Introducing Quantum Theory: A Graphic Guide to Science’s Most Puzzling Discovery
Introducing Quantum Theory: A Graphic Guide to Science's Most Puzzling Discovery
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Quantum theory confronts us with bizarre paradoxes which contradict the logic of classical physics. At the subatomic level, one particle seems to know what the others are doing, and according to Heisenberg's "uncertainty principle", there is a limit on how accurately nature can be observed. And yet the theory is amazingly accurate and widely applied, explaining all of chemistry and most of physics. "Introducing Quantum Theory" takes us on a step-by-step tour with the key figures, including Planck, Einstein, Bohr, Heisenberg and Schrodinger. Each contributed at least one crucial concept to the theory. The puzzle of the wave-particle duality is here, along with descriptions of the two questions raised against Bohr's "Copenhagen Interpretation" - the famous "dead and alive cat" and the EPR paradox. Both remain unresolved.
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As an engineer, I have a good understanding of classical physics. However, I never understood the quantum world until this book came my way. The way the ideas are presented (from a historical and evolutionary perspective) plus the illustrations make this complex topic understandable. I found a pleasure to read the book several times just to refresh the new concepts. After reading this book I feel I understand concepts that I could not grasp before. I have 3 other books about the subject but none of them come close to this one. Quite a gem of a book!
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I already had the Introducing Logic book, which I thought was excellent, so I thought I’d try this one too in the series. I certainly never thought I’d see a book on quantum physics that was as good as this one done in such a cartoon-like style. I really liked the Introducting Logic book, and I wasn’t disappointed with this one either. It presents the many strange and even paradoxical phenomena of quantum physics in a clear and concise way, and the illustrations are a fun and amusing way of keeping the reader’s attention while helping to further the reader’s understanding of the concepts. Even presented in such an engaging way, however, they’re still not easy. Quantum physics is just not very intuitive and you just have to get used to that fact, but this book will give you a basic understanding of the area without too much cognitive anguish and serious brain strain.
After reading this book, if you’re interested in further material, the late, great Richard Feynman’s book, QED, is still the best introduction for the non-specialist. It contains almost no math and Feynman uses mainly spatial concepts to illustrate and explain quantum electrodynamics in a less mathematical, more intuitive way with his usual wit, enthusiasm, and style. The concepts are explained clearly and concisely in a way that is accessible to the layman and non-physicist. After reading this book, if you’re interested in a more mathematical treatment, I would recommend the R.I.G. Hughes book, The Structure and Interpretation of Quantum Theory. It uses a little calculus, but mostly sticks to presenting the mathematics of quantum linear algebra, vector spaces, tensors, and matrix theory as developed by David Hilbert specifically for use in quantum mechanics. It’s much more technical than Feynman’s book but will give you a much better understanding of quantum mechanics in terms of the mathematical theory.
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This book sets out to provide a comprehensible, informal introduction to quantum theory. It does just that.
The format could almost be described as a “science comic book.”
It’s a readable and understandable survey of the experiments which led the big names of the time (Bohr, Einstein, Dirac, Pauli, Heisenberg and some others) to develop the theory.
The book follows the story up to the challenge of non-locality. (What a cliff-hanger that is!)
If you’re technically oriented and want to begin to understand the subject – to get past the conceptual difficulties – you’ll find this book really useful.
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The “Introducing” and “Beginners” series of texts in the last decade, has paved the way for readers to understand, at least on a fundamental level, highly complex schools of thought on a wide variety of subjects. From Analytical philosophy to Semiotics and Modernism to Post Modernism, readers curious about these subjects now have the opportunity to at least grasp basic tenets and general theories, enabling a solid foundation or spring board to venture into further study. Unfortunately for some, these texts appear infantile, at least in appearance, because they are illustrated in a comic book style, peppered with dubious humour, and so basic, that those `expert’ in these subjects believe, at least on a surface level, that they do more harm than good. In other words, this is an effort at mere trivialization of a known serious subject. In my view, this is no more than intellectual snobbery, as these books have indeed paved the way for students interested in complex subjects to grasp their basic tenets and graduate to specific and more sophisticated study.
