Abstract:
We analyzed the text of the play Copenhagen by Michael Frayn, a posthumous conversation among Heisenberg, Bohr and his wife Margrette, based on the meeting of the scientists in 1941. It involves the principles of uncertainty and complementarity and Heisenberg's participation in the likely construction of the German atomic bomb. As an analytical device, elements of Dramaturgy were mobilized, such as conflict, drama/epic genres, scenic indications, dramatic/post-dramatic issues, and their effects on meaning production about uncertainty, by providing visibility to material aspects in this text. The Heisenberg's principle appears as an inspiration for the central axis of a textual structure that produces different meanings of uncertainty, metaphorically linked to elements of the uncertainty principle in Quantum Theory, and produces a displacement of entities from microphysics towards human entities. Epistemic limits associated with the entities' ontology have changed into supposed limits for ethical-moral judgments. The implications for Science Education are discussed, and ideas for future research are presented.
Keywords:
Education and theater; Art and education; Principle of uncertainty; Physics teaching; Quantum theory