The Quantum Story: A History in 40 Moments

The twentieth century was defined by physics From the minds of the world s leading physicists there flowed a river of ideas that would transport mankind to the pinnacle of wonderment and to the very depths of human despair This was a century that began with the certainties of absolute knowledge and ended with the knowledge of absolute uncertainty It was a century in which physicists developed weapons with the capacity to destroy our reality, whilst at the same time denying us the possibility that we can ever properly comprehend it.Almost everything we think we know about the nature of our world comes from one theory of physics This theory was discovered and refined in the first thirty years of the twentieth century and went on to become quite simply the most successful theory of physics ever devised Its concepts underpin much of the twenty first century technology that we have learned to take for granted But its success has come at a price, for it has at the same time completely undermined our ability to make sense of the world at the level of its most fundamental constituents.Rejecting the fundamental elements of uncertainty and chance implied by quantum theory, Albert Einstein once famously declared that God does not play dice Niels Bohr claimed that anybody who is not shocked by the theory has not understood it The charismatic American physicist Richard Feynman went further he claimed that nobody understands it.This is quantum theory, and this book tells its story.Jim Baggott presents a celebration of this wonderful yet wholly disconcerting theory, with a history told in forty episodes significant moments of truth or turning points in the theory s development From its birth in the porcelain furnaces used to study black body radiation in 1900, to the promise of stimulating new quantum phenomena to be revealed by CERN s Large Hadron Collider over a hundred years later, this is the extraordinary story of the quantum world.Oxford Landmark Science books are must read classics of modern science writing which have crystallized big ideas, and shaped the way we think. Free Read eBook The Quantum Story: A History in 40 Moments Author Jim Baggott – kino-fada.fr The audience for this book might be the second or third year physics student The book s detail obscures the story for those who need an introduction.This book begins by describing rival theories of physics in the early 1900s between the atomists and those who saw a continuous and harmonious flow of energy in the cosmos The rest of the book is a blow by blow account of how quantum physics has brought these two theories closer together Toward the end of the book, the author writes about closed The audience for this book might be the second or third year physics student The book s detail obscures the story for those who need an introduction.This book begins by describing rival theories of physics in the ...Historical development of Quantum Mechanics through 40 historical snapshots taken from the twentieth century Not sure I found the format very engaging but I aminterested not so much in the story of its development as its consequences...I paid for this book, therefore I felt compelled to read it till the last page If it was a library borrow I would had returned it I was expecting a plain and simple explanation of Quantum theory for the non physicist but this book goes into a lot of detail that a physics student ...As a historical overview of the development of quantum physics, this book was worth reading and, regarding the exposition of the quantum concepts and phenomena, it may be that it is good enough if you re a physicist or someone already well versed in confusing technical terminology and the underlying mathematics.However, my experience with this book i...It s hard to believe that an author can provide such interesting commentary on a subject which so many people consider difficult, but that s what Jim Baggott does in The Quantum Story Can t slog through the conference notes of the debate between Bohrs and Heisenberg with Einstein and Schrodinger Baggott does it for you, putting Einstein s dice playing comment in the context it deserves Only aware of the term, uncertainty principle, but not its context This is your source for an It s hard to believe that an author can provide such interesting commentary on a subject which so many people consider difficult, but that s what Jim Baggott does in The Quantum Story Can t slog through the conference notes of the debate between Bohrs and Heisenberg with Einstein and Schrodinger Baggott does ...This is a nice little popular history of quantum physics, from Planck s introduction of the quantum in 1900 to the present day The best part of the book is probably the first half or so, which deals with the creation of quantum theory, up to the establishment of QED as a complete theory around 1950 Although there is not really any mathematics in the book, the author does go into a bittechnical detail than is usual in popular histories of this sort Since I have a mathematical background, This is a nice little popular history of quantum physics, from Planck s introduction of the quantum in 1900 to the present day The best part of the book is probably the first half or so, which deals with the creation of quantum theory, up to the establishment of QED as a complete theory around 1950 Although there is not really any mathematics in the book, the author does go into a bittechnical detail than is usual in popular histories of this sort Since I have a mathematical background, and a vague general idea of the structure of quantum theory, this was a plus for me On the other hand, some parts, such as the description of the failure of Bell s inequality and its generalizations which basically amounts to a quantitative and experimentally testable version of the statement quantum theory is weird were hard to digest A whole book could be written and probably has, ...Too ambitious and too complex The author has a good concept in mind but in the chronological recount of the development he never could reach where the theory is now after all the bumblings and Eureka moments and the meaning of it all The book is extremely complex in parts and completely loses its readers in ascribing the meaning to all the mathematical innovations or may be he says somewhere, there is no meaning That said, a decent book to go through for anyone with interest in the Too ambitious and too complex The author has a good concept in mind but in the chronological recount of the development he never could reach where the theory is now after all the bumblings and Eureka mom...As other people have noted, this is a bit tough sledding for a non physicist which I am , but I found it worthwhile and interesting to persevere.although i loved it, as a physicist i think that you have to be one in order to really enjoy it there are scarcely any equations, but the concepts may be overwhelming for a layperson baggott mentions that the 40 moments are subjectively chosen, but i believe he did an amazing job with them being somewhat obsessed with the whole copenhagen movement , i though i knew all there is to know about this circle of physicists, but baggott gave me a few stories i knew nothing about overall, a great although i loved it, as a physicist i think that you have to be one in order to really enjoy it there are scarcely any equations, but the concepts may be overwhelming for a layperson baggott mentions that the 40 moments are subject...Excellent book Loved it Already put a hold on his book Origins I m actually rereading the chapter on the Standard Model right now The book covers the shift from classical, Newtonian physics to a focus on quantum systems Max Planck kicked off this quantum revolution with his work on cavity radiation and the discovery of the constant attached to his name But Einstein figured out that this constant also applied to measuring the energy of photons light Then Bohr figured out that it ...

• English
• 14 May 2019
Jim Baggott
• Hardcover
• 320 pages
• 0199566844
• Jim Baggott
• The Quantum Story: A History in 40 Moments