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How to Teach Physics to Your Dog (Hardcover)

~ Chad Orzel (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

What do dog treats and chasing squirrels have to do with quantum mechanics? Much more than you might imagine, as Orzel explains in this fun introduction to modern physics based on a series of conversations with his dog Emmy. Dogs make the perfect sounding board for physics talk, because they approach the world with fewer preconceptions than humans, and always expect the unexpected. Physicist Orzel begins with the basics, explaining how light can be both particle and wave simultaneously—a bit like a dog that can split itself into two to chase a rabbit no matter which direction it runs. A look at Heisenberg's uncertainty principle begins with a hunt for a hypothetical bone. Schrödinger's cat becomes, of course, Schrödinger's dog. Quantum entanglement, quantum teleportation and virtual particles (composed, for example, of bunny-antibunny pairs) are all explained with the author's characteristic lighthearted touch. While Orzel's presentation may be a bit too precious for some, readers who've shied away from popular treatments of physics in the past may find his cheerful discussion a real treat. (Dec.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Particle physicist Orzel has a smart and energetic German shepherd-mix, Emmy, who’s interested in what he does for a living that keeps her in treats and kibble. So she asks him about it, and he tells her, with plenty of chaseable bunnies and squirrels illustratively standing-in for photons, electrons, and other particles. He cheerfully and uncommonly clearly explains particle-wave duality; Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle (and the popular-media misuse of it); photon superposition and polarization; wave-function collapse and Bohr’s strict discrimination between quantum and classical physics; the many-worlds view of quantum mechanics that defies wave-function collapse; the quantum Zeno effect; quantum tunneling (right through “solid” barriers); entanglement and how it enables teleportation (at the quantum scale, that is); virtual particles and quantum electrodynamics; and the fraudulence of quantum-mechanics-exploiting “free energy” and healing schemes. Emmy’s attempts to apply her new knowledge practically (to catch squirrels and bunnies) keeps the conversation moving. It’s hard to imagine a better way for the mathematically and scientifically challenged, in particular, to grasp basic quantum physics. --Ray Olson
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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 256 pages
  • Publisher: Scribner (December 22, 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1416572287
  • ISBN-13: 978-1416572282
  • Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.1 x 1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #55,968 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

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50 of 50 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent conceptual introduction to quantum mechanics, with history and humor., December 25, 2009
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
First let me say that I have a degree in physics and in education. I may not be the typical reader but I think I can provide a reasonable review of this book.

The book is a very clear and well delineated explanation of the basics of quantum mechanics. Orzel provides the relevant background needed to understand each section along with a historical outline of how the physics developed. His teaching is lucid and straightforward (think Carl Sagan or Isaac Asimov). The examples and questions are provided outlined in a tongue in cheek manner as discussions with his dog. I am somewhat torn about the verbiage relating to his dog, it is sometimes funny, but can also be distracting. I think in the classroom the humor would come across more consistently. It does add a level of absurdity to the book, and if quantum mechanics is anything, it is sometimes quite absurd to those of us living our daily lives in a classical world.

I also laughed out loud many times while reading the chapter on debunking the snake oil salesmen who try to use various garbled versions of quantum mechanics to explain how their gizmos can provide "free energy" or "improve your health". I have had a lot of conversations with people about these contraptions (and those Amish space heaters advertized in the paper all the time, but that is another issue).

The historical perspective in each section is excellent, specifically the development of wave/particle duality and the Copenhagen interpretation. Orzel's presentation of the manner in which theories are developed and tested is superb. For students this is may be eye opening, many of them seem to believe that science develops in a linear and straightforward manner and the examples presented by Orzel show the more convoluted path often taken.

I took a class from Murray Gell-Mann a few years ago (well more than a few years) and we read "The Quark and the Jaguar" as part of our class assignment. After reading the Gell-Manns book and taking his class I felt like I knew a lot more about quantum mechanics, but I had to break up each section and really chew on it to reach that understanding. Mind you, I took quantum mechanics in college, I could do the math, but I had little true understanding of the underlying principles. "How to Teach Physics to your Dog" is a lot less mental work (and substantially less math) and yields an overall understanding of the concepts of quantum mechanics. In a way this book reminds me of Hewitt's Conceptual Physics textbook, the ideas are the most important and the minimal math plays a secondary and supporting role.

