3.5
In Search of Schrodinger's Cat
By John GribbinPublisher Description
Quantum theory is so shocking that Einstein could not bring himself to accept it. It is so important that it provides the fundamental underpinning of all modern sciences. Without it, we'd have no nuclear power or nuclear weapons, no TV, no computers, no science of molecular biology, no understanding of DNA, no genetic engineering. In Search of Schrodinger's Cat tells the complete story of quantum mechanics, a truth stranger than any fiction. John Gribbin takes us step by step into an ever more bizarre and fascinating place, requiring only that we approach it with an open mind. He introduces the scientists who developed quantum theory. He investigates the atom, radiation, time travel, the birth of the universe, superconductors and life itself. And in a world full of its own delights, mysteries and surprises, he searches for Schrodinger's Cat - a search for quantum reality - as he brings every reader to a clear understanding of the most important area of scientific study today - quantum physics. In Search of Schrodinger's Cat is a fascinating and delightful introduction to the strange world of the quantum - an essential element in understanding today's world.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communities26 Reviews
3.5
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Rosalind O'Brien
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Sophia Pernerewski
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“I've been inspired by Joe McKee to write a review that not only explains what the book is about or my thoughts on it, but how I came to pick the book up in the first place.
Ever since I was a young girl, I've always been interested in our origins: why do we, as human beings, exist in the first place? How did our planet come about? What about the stars in the sky? How did the universe begin? I quickly found out that science, particularly physics, has many of these questions already figured out. So began my love of reading science nonfiction. My dad shares the same interests as me when it comes to physics, so he read this book and highly recommended it to me.
In Search of Shrödinger's Cat gives a comprehensive history and explanation of the theory of quantum mechanics, a theory that was able to explain phenomena observed in nature that could not quite be described using the laws of classical physics. Classical physics was nice; the implications of the old physics were that the universe is overall deterministic. If we were able to figure out the position and momentum of every particle in the universe at this moment, we could follow the particles back in time to the birth of the universe, and just as well we could calculate exactly how the universe is going to end. While doing so would take a LOT of time and energy, the point is that it can be done. People like this idea because it allowed a place for God, or whatever intelligent design, to have created the universe in a way that would unfold in exactly the right way, allowing for the existence of humans.
However, quantum physics throws this idea out the window. The universe is NOT deterministic; at the subatomic level, there is no way to accurately calculate both the momentum and position of any particle. We have no idea what a particle is doing when we are not looking at it. We can only ever calculate the probability that a particle will end up in a certain place. In fact, every particle in the universe exists in all possible states all at once until it it observed. Sounds unbelievable, right?
This book was able to convince me that these principles are not the result of poor experimentation techniques or primitive technology. These principles are the truth of our reality, and we know this because we would not have been able to develop some of the most important inventions of our time without quantum mechanics: TV, smart phones, lasers, nuclear reactors, and genetic engineering, to name a few.
With that being said, quantum theory is not yet complete, and physics still does not claim to have all the answers to nature's mysteries, which the author does emphasize. However, I think this statement leads a lot of people to believe that everything we claim to know at the moment can all be proven wrong with the next great scientific discovery, which is not the case. What it does mean is that there are still questions about natural phenomena that exist that quantum theory can not quite answer, but what's important is that the theory still works because it can make accurate predictions about the outcome of experiments at the atomic level.
I'm giving this book 4 stars because while the subject matter is fascinating, and I think the author did the best job he could to explain such a complicated topic, there were still some things that definitely went over my head and made the read a bit laborious at times. This is not the fault of John Gribbon but my own intelligence LOL. I highly recommend reading this book if you are just as curious as I am about the physical world, and if you are up for a bit of a challenge.”
RM
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About John Gribbin
John Gribbin, PhD, trained as an astrophysicist at the University of Cambridge before becoming a full-time science writer. His books include the highly acclaimed In Search of Schrödinger's Cat, The First Chimpanzee, In Search of the Big Bang, In the Beginning, In Search of the Edge of Time, In Search of the Double Helix, The Stuff of the Universe (with Martin Rees), Stephen Hawking: A Life in Science, and Einstein: A Life in Science (with Michael White).
Other books by John Gribbin
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