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Summary: Get ready to sacrifice your convictions to physical laws!
Review: "For if quantumstuff is all there is and you don't understand quantumstuff, your ignorance is complete." pg. 40This book delves into the realm of accuracy in certainty and certainty in randomness and beyond! Afraid of math? Don't worry, this book does a superb job of explaining the subject in terms a layman can understand. Is probability an optimists way of expressing uncertainty, or is uncertainty really random, or is random just a term to conceal our ignorance? You'll get the answer. Very weird! It explains very succinctly the two most important waveforms in science, sine waves and spherical harmonics. Thought color was an inate attribute? Wrong! Learn the 5-steps to take to find a attribute of a quon using quantum theory! You'll think you're Steven Hawkings after reading this great book! Now I can say with confidence that DNA is to genetic code what a waveform attribute is to cosmic code! What the hell did I just say? You'll know after reading this book! Become a genius (or at least look like one) in a week! Even if you don't like scienctific "stuff", you'll love this book just for its weirdness! You'll see why possibility squared equals probability! heh heh... You'll also find out if a tree really makes a noise if it falls in a forest when you're not there! :) Wondering about the finer aspects of the photoelectric effect? It's in here. Why does a camera lens look purplish? It's in here too! What is reality? ... :) If you thought Bell's Theorem was weird, you haven't seen nothin' yet! There is nothing as weird as quantum theory. You won't want to believe it, but "quantum theory boldly exposes itself to potential fasification on a thousand diffent fronts. Its record is impressive: quantum theory passes EVERY test we [physicists and philosphers alike] can devise. After over 60 years of play, this theory is still batting a thousand." pg. 94 Buy this book and enjoy! That is... if the book is real!
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Summary: clearly weird
Review: Although it is open to confusion to compare the two domains of physics and Kantianism, one has to wonder if Kant and the modern quantum physicist did not stumble by different routes into the same swamp, for the relation of appearance and reality in the observation of the object becomes elusive in both enquiries. Perhaps physics will one day fully elucidate these enigmas.Opening his charming Quantum Reality with a wan pointillist picture of Kant as a 'reality researcher', Nick Herbert declares physicists are losing their grip on reality and then takes off into one of the most useful of the popular introductions to quantum questions. As one reads several accounts of these matters, one discovers that they all seem to cancel out. The reason is the emphasis on one apsect or interpretation of the quantum mechanics. What makes Herbert's book the best place to start is the comprehensive list, introduced at the beginning of the book, listing all the different perspectives, interpretations and schools, the eight quantum realities, the Copenhagen interpretations, I and II, reality as undivided wholeness, the many worlds interpretation, quantum logic, consciousness creates reality, and the duplex world of Heisenberg. The books leads through the whole labyrinth very handily, in the context of Bohr's debate with Einstein, Von Neuman's Grundlagen, and much else, ending in an account of the EPR and Bell's theorem. It is useful to have the 'quantum measurement disturbance model' one got many years ago laid to rest. There is also an interesting depiction of wave theories, and a useful metaphor for Fourier's theorem that lurks behind the many accounts that can only confuse if Fourier's theorem is stated in prose. Instead of mystical gushing over nonlocality, the book ends with the music and score for "Bell's Theorem Blues". You can get your grip on reality by singing along with Benjamin Bunny. Excellent and useful, even if written in 1985. Cf. Also Gribbin's In Search of Schrodinger's Cat, and the later In Search of Schrodinger's Kittens, for possible new approaches to these questions;
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Summary: Quantum reality?
Review: Easy to read description of different viewpoints of quantum mechanics. While there is somewhat of a sensationalization of the weirdness of the physics, indeed this weirdness is real (whatever real is, one supposes) and at the time of this review, still not well understood.
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Summary: Very good good, but........
Review: I found this reading on Quantum physics to be very good overall, but many explanations were carried over in a more complexed and technical manner than necessary. The wave definition chapter is very good and gives you a good understanding on the basic laws of waves (very important in quantum physics). The Dirac's view on the subject is very poorly explained, and the general tendency on relying on thecnical explanations (as mentioned before) makes this reading somewhat fatiguing at time. Overall a good book, but not the only one you might want to read on the subject for a full understanding.
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Summary: clearly weird
Review: If your aiming to simply understand as much as possible about quantum theory by reading one popular science book, then look no further. This book deals with all important theories and experiments in a clear way, without omitting the more difficult stuff. I have also read "taking the quantum leap" by Fred Alan Wolf but find it incredibly unclear because of its reluctance to show real physics. Talking about quantum physics without getting into too much detail for the coffee table reader makes it fragmented and obscure. Wolf favors vague talks of wonders over the step by step explanation of experiments that lead you to the heart of the problem. Herbert made me understand quantum reality as much as possible by using clear text with clear diagrams, explaining enough physical detail for me to appreciate the wonders of quantum reality. And yes... I'm still wondering. Enjoy!
