176 The Poetry of Physics and The Physics of Poetry
like waves. He suggested that on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays,
physicists believe and act on the basis of wave theory; but on Tuesdays,
Thursdays and Saturdays, they follow the particle theory of light. To
which some pundit added, “And on Sundays, they just pray for a
resolution.”
The prayed-for resolution was the modern theory of quantum
mechanics that did not evolve until a number of equally nasty paradoxes
were unearthed. The long and tortuous road to that resolution of the
particle-wave duality of light began with the work of Niels Bohr.