The Strange World of Quantum Mechanics

Rating:
Summary: Somewhat brief
Review: I was somewhat disappointed with this book; anyone thinking of buying it should realize it seems to be an almost verbatim transcription of lectures for undergraduates and thus has a great deal of extra talkativeness as well as student problems that pad out the information. Really nothing too philosophical or even novel is presented here that hasn't been written well or better in the past at greater length. It's true he spends a great deal of time discussing the E-P-R paradox and the Aspect experiment but the 'metaphysical' so to speak consequences, or even just the weirdness resulting from nonlocal behavior, are just barely discussed.

In short, he present some basic quantum strangness, i.e., nonlocality and wave-particle duality, through simplistic experiments, but avoids the implications completely. Anyone with preexisting knowledge of quantum mechanics will find this very disappointing, since it's 'old hat.' Most disappointing of all is the omission of further discussion of the popular superstring or M-theory; it is only mentioned in passing very briefly.

So if you're not familiar at all with the strange world of quantum mechanics, this may be of interest, although you'll feel a little let down that the truly weird implications are not further elaborated on [e.g. the many worlds interpretation].

Rating:
Summary: A no-nonsense, qualitative primer
Review: Imagine being raised all your life in an environment without gravity and then suddenly finding yourself on a planet with a strong gravitational field. Things would be really strange. Your intuition would be confused and confounded. Take the simple act of tossing a ball, for example. Your intuition tells you that the ball will go straight, but in this strange world the ball curves. To toss the ball to someone you must toss it up, so that it arcs over. Otherwise, if you toss it straight (like your intuition tells you to) it curves downward and hits the ground.

Strangeness, obviously, depends on our sense of intuition, and our sense of intuition depends upon the rules of engagement in the world in which we live. Most of us live in a world dominated by classical physics where objects have a definite position, velocity, mass, energy, etc. It is because of our intimate personal experience with this classical world that non-classical environments like the very fast and the very tiny seem counter intuitive.

Styer's book aims to help the reader understand the experiences of the quantum world. Though real quantum intuition cannot come from a book, Styer helps the reader gain a measure of intuition regarding what happens at the quantum level. Styer's book is one of the best I've seen for explaining quantum mechanics in a rigorously qualitative manner that's understandable by virtually anyone with the intellectual discipline to learn new ideas. [The other book I recommend in this area, and from which Styer uses as a frequent reference, is "QED, The Strange Theory of Light and Matter," by Richard Feynman. For someone just starting out in his or her study of quantum mechanics, I recommend Feynman's book followed by Styer's. Both are qualitative and have little mathematics. For an introduction to the mathematics of quantum mechanics (using mathematics at the freshman college level) I suggest Sam Treiman's "The Odd Quantum." These three books form an excellent basis for a course in study that tackles quantum physics at the quantitative level.]

The book has 15 chapters, but is only 150 pages long, so each chapter is rather short. The chapters are organized nicely, however, and each has a specific goal for the reader, with good illustrations throughout and thought-provoking questions at the end (numeric answers are in the back of the book, though many questions do not have a numeric answer). Unlike the questions found in some textbooks, Styer's questions are formulated specifically to build insight into the main issues presented in the chapters, and to extend upon them. I strongly suggest answering each question in detail, as it will greatly enrich the experience of reading this book.

Styer is a master at explaining the central concepts of quantum mechanics in an intuitive and visual manner (his style of presentation is similar to Feynman's). Unlike many other authors, Styer does not introduce quantum mechanics by using the double-slit experiment. Instead, Styer bases almost all his arguments on an idealized (portable and configurable) Stern-Gerlach analyzer, which measures the magnetic spin of quantum particles (he later uses a modified form to introduce quantum interference). Styer does all this, and masterfully, by using non-technical language that nevertheless maintains the integrity of the ideas embodied in quantum mechanics.

A brief introduction, some stuff on how classical magnetic needles behave in a magnetic field, a description of the Stern-Gerlach experiment, and the "conundrum of projections," or the quantization of quantum spin, take up the first four chapters. Chapter 5 is a primer on simple concepts in statistics and lays the groundwork for later chapters. Chapters 6 and 7 deal with the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen experiments, which I found to be among the simplest and most illuminating that I've found in an introductory text. Typical of Styer's book throughout, he shows that the "paradox" arises from false assumptions in which we try to project our intuition from the classical world into the quantum world.

Styer describes the double-slit experiment, but he saves it till chapters 8 and 9 and explains it not just in terms of photons but also in terms of atoms as well. The discussion of quantal interference leads naturally to a further expansion of the concept of amplitudes and probability in quantum mechanics. The book ends with a chapter on quantum cryptography, a chapter on the quantum-mechanical behavior of a quantum ball, and a chapter that has a brief introduction of wavefunction.

There are also three excellent apprentices (these should be read with the same commitment as reading all the chapters in the book) and an adequate index. Styer also has a very nice list of other reading material on quantum mechanics, as well as some biting editorial statements about errors in popular books on the subject. Styer's approach is no nonsense. Rather than waxing philosophical about the dual particle-wave nature of matter, Styer correctly helps the reader realize that to understand quantum mechanics we must do so by understanding the behavior of quanta and not try to force our classical perceptions. As Styer says: "In fact an atom is no more a small hard marble [or a classical wave] than an atom's magnetic needle is a pointy stick. These classical ideas are simply wrong when applied to very small objects."

Very well written in an engaging, no-nonsense style that cuts straight to the heart of the issue, this is simply one of the best introductory (qualitative and without mathematics) books I've read on the subject. Whether you are reading about quantum mechanics for the very first time, or simply trying to increase your intuitive feel for the subject, I highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: This little book explains the EPR-Paradox in perhaps the clearest presentation I have ever seen! It's a fun read, too... It makes a good companion to Feynman's "QED". I recommend it.