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Summary: A Classic
Review: Of all the books that I've read on quantum theory that do not use calculus, this is probably the best. He is clear and succinct and ties things together in ways that click (at least for me). Some others that I'm reading that I'm comparing to: Quantum Theory - A Very Short Introduction by John Polkinghorne (good, but very quick pace), The Story of Quantum Mechanics by Victor Guillemin (also very good, might come in second), Thirty Years That Shook Physics by George Gamov (alright, particularly good for anecdotal stories from one who knew these guys), and Physics and Philosophy by Heisenberg (good, but I'm not too far yet, clear, and a good writer).
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Summary: Spellbinding and almost intimidating
Review: There's something about this book that makes it an instant classic. Though it is not the newest and most "user-friendly" book on quantum physics out there, I recommend this title as a great way to kick-off your knowledge search into this and related subjects. Despite the "mystifying" subtitle, the book is not purely "pseudo-science" and is packed with a lot of detailed and concrete information. From classic experiments such as the "photon slit experiment" and the "russian gravity wave detector," this book bravely plunges into the enticing riddles of the physics world. Struggling with the wave-and-particle-like duality of forces, and listing the different types of possible realities proposed by different theorists, this book serves a great window into the complicated beauty of a world unseen.
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Summary: The Reality Crisis and the relevance of Bell's Theorem
Review: This book by Nick Herbert comes as a breath of fresh air amidst a myriad of similar books which usually do not stick to the meat of the matter but wander off into eastern mysticism and new age philosophies. Mr. Herbert's treatment of the strange and equally controversial world of quantum physics is very direct and pointed and he is quite successful in putting across his analysis, insights and thoughts to the general reader. "Quantum Reality" as the title suggests explains the various interpretations of quantum reality underlying the quantum facts. There are in fact eight of them. Majority of physicists swear allegiance to the "Copenhagen Interpretation" formalized by Bohr and Heisenberg. This interpretation denies any deep reality underlying our physical reality and imparts special status to the observer or the measuring device which is said to "create" certain attributes like position, momentum, spin orientation etc. of a quantum entity (photon, electron etc.) during the act of measurement. Before measurement, i.e. an unmeasured quantum entity is said to be "less real" than our everyday reality and resides in a ghostly realm of mere possibilities and tendencies (a state between an idea of an event and the actual event) - it's attributes like position and direction of motion, NON-EXISTANT. Bohr said that there is no quantum world, only abstract quantum description and according to Heisenberg - the very foundation of our everyday world is no more substantial than a promise! The well known Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox which seemed to suggest a superluminal communication(non-local world) between a pair of phase-entangled photons(or in contradiction accept Einstein's "elements of reality"(local world) which he said was somehow missing from quantum theory and thus the theory being incomplete) gave rise to the Bell's interconnectedness theorem which in one decisive stroke resolved the crisis brewing between the "neorealist"(object based reality) and the "copenhagenist"(quantum entities are not "things"). Bell's Theorem stated that any local-based reality is impossible, hence our reality has to be NON-LOCAL (it has since been experimentally proven). This statement came as a bombshell as this was in conflict to our concept of local based physical reality. Non-locality simply means that any action-at-a-distance is without a medium, is instantaneous (superluminal) and doesn't diminish with distance. This book is a serious attempt by Mr. Herbert in explaining to the enthusiast as well as the general reader the finer point about quantum physics and about the quantum lifestyle enjoyed by its inhabitants. In the words of a reviewer on the back cover - "even a neophyte gets the feeling he is "almosting it".
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Summary: Thank you, Nick!
Review: This book is, without a doubt, one of the best nontechnical physics books I have read. As a kid in high school, this book was my first introduction to the mysterious world of quantum physics. I was amazed that, despite my technical illiteracy, Herbert gave me both insight into the inner mathematical workings of quantum mechanics, and into the deeply troubling conceptual problems that this radical theory forces upon us. Even today, as a graduate student in theoretical physics, I have a more profound appreciation for quantum mysteries than any of my classmates, simply because I read this book in highschool. I would recommend this book for the layperson and the quantum feild theorist alike!
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Summary: Quantum - The dreams that stuff is made of.
Review: This book was the easiest of all of the many popularizaitons of quantum theory for me to understand. Nick presents the material clearly, yet without "dumbing down" the physics. He shows how the strangeness of the quantum world is implicit in the ordinary experiments of physicists. (what he calls the "Cinderalla Effect.") The best thing about this book is that the main thrust of the book is speculation on the nature of deep reality, without it being a "New Age" treatment like the "Tao of Physics" and other books. Yes, reality may be affected by consciousness, he says, but only in certain contexts and only for dynamic attributes of particles. The book ends with a discussion with Bell's theorem that reality itself is nonlocal (unmediated, unmitigated, and immediate action-at-a-distance forces acting upon objects.) He explains that this nonlocality exists even if quantum theory eventually turns out to be false. The quantum world is strange and mysterious enough without "New Age" explanations added unto it, as you will discover when you read this book.
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