Uncertain Principles: What Uncertainty Means to Me– And You, and the Universe

One of the most (if not the most) commonly maltreated physics concepts in journalism is the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle.

[T]he origin of uncertainty really does spring from the idea of particle-wave duality rather than any ideas related to the act of measurement. It comes from the fact that, fundamentally, the position of a quantum object, like an electron or a photon, is a particle-like characteristic, while its momentum is associated with the wave nature of the object. Mathematically, the momentum of a quantum object is given by Planck’s constant divided by its wavelength (or, equivalently, the wavelength associated with a quantum object is determined by Planck’s constant divided by its momentum).

Perhaps we can start up the group Physicists For The Proper Treatment of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, or PFTPTHUP (which would sound like blowing a raspberry, or Bill the Cat hacking up a furball, either of which could be one’s reaction to seeing the HUP abused in the media)