Quantum Theory: A Very Short Introduction

To write a brief summary of quantum physics is no easy thing to do but this book succeeds. The history and growth of the subject is treated along with the physics and presented in an easily digested form. The physics itself demands an uncoupling of the mind from everyday experiences and common knowledge, a point the author raises in his last chapter. All in all I found the book useful as a base on which to launch a deeper look into the subject. Definitely recommend it to anyone who needs some basic knowledge on quantum physics. The book is thin and paperback sized. It is in excellent condition.

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.

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.

This small book is one of the best books for understanding quantum physics. It is highly recommended.

Let me preface this with the fact that I am neither a physicist or a mathematician. I did have to take countless hours of statistics in my many years of college but that was no help in understanding this book.I really purchased this book as I understood it to be written for the layman to give him an overall understanding of what Quantum Mechantics is about, what makes it special, and what it has accomplished.Alas, after reading the book the above three questions are still unanswered. I may read it again as it is a tiny book but it is not the most enjoyable book to read (unlike Hawkins "A Brief History of Time" which was a great read). The author's explanations seem very unclear and he never quite gets to the point! In the preface to his book the author makes two very bold statements that in effect says that Quantum theory is the greatest intellectual achievement of the 20th century and that Quantum Theory has been "fantastically fruitful" during it's 75 years of "exploitation". Oh, really, would you care to elaborate on that please? This sets the tone for the whole book. He makes a vague statement about this accomplishment or that accomplishment throughout the book then just drops it without ever giving you a concise, clear cut example. I felt like someone at a cake bake whom is repeatedly told how great everything tastes but is never allowed to taste it himselfThe author quotes a statement of Richard Feynman (a famous Quantum mechanics physicist) in which Richard says "I think I can safely say no one understands quantum mechanics." Well I think he must be right because I believe that if the author truly understood quantum mechanics he could certainly convey it's essence more clearly.P.S. If you feel compelled to buy this book do yourself a favor and read through the Glossary two or three times before you read the book.

An excellent short intro as the title mentions. It probably needs some familiarity with school physics. Two things I liked best about the book. First, it includes not only the science, but also briefly the history of how it did develop. Secondly, the last chapter, which tried to address the meaning of quantum mechanics. One of the best books as an entry to this field for non-experts.

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.