[grey_whiskers]

The statistical mechanics of bosons and fermions are fundamentally different from the statistical mechanics of classical materials. If electrons were not fermions, there would be no metals, hence no cars, and certainly no car crashes.

Let's not forget Bose-Einstein statisics, either. What about lasers? :-)

Not to mention all the people calling each other bozos on these threads :-)

Cheers!

[Doctor Stochastic]

And Ronald Reagan's famous quantum mechanics movie: "Bedtime for Bosons."

[FredZarguna]

Let's not forget Bose-Einstein statisics, either. What about lasers?

Oh absolutely. But I was getting nowhere with the "Professor" so I've stopped wasting my time. He thought I'd be impressed with the fact that he just finished teaching a course in statistical thermodynamics, but the truth is, I just feel sorry for his students. I guess he couldn't explain to them why a black body in thermal equilibrium doesn't have infinite energy, or why the heat capacities of solids were baffling to classical physicists, couldn't discuss low temperature statistical ensembles at all, or metals, or most crystalline solids, or how lasers work, or ... you get the picture. I guess he's a world renowned expert on ideal gases. Or maybe he's Ward Churchill.

"Quantum physics doesn't have any consequences for macroscopic systems." Really. The coffee I just reheated in my microwave doesn't warm up without quantum rotational excitations in the water molecules. And without hot coffee, would life even be worth living?