Near death, explained

[AlbertCat]

85. Could you stop laughing long enough....

.... to explain what's wrong with the definition from Wiki? We all know, even stupid me!, that Wiki isn't the do all and end all of info. But please list the errors in the definition they give.


Like Richard Dawkins said about the Wiki entry on evolution.... It's amazingly correct for such a site.

Meanwhile:

from American Heritage Dictionary:

quantum mechanics
n. (used with a sing. or pl. verb)
Quantum theory, especially the quantum theory of the structure and behavior of atoms and molecules.


from Collins English Dictionary - complete and unabridged:

quantum mechanics
n
(Physics / Atomic Physics) (functioning as singular) the branch of mechanics, based on the quantum theory used for interpreting the of elementary particles and atoms, which do not obey Newtonian mechanics


from American Heritage Science Dictionary:

quantum mechanics
A fundamental theory of matter and energy that explains facts that previous physical theories were unable to account for, in particular the fact that energy is absorbed and released in small, discrete quantities (quanta), and that all matter displays both wavelike and particlelike properties, especially when viewed at atomic and subatomic scales. Quantum mechanics suggests that the behavior of matter and energy is inherently probabilistic and that the effect of the observer on the physical system being observed must be understood as a part of that system. Also called quantum physics, quantum theory. Compare classical physics. See also probability wavequantumuncertainty principlewave-particle duality


How about this from the entry "quantum mechanics" from McGraw-Hill Concise Encyclopedia of Physics:

Correspondence principle
Since classical mechanics and Maxwell's electromagnetic theory accurately describe macroscopic phenomena, quantum mechanics must have a classical limit in which it is equivalent to the older classical theories. Although there is no rigorous proof of this principle for arbitrarily complicated quantum-mechanical systems, its validity is well established by numerous illustrations.