ABSTRACT
The analogical extensions of Niels Bohr's principle of complementarity to the disciplines of biology, psychology, and theology are ineffective. It has been argued, moreover, that the principle of complementarity is ineffective within quantum theory itself. Bohr supported the claim that complementary pictorial-level interpretations are necessary for the explanation of quantum phenomena by invoking a correspondence argument. Henry Margenau criticized Bohr for recommending that physicists accept an irreconcilable dilemma, the horns of which are complementary "descriptions" in terms of classical observables and causal accounts in terms of abstract states. In his various publications, Margenau created a number of diagrams to represent the confirmation process. He agreed with P. W. Bridgman that operational definitions provide important links between constructs and the results of instrumental procedures. Despite Margenau's protest, many scientists in the 1930s were receptive to the idea that pictures of classical particles and waves are needed to complete the interpretation of quantum phenomena.
