seemed to be a rather shaky understanding of how the Universe works? Probably not, but it’s never too late: get up now, throw open your window and call out to the world, “ I am DISTURBED by the idea of defined energy levels for electrons in atoms", then wait for your neighbours to join in.
So, why should you be disturbed? Well just try a cormorant analogy (electron/cormorant, cormorant/electron, all perfectly straightforward). What you need to explain to the cormorant – let’s call him Cormorant - is that he can fly at a height of 30 metres and he can fly at a height of 100 metres but somewhere in between – say 63.7 metres – is impossible, and not just because of some annoying traffic regulations but because of the fundamental laws of physics. You know what’s going to happen: Cormorant is going to laugh in your face and soar off into the sunset at 63.7 metres just to show you how ridiculous you are.
So electron/cormorant, cormorant/electron - what’s the difference? Surely we’re all subject to the same physics, so how can there be one rule for seabirds and another for subatomic particles? You’ve got to feel the urgency of this situation: you may never be able to look at a cormorant again without feeling a stab of intellectual humiliation, unless you can resolve this conundrum.