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Does anybody really understand Quantum Mechanics?

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Does anybody really understand Quantum Mechanics? I wonder, but that shouldn't stop you from trying. If like me you're one of those people that got most of the way through A Brief History of Time, and felt that your grip on the subject became increasingly tenuous the more you read, then this is book is a great opportunity to re-visit the subject and approach from a different angle, and by doing so, understand it in much better. It is very clearly written in an approachable and informal style that makes it easy to pick up and to read and with few (if indeed any) equations. I like the presentation of the book, 280 pages of high-quality paper with clear, colour diagrams that really do help to understand the concepts together with a clear typeface. That may sound trivial but like walking into a house I like it to be welcoming as opposed to austere. Now I realise that I both understand and fail to understand quantum mechanics both at the same time, and having read this book, I'm quite comfortable with that. I award it only 4 stars, but that's only because it doesn't have all the answers, not yet.

A quantum leap in my understanding of a tricky subject

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As other reviewers have pointed out, "Quantum: A guide for the perplexed" is a superbly readable and entertaining introduction to the field of quantum mechanics. It is highly suitable for those, like me, whose knowledge of mathematics and physics is not particularly advanced. Quantum physics being what it is, I half-expected the book to be quite difficult and dry but this is 100% not the case. Although some of the theories are tricky to grasp, the author uses a great set of analogies (along with some clever and very colourful diagrams) to convey their meaning. There is plenty of humour to keep you going as well. After finishing the book, I'll come clean and admit that I am still not sure exactly what a wavefunction really is (then again, I'm not sure anyone does) but I do feel that I climbed a couple of rungs up the ladder of understanding. But I definitely now know what a quantum leap is and I learnt about something I had never heard of before, namely quantum tunnelling' (and why it is relevant to everyday life). I also certainly now understand the significance of what happens in the famous double-slit experiment (so next time the subject comes up in the pub, I can offer an explanation of wave-partical duality). Oh, and I solved the paradox at the heart of the `Schrodinger's cat' thought experiment. Of course I didn't actually solve it but the author gently led me there step by step and then, just at the right time, confirmed my growing suspicions. That is a clever teacher/writer in action ! The book is also superb on real-life applications of quantum understanding, such as in biology and semi-conductors, and on possible future applications such as the `quantum computer' (which could one day help Moore's law hold good for a few more years). This is popular science, albeit on a difficult subject, at its absolute best and most entertaining.

Leaves one with that all-pervading sense of awe that the very existence of "anything at all" should rightly provoke in us.

Customer Rating:

This is an extremely interesting book and, considering the subject matter, very accessible. The author present the ideas and theories of the Quantum world without, as I think some other writers do, ascribing an almost "black magic" side to the subject. This temptation to sensationalise I find in some writers on Quantum Mechanics (QM) who tend to present themselves practically as high-priests, allowing us, the uninitiated, a glimpse of the wonders that lie beyond our comprehension, but not necessarily beyond theirs. So, well done! to the author, Jim Al-Khalili, for avoiding that irritating style. Also, I was very interested to learn that Schrödinger's famous thought-experiment about the dead / alive cat, dealing with one of the weirder aspects of Quantum Theory - the collapse of the wave function into actuality only on observation or measurement - was proposed by Schrödinger as a rebuttal of that theory, on the basis that he considered the notion of the cat being simultaneously alive and dead as being absurd. As do I. All other books that I have read to date on QM discuss Schrödinger's cat as one of the many bizarre realities of QM rather than as being a warning sign that the theory is incomplete. The world, the universe, matter, time and space are all exceedingly strange things. We can only perceive them, or anything else, through our senses. Undoubtedly much lies "out there" that our senses do not perceive. We have, and can have, only a glimpse of reality. It is therefore virtually impossible for us, even in principle, to fully understand how it all works. But work it undoubtedly does. Science is a search for the explanation and continually seeks the Holy Grail of physics, the Grand Unified Theory or the Theory of Everything, a quest which may never succeed. Gödel's theorem tells us that in principle an "entity" cannot be fully explained from within itself, only from without; so to explain the universe we will need to view things from outside the universe - a tough proposition! But we can have fun as best we can. Newtonian physics, Special Relativity, General Relativity, Quantum Mechanics and String Theory are progressions, additions and/or refinements to previously held "certainties". We must remember well that previous certainties have always eventually been found wanting in small or large part. And Quantum Mechanics is simply a theory that fits extremely well many experimental observations and predictions. That's all. And for me, the very fact that it is so mathematically precise denies it the "black magic" aspect that many who write about it seem to relish promoting above all else. The weirdness of the experimental observations of the workings of QM is, in my view, due to our current lack of understanding of the physical process at work. Quantum Mechanics is a truly fascinating subject and is treated wonderfully well in this fine book, on a par to my mind with the also excellent "Quantum Reality", by Nick Herbert. I highly recommended Mr Al-Khalili's work which informs us beautifully while avoiding sensationalism. And when we finish his book we are left with that all-pervading sense of awe that the very existence of "anything at all" should rightly provoke in us.

Quarks, strangeness & charm!

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I will admit that the title of this book grabbed me straight away. Having been self-studying quantum physics and evangelistically telling friends and anyone who would listen about the wonderful world of the sub-atomic, i thought a general reader on the subject would be good for 'summing up' etc. In this regard Al-Khalili does not disappoint. The historical progress of thought from the world of classical (Newtonian) physics through the golden age where physics and philosophy walked uneasily hand-in-hand during the 1920's and 30's and the rise to prominence of the 'greats' of theoretical physics - Heisenberg, Schroedinger, Einstein, Bohr, Pauli, et al - is very well and clearly documented and engagingly presented. The vibrancy of the crashing principles and ideas of quantum mechanics and the birth of subatomic theory is fascinating in itself, but it is Al-Khalili's sheer enthusiasm for the truly strange nature of the universe at the quantum level that is most infectious. This can often lead to hints of "no, look how weird this is!" but for the most part, the ideas are clearly presented and logically presented without resorting to jingoism and tenuous metaphor. The only place the book really falls down is in its layout in this edition. Often very key principles are interrupted by small fly out boxes or spin-off articles within a chapter which can lead your train of thought to go "ooh, hang on, i better read that, it looks interesting" which can really wreck your train of thought on the main chapter text. These articles are always interesting and are often practical examples of current research into matters being discussed within the chapter, often by prominent current researchers - it's just the layout that suffers a little. If you are looking for a good introduction to quantum superposition, wavefunction, subatomic structure, the nature of energy and particles, quantum tunnelling, uncertainty principle, non-locality, relativity etc then this book is a very good place to start. Strangely, my friend is reading Brian Greene's book "The Fabric of the Cosmos" at the mo and so the interruptions are often longer than just having to avoid interim articles as discussion flips between singularity and unification at the quantum level, so i shouldn't be so hard on Dr Al-Khalili really! A good investment, particularly for the new quantum agers who are currently entralled by Doctor Who!

Entertaining and informative.	Customer Rating:
This is a good introduction for the general reader. Well presented, it does also have useful diagrams. I would reccomend this book as well as ' The New Quantum Universe' for people who are interested in quantum physics but who do not have a strong scientific background.