This book is appropriate for

* Physics students (after taking classical mechanics) from about high school AP level.

* To read BEFORE you take quantum mechanics at the college level. This book is not going to help you with the differential equations, Fourier transformations and other math, but at least you might know why you are doing them.

* Those with at least some background (or a great deal of interest) in science who wish to grasp the concepts of quantum mechanics. If you have absolutely no science at all you may struggle with some of the vocabulary.

Overall a very enjoyable read, laugh out loud funny at times and a clear and well organized introduction to quantum mechanics for those with interest in science. Highly recommend.
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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Quantum Mechanics for the Lay Person - excellent job with a few minor quibbles, December 26, 2009
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Writing a book about physics for laymen can always be a difficult task. I have read more than I can count. Books can either be too technical and unapproachable to be of interest to the lay person, or they can be so silly and irrelevant that not enough meaty information is contained within. As a background on myself, I am an engineer by training, and as a wise man on Magrathea once said, "I am a great fan of science."

The book itself is geared towards somebody with a decent knowledge of physics and math, but not necessarily quantum mechanics. I would say high-school level should be fine, but then again, with what passes for high school education, it's possible that it could be beyond some people (some may have issue with words like exponential). The reader should note that the book is really "How to Teach Quantum Mechanics To Your Dog" as Physics in general is not covered (and it even avoids relativity). This is not a negative, but just an FYI.

Overall, excellent book---I probably picked up something new in every chapter. Some of the science was familiar, though I was not aware of all the players and fun stories involved. For the science I knew, I appreciated having a good way to explain it to friends and family. As the book progressed, I discovered new things about quantum mechanics which I did not know.

You'll learn about how the most often referenced piece of quantum mechanics (Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle) is also the most misunderstood. You'll also learn not only about Schrodinger's Cat, but also his many women (who knew physicists were like that?). The book builds on basic quantum mechanics to discuss some of the more interesting theories---for instance, the many-worlds theory to explain how things like superposition actually work (while Orzel doesn't mention it, the many-worlds theory also helps solve some mathematical difficulties in both cosmology and evolution). However, no matter what the philosophy you choose to apply to why certain things happen, it does not change the equations, which is the point of the book. He also discusses quantum zeno (how to stop a quantum state jump by observing it), quantum tunneling, quantum entanglement, quantum teleportation, quantum electrodynamics, and some misuses of quantum physics (like quantum healing). In short, anything quantum you want to know about is likely summarized in this little tome.

Throughout the book, the dialogue is presented as a talk between the scientist and his dog. At times it got a little tedious, but more often than not, it broke up the scientific jargon with conversation, and occasionally the analogies to a dog finding a bunny in the backyard actually seemed to work (or treats in a bag). I also dug the occasional obligatory Star Trek reference... of course quantum states existing in many worlds would include the evil worlds where the quantum particles all have goatees.....

I will knock off 1 star for this----I don't feel the book did enough to explain how quantum mechanics is used in our everyday lives. Quantum tunneling microscopes are cool, but who knows what they are? A few pages on lasers or tunnel diodes might have been nice. There were brief discussions of quantum cryptography and computing, but I thought these could have been expanded. In addition, quantum electrodynamics started to get a little too technical and deep for an average reader (but it was the last technical chapter, so I think it was well placed).

To learn more, I would recommend some of the excellent books by Simon Singh who has an equally approachable way with explaining complex science. Chad Orzel brushes the edge of relativity, but specifically says he is avoiding it for the purposes of his book. To read some excellent explanations of relativity and cosmology in a similar voice, you might augment this book with "The Big Bang" by Singh.

Overall, I give the book 4 stars---it is an excellent effort, and I definitely learned quite a bit from reading it. While I did get it through the Vine program, this is the kind of book I would definitely recommend purchasing yourself. I removed 1 star because I really did want some more practical applications (and I did feel that the voice sometimes drifted too technical for the average reader), but it is a quality piece of work and will have a place on my shelf by Stephen Hawking and others.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A delightful introduction to Quantum Physics, December 28, 2009
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
I was delighted to read scienceteachermom's positive review of this book here on Amazon; as a general reader with a superficial interest in science and mathematics, it was very helpful to learn that the science here was well founded. (I thought so, but as our Cavalier King Charles often reminds me, I'm not always well informed -- especially when it comes to how much food he should get to eat.)

