Quantum Theory: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions Book 69) 1st Edition, Kindle Edition
by John Polkinghorne (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 out of 5 stars 231 ratings
Part of: Very Short Introductions (540 Books)
Quantum Theory is the most revolutionary discovery in physics since Newton. This book gives a lucid, exciting, and accessible account of the surprising and counterintuitive ideas that shape our understanding of the sub-atomic world. It does not disguise the problems of interpretation that still remain unsettled 75 years after the initial discoveries. The main text makes no use of equations, but there is a Mathematical Appendix for those desiring stronger fare.
Uncertainty, probabilistic physics, complementarity, the problematic character of measurement, and decoherence are among the many topics discussed.
ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
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ISBN-13
978-0192802521
Edition
1st
Publisher
OUP Oxford
Publication date
May 30, 2002
Language
English
File size
464 KB
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
John Polkinghorne was from 1968 to 1979 Professor of Mathematical Physics in the University of Cambridge, and later president of Queen's College. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society, and was knighted in 1997. His many books include The Quantum World (1986), The Faith of a Physicist (1994), and
Science and Theology (1998).
--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
Review
`John Polkinghorne has brought to life that most mysterious and perplexing of revolutions in understanding and has made its mysteries accessible.' Peter Atkins, University of Oxford
`John Polkinghorne has produced an excellent piece of work. ... Many authors of "popular" books on modern physics have the regrettable habit of mixing science fact with science fiction. Polkinghorne never does that: he always allows the truth to stand by itself and show its own fascination. ... I think that this is an excellent contribution to the literature on quantum theory for a general audience.' Chris Isham, Imperial College, London
`This splendid book explains both the triumph and the mystery that is quantum theory. It is a triumph because of its towering mathematical structure, and amazing empirical accuracy. It is a mystery because of the conundrums about how to interpret it. John Polkinghorne, himself a distinguished quantum physicist, is a sure guide to all of this: he celebrates the successes of the theory, and shows unfailingly good judgement about the conundrums.' Jeremy Butterfield, University of Oxford --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
Product details
ASIN : B003CGNQ50
Publisher : OUP Oxford; 1st edition (May 30, 2002)
Publication date : May 30, 2002
Language : English
File size : 464 KB
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Not Enabled
Word Wise : Enabled
Print length : 132 pages
Customer Reviews: 4.4 out of 5 stars 231 ratings
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4.4 out of 5 stars
Top reviews from the United States
invisibleTop Contributor: The Lord of the Rings
4.0 out of 5 stars I wanted to hate this book, but ended up enjoying it.
Reviewed in the United States on October 14, 2018
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This book, actually more of a long pamphlet, reads surprisingly well. In my case I started with the mathematical appendix, since I can't really understand anything in physics without attaching it to at least a sprinkling of math. Once I could see how his terms were relative to the simplified version of the math he presented in the appendix everything kind of fell into place. There is just the slightest homeopathic amount of math to make the reader feel virtuous, but not enough to intoxicate them.
Kudos to Polkinghorne for his brief introductory history at the beginning of the book. This paragraph is a tangent based on my reading of that section. Which has nothing to do with quantum theory except that you have to some understanding of classical mechanics and optics to understand where quantum mechanics starts. I'd developed a general interest in this subject after studying the theories behind the patterns I'd seen in a single half slit device, the Foucalt tester, used during the polishing of a telescope mirror. So if could compare the level of this book with books on that subject, the level is 'junior hobbyist level', not what you'd see in a college course but not junior high level either. (Junior high level is really hard to determine since I figured my first mirror in the eighth grade.) I'd suppose an equivalent level book on the subject of mirror testing would be David Habour's introduction "Understanding Foucalt".
The reader interested in really looking at the subject should instead look at the Quantum Mechanics course offerings from the online MITOpenCourseWare site. Or they can buy this book when their family member asks for a brief explanation of what they learn in those courses.
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8 people found this helpful
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Doxycycline
2.0 out of 5 stars A very short review of quantum theory - appropriate only for those who have already studied the subject in some detail!
Reviewed in the United States on March 31, 2015
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This book is billed as "A Very Short Introduction" to quantum theory but, in fact, it's no introduction at all! The author tosses out a number of ideas from quantum theory but fails to explain them in any meaningful way. This makes the book really more appropriate as a review for people who've already studied this in the past and makes the book entirely unsuited to those who would like to learn something about this for the very first time. As an example, we have,
"The principal difference between a particle and a field is that the former has only a finite number of degrees of freedom (independent ways in which its state can change), while a field has an infinite number of degrees of freedom."
which is simply stated without any explanation whatsoever of why it might happen to be true or what those degrees of freedom might happen to be. The subsequent discussion then proceeds from this statement and is entirely inpenetratable without having first understood this statement.
Numerous examples of this make this book entirely unsuited for those new to this subject. The book is only appropriate for those who have already understood the subject and, for some reason, need a brief refresher that happens to skip all of the math (a rather small audience, I would suspect).
