In Search of Schrödinger's Cat: Quantum Physics and Reality (Paperback)

by John Gribbin (Author) "Isaac Newton invented physics, and all of science depends on physics..." (more)
Key Phrases: quantum cookbook, quantum algebra, quantum rules, Nobel Prize, Big Bang, First World War (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Part history book and part remedial physics text for those who lost interest when the equations started getting unintuitive, In Search of Schrödinger's Cat explains quantum physics in a way that's not only clear, but also enjoyable.

Gribbin opens with the subjects that most physics professors have just started to examine at the end of the semester: The mysterious character of light, the valence concept in Nils Bohr's atomic model, radioactive decay, and the physics of life-defining DNA all get clear, comprehensive, and witty coverage. This book reveals the beauty and mystery that underlies everything in the universe.

Does this book claim to explain quantum physics without math? No. Math is too central to physics to be bypassed. But if you can do basic algebra, you can understand the equations in In Search of Schrödinger's Cat. Gribbin is the physics teacher everyone should have in high school or college: kind without being a pushover, knowledgeable without being condescending, and clearly expressive without being boring. Gribbin's book belongs on the shelf of every pre-calculus student. It also deserves a place in the library of everyone who was scared away from advanced physics prematurely.

Product Details

• Paperback: 302 pages
• Publisher: Bantam Books (August 1, 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553341030
• ISBN-13: 978-0553342536
• ASIN: 0553342533
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #16,073 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #8 in	Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Physics > Quantum Theory
  #8 in	Books > Science > Physics > Quantum Theory

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

63 of 69 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enlightening, liberating, refreshing, July 31, 2004

By	terrance005 "terrance005" (Canada) - See all my reviews

PROS:
1. Good narrative style - you won't be bored.

2. Not complicated... not trivial or overly diluted either. High school Math, and Science will suffice for understanding. You'll derive more on a second read though.

3. I like how he weaves history into science and adds personality to the characters way beyond anything you'll find in a textbook. One reader said he wanted just the facts and could do without the extras. I think it's the extras that make this book appealing, approachable and engaging. If you want just facts, get a college textbook.

4. Not too long... he spends just about the right length of time on each topic.

5. He revisits topics to shed extra light at appropriate times... he doesn't try to hammer in everything into your head all at once.

6. Gives credit to respective scientists, including stating who won what Nobel prize when. This is good as otherwise these people and their achievements would be largely unknown by people who are not academics, such as some of the readers of this book.

7. Gives an excellent sense of perspective of how things were developed or arrived at. You really appreciate that it is by collaboration and assistance that a lot has been developed. Previous to this work I hadn't heard of Dirac... everybody knows Einstein. I heard of Bohr, Rutherford, and Planck at school. But there really are other greats of the era: Heisenberg, Dirac, Pauli and Shrodinger for example.

8. Extremely well-researched and woven together.

9. Great to find out the simple origins of anti-matter. (pages 124, and 125)

10. Great to see how many things we take for granted have been derived from Quantum Mechanics... Integrated circuits, computers, laser, laser surgery, nuclear reactors, rockets, space travel.

CONS:
1. He presents the work of the main characters/scientists in a TOPICAL fashion, and when you are reading you would realise that something that occurs some pages later on actually took place at the same time CHRONOLOGICALLY as something in prevous sections. This is moderately disconcerting.

I don't think the author could have done differently though, without disrupting the flow of the book and perhaps altering its comprehensibility. To compensate for this, it would have been good to put a timeline in an Appendix. e.g.:

16xx - Newton lays the groundwork of classical mechanics (based on the work of Kepler)
1900 - Planck introduces his radiation formula and introduces 'quanta' of energy.
1906 - Einstein...
etc.

2. Needs to state EXACTLY which diagram/drawing he is referring to at various points in the explanation. It's easy to lose track of what diagram he is referring to, and it becomes confusing. (This applies mainly to the latter half of the book.)

28 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great read on an extraordinary topic, February 6, 2000

By	D. Roberts "Hadrian12" (Battle Creek, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This is a wonderful book that deals with a rather fascinating subject: quantum mecahnics. For those who may not be familiar w/QM, it is the physics of the microcosmic world of electrons, photons, protons & neutrons. It is where Newtonian causality breaks down, where there appears a "totally new ballgame." Gribbin does an excellent job of writing for the layman, especially considering the recondite nature of the topic. However, I would recommend anyone interested in QM to read Alice In Quantumland by Robert Gilmore first as it is slightly more accessible & also has the advantage of being "fun" to read (it is told as an allegorized story). Note that I still recommend Gribbin's book, but AFTER one has read Gilmore's. It may help to make Gribbin's book make a bit more sense. All in all, though, this is an enlightening work.

78 of 98 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating, but unfortunately goes off the deep end, August 22, 2001

By	Micah Newman (Austin, TX United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

John Gribbin obviously has a real enthusiasm for the subject matter, and it makes this book very readable in spite of the often bewildering complexity of the subject matter (which he explains admirably without use of mathematics). The coverage of the history of quantum theory in the first half of the 20th century is excellent, and made me want to read more about it.

Where Gribbin goes wrong, in my view, is in railroading his point "Nothing is real" (a thesis which seems to bookend the whole thing). I know I'll get "not helpful" points for pointing this out, but the quite obvious fact that Gribbin chooses to ignore is that subatomic particles, when collected as aggregates into everyday objects like a wallet or a pen, end up statistically combining to behave in predictable ways; if I leave it in a room and come back several hours later, it's still there unless somebody disturbs it, and I can be absolutely assured it was there in the intervening period--what could be plainer? In other words, if a tree falls in a forest and no one is around, yes, of course it makes a sound. But an electron or photon? Who's to say? The fact that such intractable weirdness in the quantum realm as Gribbin describes ends up getting together to form what we know as matter, is indeed a mystery worth contemplating. It makes me think of the realm of matter as if it were inside some kind of holodeck like in Star Trek, and when we look deep into matter itself we find that it's put together in some way inconceivable to us, and yet seemingly expressly for the purpose of creating the "macro" world in which we live. This idea is consistent with the Anthropic Principle, that has nudged so many scientists in the direction of theism. But 'nothing is real'? Then how can one make any meaningful statements, including the statement of universal unreality?! Come, now...