Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18570 in Books
• Published on: 1987-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Customer Reviews

An introduction to quantum physics, or for those who have been there before, a valuable alternative approach.
The front cover of "Quantum Reality" has the subtext "Beyond the new Physics, an Excursion into Metaphysics and The Meaning of Reality", a label that might tend to frighten one off. That would be a great pity, because anyone interested in physics and popular science will find this book very rewarding.

Being interested in popular science myself, I have read quite a number of books over the years dealing with the general evolution of scientific knowledge. Some of these books have been more accessible than others, some more specific in content, some very enjoyable and others not so. Many of these books have dealt to some degree with quantum mechanics. Quantum mechanics, or quantum physics, deals with the world of the very small, the atomic and sub-atomic world. Strange, counter intuitive, illogical things appear to happen there. That world is too small to observe directly, so it can be explored only through the experimental observation of its effects, and through theory and mathematics. The experimental and mathematical verification of basic quantum theory is staggeringly convincing. But nobody, absolutely nobody, knows what reality it describes, or how it works. The famous and brilliant physicist Richard Feynman once said "I think that it is safe to say that no one understands quantum mechanics".

All this might seem a little discouraging to the potential reader. But if you have an interest in the subject, however slight, I recommend this book highly. Nick Herbert has produced a fine work which treats the subject in a non-sensationalist and comprehensible manner - inasmuch as quantum physics can ever be comprehensible. You don't have to have any math to enjoy it, just an open and inquiring mind. The book can be an introduction to the subject or, for those who have been there before, a valuable alternative approach. As another famous scientist once said (his name escapes me) "The world is not only stranger than we think it is; it's stranger than we CAN think it is". All very intriguing, stimulating and enjoyable stuff.

A must-read; a must-reread, a must-study-closely.
Herbert objectively discusses quantum 'reality', and does not bog the reader down with attempts to link quantum theory to religion or new-age science; rather the focus is first on discussing how some actual experiments simply defy explanation via classical physics; and secondly on explaining the new thinking that some physicists have utilized in their attempts to make sense out of these experimental results. This book gives you 'quantum weirdness' without the fluff: the lay reader will learn more about quantum theory from this book than from any other single book out there.

Excellent introduction for the interested lay person.
For those souls wearied of a cut and dried world, read this book! Quantum Reality is appropriately titled, as Herbert explores the ideas of reality inspired by quantum physics. And boy does it get weird. He quotes Richard Feynman up front warning against asking "How can it be so?", and then devotes the book to exactly that attempt. The subject is abstruse, but Herbert offsets some (not too much) technical talk with vivid images and quotes. The reader can choose to "bleep over" the hard parts and still finish with a renewed sense of wonder at the universe we live in. This is an important, edifying and deeply enjoyable book.