Chad Orzel's conceit is to carry on conversations with his dog about physics. As an example he describes a solution of the "collapse" problem proposed by Hugh Everett III -- "there is no such thing as the collapse of the wavefunction." After some difficult thinking (by me) through some elegant and clear prose (by Orzel), I was able to make "some" sense of a number of mathematical equations. But as Orzel points out they get complicated very quickly and his dog sets me straight:

"You know, I'm not getting a lot out of these equations."

"You're not supposed to understand them in detail. They're just there to illustrate the increasing complexity of the wave function in a more compact manner."

"So, basically, they're just supposed to look scary?"

"Pretty much."

"Oh, good job, then."

***

Orzel's book is mostly fun for me, a general reader who finds reading about science as much more interesting than almost all science fiction. And, when Orzel takes on what he calls "quantum quackery", I learn stuff that I can actually apply in discussions with my New Age friends. A particularly delightful expose involves analyzing Deepak Chopra's alternative medicine tome, Quantum Healing: Exploring the Frontiers of Mind/Body Medicine.

Orzel says that Chopra uses scientific sounding terms that are just word salad. The theory, as Orzel describes it, "the key is to measure yourself as healthy ... if you always measure yourself to be in fine health, quantum measurement will see to it that you never get sick." By this point in Orzel's text, I had a general sense of how that might work on the quantum level.

But, Orzel points out two major problems: Chopra and others are applying quantum ideas to systems that are far too large to show quantum effects: they are hard to tease out, the largest demonstration involved "only" a billion electrons and for the Zeno effect, only a single particle. More fundamental, quantum effects are fundamentally random -- no matter which wavefunction theory you subscribe to, "there is no way to know in advance how a given quantum measurement will turn out."

***

So long as you have a basic understanding of science and mathematics, and an interest in learning more about both, you will find this charming little book a very pleasant read.

Robert C. Ross 2009
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A light-hearted introduction to quantum mechanics
There is perhaps no area of Physics that has garnered as much fascination as quantum mechanics, save perhaps the theory of relativity. Read more
Published 14 days ago by Bojan Tunguz

4.0 out of 5 stars Is -Quantum Mechanics- How YOU spell PHYSICS?
Let me preface by mentioning that I love to read books that popularize science. So, when you see a book titled, "HOW TO TEACH PHYSICS TO YOUR DOG", shouldnt it follow that the... Read more
Published 18 days ago by W. T. Hoffman

4.0 out of 5 stars How do you feel about cute?
If your tolerance for whimsy is limited, you may find this book's device of interlarding chapters with conversations with the author's dog irritating. Read more
Published 25 days ago by Rebecca Haden

4.0 out of 5 stars Cute, elementary, but really only for starting-out science geeks
"How to Teach Physics to Your Dog" is a fun read, no doubt about it. It is very cute, taking high-level physics into the backyard, and turning quantum-everything into squirrels... Read more
Published 29 days ago by MagicSkip

4.0 out of 5 stars Good starter, but Neil Tyson and Michio Kaku have been there, done that
There seems to be a trend of writing serious, scientific books that are humorous in parts. It's not a bad approach - in fact, it makes the reading much lighter instead of... Read more
Published 1 month ago by ichor

5.0 out of 5 stars Physics can be interesting
Excellent book. I like the approach and it simplifies Physics so that a normal person can understand.
Published 1 month ago by Rocky D. Hasty

4.0 out of 5 stars What a fun book!
Let me tell you... my Fido doesn't fetch sticks or bones. But after this book, he'll get an 'A' in quantum mechanics! Well done...
Published 1 month ago by t.g. randini

3.0 out of 5 stars Delightful premise hindered by reality.
When I first saw 'How to teach physics to your dog' I snatched it up hoping for a witty yet informative instant classic. Read more
Published 1 month ago by T. J. Mathews

5.0 out of 5 stars enjoyable, entertaining and informative look at quantum physics
This book reminds me of Steven Hawking's books. Physics very well explained, with very few equations. Does an excellent job of getting complex concepts across. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Just Me

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book for physics novices
"How to Teach Physics to Your Dog" is a great book for learning the basic theories of quantum mechanics. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Quoad Toad

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