An accessible primer on all things quantum . . . rigorous and chatty.”
—Sunday Times
“‘Quantum physics is strange.’ These are the first words of John Gribbin’s brilliant new book Six Impossible Things . . . [a] pocket-sized analysis of the six most important interpretations of quantum mechanics.”
—Engineering & Technology
“Gribbin gives us a feast of precision and clarity, with a phenomenal amount of information for such a compact space. It’s a TARDIS of popular science books, and I loved it . . . Gribbin manages to encapsulate what are sometimes very complex ideas in an approachable fashion. This could well be the best piece of writing this grand master of British popular science has ever produced, condensing as it does many years of pondering the nature of quantum physics into a compact form.”
—Popular Science (UK)
“An elegant and accessible attempt to explain quantum physics to the non-specialist . . . Highly recommended for students of the sciences and fans of science fiction, as well as for anyone who is curious to understand the strange world of quantum physics.”
—Forbes
Rules of the quantum world seem to say that a cat can be both alive and dead at the same time and a particle can be in two places at once. And that particle is also a wave; everything in the quantum world can described in terms of waves-or entirely in terms of particles. These interpretations were all established by the end of the 1920s, by Erwin Schrödinger, Werner Heisenberg, Paul Dirac, and others. But no one has yet come up with a common sense explanation of what is going on. In this concise and engaging book, astrophysicist John Gribbin offers an overview of six of the leading interpretations of quantum mechanics.
Gribbin calls his account "agnostic," explaining that none of these interpretations is any better-or any worse-than any of the others. Gribbin presents the Copenhagen Interpretation, promoted by Niels Bohr and named by Heisenberg; the Pilot-Wave Interpretation, developed by Louis de Broglie; the Many Worlds Interpretation (termed "excess baggage" by Gribbin); the Decoherence Interpretation ("incoherent"); the Ensemble "Non-Interpretation"; and the Timeless Transactional Interpretation (which theorized waves going both forward and backward in time). All of these interpretations are crazy, Gribbin warns, and some are more crazy than others-but in the quantum world, being more crazy does not necessarily mean more wrong.
"1130876901"
Gribbin calls his account "agnostic," explaining that none of these interpretations is any better-or any worse-than any of the others. Gribbin presents the Copenhagen Interpretation, promoted by Niels Bohr and named by Heisenberg; the Pilot-Wave Interpretation, developed by Louis de Broglie; the Many Worlds Interpretation (termed "excess baggage" by Gribbin); the Decoherence Interpretation ("incoherent"); the Ensemble "Non-Interpretation"; and the Timeless Transactional Interpretation (which theorized waves going both forward and backward in time). All of these interpretations are crazy, Gribbin warns, and some are more crazy than others-but in the quantum world, being more crazy does not necessarily mean more wrong.
Six Impossible Things: The Mystery of the Quantum World
Rules of the quantum world seem to say that a cat can be both alive and dead at the same time and a particle can be in two places at once. And that particle is also a wave; everything in the quantum world can described in terms of waves-or entirely in terms of particles. These interpretations were all established by the end of the 1920s, by Erwin Schrödinger, Werner Heisenberg, Paul Dirac, and others. But no one has yet come up with a common sense explanation of what is going on. In this concise and engaging book, astrophysicist John Gribbin offers an overview of six of the leading interpretations of quantum mechanics.
Gribbin calls his account "agnostic," explaining that none of these interpretations is any better-or any worse-than any of the others. Gribbin presents the Copenhagen Interpretation, promoted by Niels Bohr and named by Heisenberg; the Pilot-Wave Interpretation, developed by Louis de Broglie; the Many Worlds Interpretation (termed "excess baggage" by Gribbin); the Decoherence Interpretation ("incoherent"); the Ensemble "Non-Interpretation"; and the Timeless Transactional Interpretation (which theorized waves going both forward and backward in time). All of these interpretations are crazy, Gribbin warns, and some are more crazy than others-but in the quantum world, being more crazy does not necessarily mean more wrong.
Gribbin calls his account "agnostic," explaining that none of these interpretations is any better-or any worse-than any of the others. Gribbin presents the Copenhagen Interpretation, promoted by Niels Bohr and named by Heisenberg; the Pilot-Wave Interpretation, developed by Louis de Broglie; the Many Worlds Interpretation (termed "excess baggage" by Gribbin); the Decoherence Interpretation ("incoherent"); the Ensemble "Non-Interpretation"; and the Timeless Transactional Interpretation (which theorized waves going both forward and backward in time). All of these interpretations are crazy, Gribbin warns, and some are more crazy than others-but in the quantum world, being more crazy does not necessarily mean more wrong.
12.99
In Stock
5
1
Six Impossible Things: The Mystery of the Quantum World
Six Impossible Things: The Mystery of the Quantum World
FREE
with a B&N Audiobooks Subscription
Or Pay
$12.99
12.99
In Stock
Editorial Reviews
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940171677077 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | HighBridge Company |
| Publication date: | 10/08/2019 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
Videos
From the B&N Reads Blog