Rating: 
Summary: One order of quantum physics; hold the mysticism, please.
Review: This book is a great companion to Dancing Wu Li Masters. Where Dancing Wu Li Masters gives a good, somewhat mystical overview of quantum physics and the history of its development, The Unconscious Quantum shows that people who want to understand quantum physics need not resort to mysticism or Eastern philosophy. While Stenger does address mystical interpretations when summarizing the history of quantum physics, he concludes by offering a logical, consistent, non-mystical paradigm.
Stenger acknowledges that the microworld of quanta cannot be viewed in the same way as the macroworld of concrete objects that make up our everyday experience. However, if people are willing to suspend their everyday intuition and accept some very logical but unintuitive concepts, like time symmetry and decoherence, then the quantum world makes perfect sense without mastering Zen or contemplating your navel.
Stenger also shoots down the ideas of consciousness directly affecting the physical world, and faster-than-light communication between quantum particles. He explains the EPR "paradox" and other experiments which spawned these interpretations, and how they can easily be resolved using the simple but unintuitive concepts already mentioned.
The text is written for the science amateur, and requires little background knowledge, but some persistence with technical concepts (you may have to read a few parts twice to get the idea). Supporting equations are included in boxes, separate from the text. The text stands alone, but mathaholics are welcome to indulge themselves in the formulae. The first six chapters are the most technical, but it gets much easier after that, and it's definitely worth it for anbody who wants a genuine understanding of quantum physics, sans the mystical rhetoric that pervades most pop literature on the subject.
Rating:
Summary: One order of quantum physics; hold the mysticism, please.
Review: This book is a great companion to Dancing Wu Li Masters. Where Dancing Wu Li Masters gives a good, somewhat mystical overview of quantum physics and the history of its development, The Unconscious Quantum shows that people who want to understand quantum physics need not resort to mysticism or Eastern philosophy. While Stenger does address mystical interpretations when summarizing the history of quantum physics, he concludes by offering a logical, consistent, non-mystical paradigm.
Stenger acknowledges that the microworld of quanta cannot be viewed in the same way as the macroworld of concrete objects that make up our everyday experience. However, if people are willing to suspend their everyday intuition and accept some very logical but unintuitive concepts, like time symmetry and decoherence, then the quantum world makes perfect sense without mastering Zen or contemplating your navel.
Stenger also shoots down the ideas of consciousness directly affecting the physical world, and faster-than-light communication between quantum particles. He explains the EPR "paradox" and other experiments which spawned these interpretations, and how they can easily be resolved using the simple but unintuitive concepts already mentioned.
The text is written for the science amateur, and requires little background knowledge, but some persistence with technical concepts (you may have to read a few parts twice to get the idea). Supporting equations are included in boxes, separate from the text. The text stands alone, but mathaholics are welcome to indulge themselves in the formulae. The first six chapters are the most technical, but it gets much easier after that, and it's definitely worth it for anbody who wants a genuine understanding of quantum physics, sans the mystical rhetoric that pervades most pop literature on the subject.
Rating: 
Summary: Best widely accessible summary, but could be clearer
Review: This is a refreshing alternative to the consciousness nonsense and second-hand explanations by reporters. Stenger is also willing to offer some solid science by including an occasional wquation and even a fundamental proof. Understanding the text does not require understanding the proof or even an equation, but he is aiming for educated and hopefully intelligent readers. Many of the alternative (in the pejorative sense) books take a full page to describe a 1-line equation in ambiguous words; you will find little ambiguity and no euphemisms or obfuscation here.On the other hand, there are some loose ends and the major themes are not clearly justified. He has indicated that his next book, Timeless Reality (available for pre-order now), will fill in the holes as well as presenting his argument that a creation event is not necessary. The previous reviewer failed to notice that the unexpected phenomena predicted by quantum mechanics have been proven to exist many times, while no paranormal phenomenon or miracle has even been proven despite a million dollar reward. The a priori probability of this coincidence is about the same as that for the random selection of parameters for a universe kije ours. Thus we would be even, except that our universe is one of many and Stenger points out that ours may not be so special as we have been led to believe. If money is a factor, you may want to buy Timeless Reality and then see if you still need this book.
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