Customer Reviews

Quantum Theory: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book does its best, but in the end suffers from something that I think is inherent in the material itself. I did learn a little more about quantum theory from this book, but not much more than I already knew to begin with. And this book didn't really make many of the main concepts any clearer. I don't think is the author's fault, I think it's almost impossible to try to explain these things. Most of the problem, (and similar statements go for cosmology, cryptography, etc.) is that it's almost impossible to explain concepts whose fundamental expression is mathematical language without using mathematics. What inevitably results is some kind of vague, touchy-feely idea of what's meant, but little understanding. And I say this as a mathematician.

To give just one example, at one point in the book, the author talks about "probability amplitudes", for several pages. The only problem is, he never says what this term is supposed to mean, but he does mention that complex numbers are involved, and other facts. The result after this happens several times is that the reader starts to read entire paragraphs consisting of terminology that's never been defined clearly. The word "operator" is the best example here. It's fine to talk ABOUT operators in indirect, oblique language, but really you don't have a true understanding of what that word means unless you know its precise mathematical definition, or unless you have a clear understanding of the notion of vector space (axiomatically, not "stuff you can add together"). I didn't have this kind of problem with most of the mathematical terminology, because I know it, but the problem comes with the physics -- the physics concepts are essentially mathematical, and trying to explain them without using mathematics is like trying to understand Shakespeare without being able to read English -- you can always give a vague, hazy account, but not much more.

The book is well-written (aside from an overly-biased presentation of the philosophical aspects), but I think it tries to have its cake and eat it too. It says it's free of mathematics, but this isn't really the case. The whole text is fully of talk about operators, vectors, vector spaces, equations, probability theory, and so on. It's the _symbolism_, not the math, that's missing (except for the appendix, which thoroughly confused me, mainly because terms were introduced without precise definition, and the notation was the physicist's notation, not mathematician's notation...)

This book was confusing to me, but the reason was because it had too LITTLE math, not too much.

This pocket-sized, 92-page text--113 pages with appendices and index--professes to be a "very short introduction" to an understanding of quantum theory, to the unseen world that's so many millions of times smaller than even atoms.

It's not at all a bad summary of the field of quantum mechanics, written fairly lucidly, concisely, and with interest, but I'd have to say it's lacking as an introduction to the subject, in that it really does assume its readers are intelligent people with something of a science background. Do not buy this expecting it to be QUANTUM THEORY FOR DUMMIES, because it's still fairly dense and heavy, and not written as clearly or as startlingly as much of Stephen Hawking's stuff. To some readers, this assumption of their intelligence may be refreshing, and it is to a degree, but with a subject as complex and bizarre as quantum mechanics, most non-scientists will need as much help as they can get, help not necessarily to be found in here.

I do have to say, though, that this is a book worth reading, and, then, re-reading. After I read it, I went back through and looked up a few of the more major concepts--quantum entanglement, in which two particles that interact will continue to affect each other no matter how far apart they're separated; Schrödinger's Cat and the idea of a state between life and death, between here and there, between being and non-being; Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle and how you can't have a knowledge of both position and momentum of a particle; et cetera--and just that brief re-reading was a huge help to me.

The book will teach you a lot about the subject, and will give you a good start toward further educating your knowledge of this awesome and frustrating topic, this topic which has already done so much toward unlocking the secrets of our existence and our universe--and toward confusing everyone.

Its glossary is lacking, its author has a subtle but evident Christian bias, but overall it's a good little book, and I enjoyed it. I recommend it.

This is a short book, and that is its only advantage, unfortunately.

Granted, that the author is eminent in this field and was himself a student of the great Paul Dirac. However, this book does not sit easily in a series designed to make a subject approachable to the novice. It has far too much esoteric maths than is good for a book of this genre. An ever stronger criticism is the fact that instead of keeping to basic physics ideas such as the double slit experiment (which this book does well!) and then developing the ideas of atomic structure, and the uncertainty principle, it dwells on things like operators and such like.

If you want a good introduction to Quantum Theory, look no further than the books by George Gamow's "The New World of Mr Tompkins" or "Mr Tomkins in paperback", or, "Uncle Albert and the Quantum Quest".

In an introduction to a topic, one expects lots of figures to explain just about every topic. This book, and indeed the entire series, generally has rather few figures. The series also, generally, focuses on the historical development of the topic and not necessarily on the current understanding of the topic. Therefore, the series sacrifices a better explanation of our current understanding to explain who thought what and when. Nonetheless, this book serves adequately in the capacity of a "very short introduction."

There are few things more beautiful to me than a profound, concise, respectable and rigorous small book. The gift of knowledge and time such a book provides matches is profound. "Quantum Theory, A Very Short Introduction" achieves this beauty nicely.

Looking at the small book, and my current desire to understand the essence of the mystery of Quantum physics, I had a strange desire starting the book- I wanted it to hurt a little bit. That is to say, I wanted it to be challenging enough to reach a profound depth and truth that matched my desire to know. And I wanted it to be real- not a fanciful tour of "cool stuff" but a book so steeped in knowledge that it exposes the diamond at the center of this leviathan. I wanted to be challenged, and maybe read a page two or three times to capture the occasional key point. I wanted a book by an author so knowledgeable that he would be brave enough to tackle this goal in a 100 page book. In other words, I wanted the truth, I wanted it quickly, and, as a result, I expected to sweat. I wasn't disappointed.

