Abstract

In an interview with Thomas Kuhn the day before he died, Niels Bohr claimed "I think that it would be reasonable to say that no man who is called a philosopher really understands what is meant by the complementary descriptions." Since the "principle of complementarity," which Bohr initially formulated in 1927 and continued to refine throughout his life, lies at the heart of his influential "Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics," this was a regrettable acknowledgment. Now, however, we are exceedingly fortunate in having two recent publications presenting such comprehensive and penetrating analyses of Bohr's philosophy of physics, that were he alive today, I am certain he would retract the above statement.