The Stability of Matter in Quantum Mechanics : Cambridge University Press : 9780521191180 : 0521191181 : 05 Nov 2009 : "Despite the great success of quantum mechanics in explaining details of the structure of atoms, molecules (including the complicated molecules beloved of organic chemists and the pharmaceutical industry, and so essential to life) and macroscopic objects like transistors, it took 41 years before the most fundamental question of all was resolved: Why doesn't the collection of negatively charged electrons and positively charged nuclei, which are the basic constituents of the theory, implode into a minuscule mass of amorphous matter thousands of times denser than the material normally seen in our world? It is this stability question that will occupy us in this book. After four decades of development of this subject, during which most of the basic questions have gradually been answered, it seems appropriate to present a thorough review of the material at this time"--Provid