This book is part of an Oxford University Press series of "Very Short Introductions". The format of the books in this series is about 100 pages, in a small paperback size. The text is fairly small, with small margins, with maybe 300 words per page. That makes each books about 30 000 words, plus of minus 25% for pictures, paragraph size and so on. And the books are written by experts with a professional level of rigor. The are a very short, deep, and real introductions. They make you sweat a little.

My dream is to read the other hundred or so publications in the series. Probably not all of them, but a significant number. I'm at about six so far.

Let me preface this with the fact that I am neither a physicist or a mathematician. I did have to take countless hours of statistics in my many years of college but that was no help in understanding this book.I really purchased this book as I understood it to be written for the layman to give him an overall understanding of what Quantum Mechantics is about, what makes it special, and what it has accomplished.
Alas, after reading the book the above three questions are still unanswered. I may read it again as it is a tiny book but it is not the most enjoyable book to read (unlike Hawkins "A Brief History of Time" which was a great read). The author's explanations seem very unclear and he never quite gets to the point! In the preface to his book the author makes two very bold statements that in effect says that Quantum theory is the greatest intellectual achievement of the 20th century and that Quantum Theory has been "fantastically fruitful" during it's 75 years of "exploitation". Oh, really, would you care to elaborate on that please? This sets the tone for the whole book. He makes a vague statement about this accomplishment or that accomplishment throughout the book then just drops it without ever giving you a concise, clear cut example. I felt like someone at a cake bake whom is repeatedly told how great everything tastes but is never allowed to taste it himself
The author quotes a statement of Richard Feynman (a famous Quantum mechanics physicist) in which Richard says "I think I can safely say no one understands quantum mechanics." Well I think he must be right because I believe that if the author truly understood quantum mechanics he could certainly convey it's essence more clearly.

P.S. If you feel compelled to buy this book do yourself a favor and read through the Glossary two or three times before you read the book.

It's a difficult subject, but this is an excellent overview that will help get you grounded in some of the basic ideas of quantum theory. This can't be the only book you read on the subject, but it's a great start.

I liked this book, but it is hard to see who it was written for. The book, in keeping with the others in this series, is short (about 100-pages) and it surely is an introduction to the subject. It covers all of quantum theory, from its beginnings in 1900 to present day problems and herein lies its strengths and weaknesses. It provides a nice overview, with no math (except for 10 pages of appendices), so it was obviously meant for a general audience. However, it does not cover quantum theory in an elementary manner - suitable for a high school student. While the text does not use mathematics, per se, it does use many mathematical terms, such as eingenvector, eigenvalue and superposition principle, which are discussed in the appendices, but in my opinion not clearly enough for someone without sufficient math or physics background. In addition to the basic subjects, such as the Bohr atom, matrix and wave mechanics; the book also covers more esoteric subjects such as quantum logic, relativistic quantum theory and quantum field theory. The general audience may be able to grasp the basic subjects but I suspect that, given the terse explanations that are provided, they will have a lot more problems with the more esoteric subjects, and sentences like " Putting it in learned language, the EPR effect is ontological and not simply epistemological." do not help. Fortunately, the author then goes on to a more understandable discussion, but I found the complexity of the sentence that I just quoted (and many other similar ones) to be completely out of place in a book that aims at being an introduction to this or any other subject.

This book suffers in comparison to the rest of the books in the "short introduction" series that I have read. I thought that the others were 5-stars, but I would rate this one 4-stars, at best. My biggest problem is for whom do I recommend this book. I am afraid that it is to complex for someone who has no background in the subject and those with the background may find the discussions too brief and cursory. I have read a lot in this area, so I have some of the necessary background, but I am far from an expert for whom this book would be somewhat sketchy, so the book was fine for me. I would rate this book as 3.5 stars, down rating it because I do not think that it is a very good fit for most readers and because it is unnecessarily complex in spots, but since fractional stars are not allowed I am going with 4-stars, but others will likely rate it lower.

I only have had this book for a day or so and am still working on it. However, I wanted to post an early review. I am already lost on Page 2. The author talks about interference patterns. I would love to know how to create them in my living room say. I am certainly going to go to other books to find out. I am also going to keep on working on this book.

The reason for the early review is that something funny happened. I have seen some Amazon reviews where the reviewer reviews the transaction instead of the book itself. Here is one, for instance:

It's not in the condition I would have wanted it to be, but the description was accurate. Seller did mention the wear to it. I am still able to read it and it was a good price.

My copy of Quantum Theory, A Very Short Introduction had Page 15 missing. (This is the beginning of Chapter 2.) I am sure that if I got a copy with Page 15, it won't make a huge difference. It occurred to me that I could write a review saying that Page 15 is missing (as a joke):-)

John Polkinghorne is simultaneously a great scientist and a great communicator. He proves this in this brief book.