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22 people found this helpful
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Mark A. Weiss
5.0 out of 5 stars Clear on Concepts, Clear on How Science of Quantum Theory actually developed; both superb pedagogy and informative on realities
Reviewed in the United States on May 5, 2015
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How it all really went down. Amazing thing about this book is that it is excellent in its pedagogy (teaching you the concepts) while AT THE VERY SAME TIME not creating a fairy-tale story -- not simplifying things as if each question was pursued only in a nice orderly textbook-style fashion. So the book teaches you quantum theory VERY effectively BUT ALSO teaches you how science really goes down. And yet: the book is not the least bit confusing. Not even the least little bit. If anybody ever thought you just had to create a fairy tale to be able to teach lay persons a science field at all well, then this book proves a counter-example to that contention. You can indeed teach both the concepts and show how science (and scienTISTS) developed without confusing your reader. Thus YOU, the review reader, can buy this book for either or both reasons: learning quantum theory or learning of how it really went down. Either or both, you'll find your book in this one. And the detail is not all that sparse. Fairly thorough.
5 people found this helpful
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reader
5.0 out of 5 stars really excellent framing of the importance of quantum theory
Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2019
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Rather than a text on the nitty gritty of the math, this book frames quantum theory in the stream of modern thought. I found it extremely helpful in developing an understanding of the depth of impact that quantum theory has made on our understanding right up to serious ontological questions. Well written, clear, insightful.
2 people found this helpful
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Boyd P. Williston
4.0 out of 5 stars A good introduction for anyone with a strong high school science background or above.
Reviewed in the United States on March 5, 2018
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A very good and readable introduction to quantum theory. The book will prove challenging to many readers, especially the second half, in which the author gets pretty technical, even for a short introduction. However, the technical details are necessary to adequately deal with this very important theory which uses some sophisticated mathematics as an essential element.
2 people found this helpful
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Mark Ross
5.0 out of 5 stars Unique discussions and conceptual explanations of a true master
Reviewed in the United States on July 2, 2015
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A text written by a true master who brings the explanations and discussions of the foundations of quantum physics to a new level in popular books. You won't easily find elsewhere the same level of depth and broad understanding of science nor of the many conceptual puzzles that quantum physics bring to us. as you find here. A must read not only for those interested in science and physics but also to those interested in a understanding of the nature of our world.
3 people found this helpful
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Stuart Riley
5.0 out of 5 stars Short, quick and concise
Reviewed in the United States on March 22, 2021
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Although a heady topic, particle physics and quantum dynamics can be approached by the written or co-written word, or by mathematics. This book approached it by the former, but some elegance is lost when studying the later; nuisance of teaching classics rather than expected experience with observation.
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Clifton Wayne Knox
5.0 out of 5 stars A great short overview of Quantum Theory.
Reviewed in the United States on November 22, 2015
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This book is great for people seeking a basic view of Quantum theory. Polkinghorne has an easy to read style of writing and is able speak in terms a layman will easily understand. There is some mathematics in this book but it is nothing any undergraduate could not grasp. I enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it to anybody who wants to know what Quantum Theory is all about.
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Peter Chapman
1.0 out of 5 stars Don't Bother
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 26, 2019
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It was OK for the first twenty pages or so, but from then on it was a waste of time my reading it. Very dense and very poorly written. Some of the sentences were so badly written I found myself mentally rewriting them. I'm sure that I could edit the book and reduce the number of words in it by 50%.
An example: "An electron does not all the time possess a definite position or a definite mometum, but rather it possesses the potentiality for exhibiting one of these if a measurement turns the potentiality into an actuality". I think this means "We cannot measure the position and momentum of an electron simultaneoulsly at a given time point".
.
5 people found this helpful
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Mark Douglas
3.0 out of 5 stars Accessible but leaves something to be desired
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 21, 2020
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I bought this book to remind myself of the basics of quantum mechanics, as a first year module at uni was a very long time ago now. The development of quantum theory is placed in its proper historical context and the rudiments of quantum theory are built up sensibly; the mathematics is relegated to an appendix and can be skipped over if you wish. So far so good.
I have two main issues with this book. The first is that the author’s prose can be hard going as he seems to want to prove that his command of English matches his command of path integrals. The second is the mathematical appendix. Mathematics is the natural language of all things quantum and putting the climax of each section into an appendix feels disjointed. In this kind of book I believe that readers expect the occasional formula in the main text, even if only to skip over them.
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Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Left me dangling!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 3, 2018
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There is more meat in this book than most on this weird subject, and I apreciate the unconventional inclusion of the maths in the appendix. The history of the development of the theory, from an author who was actually involved in it and knew most of the peoiple involved, is really great.
There is a detailed description of eigenvectors, but no explanation of its use in the theury! And the maths has to be done in Hilbert space! What's that?!
Nearly a great book.
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Richard FFord
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent (probably)
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 30, 2017
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I learned quantum mechanics at university, for my first degree (in chemistry). This book is a beautiful exposition of the subject by a master in communication. BUT - you still have to develop a 'way of thinking' to get inside quantum mechanics. Despite Polkinghorne's ability in describing things, I am not sure that this will 'do it'.
Even so, a first-class refresher for me (fifty years on)
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Luke
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent introduction!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 14, 2016
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I always seem to love these books, as a Meng Software Engineering student I have a keen interest in alot of aspects of engineering, and when I begin a project starting something new I always look for one of these "A Very Short Introduction" books, ever since I first read "A Very Short Introduction To Cryptography". I have a vast collection of these all from different authors they are perfectly pocket sized for taking anywhere so you can read them any chance you get, not too overwhelming yet give a very nice insight into the fundamentals or "foundations" of the subjects, I have yet to find one that disappoints.
For computer scientists looking for a book after this one I would highly recommend Quantum Computing from Cambridge University.
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