For those not acquainted with Quantum Theory, this text is a must for those interested in further study. It begins with a basic explanation of classic physics and gently brings the reader forward in the subjects fascinating evolution to present day.
We are introduced to the theories of Max Planck and his Pre-Atomic Model of Matter. Albert Einstein’s theories are explained and expanded upon, along with the “Quantum Hero” of quantum theory, Neils Bohr. We are guided through the theories of these physics giants, Heisenberg, Schrödinger and Wolfgang Pauli with his Anomalous Zeeman Effect, Electron Spin and the Exclusion Principle. These titles seem daunting, but author, J.P. McVoy and illustrator, Oscar Zarate, present these theories in translucent terms and easy-on-the-eye visuals, ensuring the penny drops for all of us.
There are two notions in Quantum theory that has always puzzled me. These are the `wave-particle duality and so-called `no-locality’ theory where, almost magically, at the sub atomic level, a single particle seems to be “aware” of what the others are doing. In other words, there is an action and corresponding reaction, transcending the speed of light. This text adequately explains these theories and have made them much more comprehensible than ever before.
As an introduction to Quantum Theory, this text is an absolute must for the curious reader or serious student.
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I own and studied quite some books on this topic. Among them the real works with math and all. This one little Introducing book sums it all up. It’s fun, it’s understandable, and a very good introduction. The concepts are so deep, that the book explains more than you initially assume. It is a good overview to read once again after a deep study in some specialized topic. Even interesting and necessary to have for a physicist therefore, as well as for any interested newcomer. This is definitely a musth-have!
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This book is in the ‘Introducing …’ series of ‘comic books’. It’s excellent. Perhaps the best thing about it is the structured way in which it describes the development of quantum theory. After being introduced to the key scientists, the reader is told about the nineteenth century developments from which quantum theory arose. It emerges that there were three problems facing classical physics around the year 1900. These were solved by Max Planck, Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr respectively and, in the process, quantum theory was born. The author deals with these problems and their solutions in detail. I found this to be a very clear approach, which seemed to lay things out in chronological order with everything fitting in to place.
After this the author goes on to describe the further work of Niels Bohr as well as that of Wolfgang Pauli, Louis de Broglie, Max Born, Werner Heisenberg, Erwin Schrodinger and Paul Dirac. Schrodinger’s cat and wave-particle duality are described along the way, the theory of QED gets mentioned but is not described, and the book culminates in an account of the EPR paradox, Bell’s inequality theorem and the work of Alain Aspect.
Having said all that, this is not an easy book. I don’t think it would be possible to write an easy introduction to quantum theory. I had to read it a few times to understand it (and there are still quite a few pages I don’t understand), but I learned a lot in the process. There is an amazing amount of information packed into this book and even someone who is scientifically knowledgable would benefit from it. If you know nothing or little about quantum theory, you’re not going to find an easier introduction or one so well organised, and even if you only understand half of the book, you’ll learn a great deal.
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This is an excellent book for introducing quantum theory. It is presented in a very interesting way through the personalities of the people who created quantum theory. The physics includes enough of the mathematics and equations to be useful as a supplement for a quantum physic text for anyone who desires
a “biographical” approach to quantum physics. The conceptual prersentation of quantum theory in this book ranks with the best I have seen in my 40 year history of teaching quantum physics.
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Quantum theory is the abstract solution to the problem of the quantities and states of energy on the quantum scale (subatomic levels) in a system. Quantum theory is proved using a form of mathematics called `quantum mechanics’. Quantum theory and mechanics verified subatomic systems for the first time at the start of the 20th century. Atomic models are brand new things
Classical physics since Newton was preoccupied by macro forces and the theory of light. Maxwell unified the forces of electricity and magnetism into electromagnetism and so the study of waves and particles was the first clear quantum in physics that required further explanation.
During early research into quantum results with experiments in light and heat combinations, investigations produced anomalies which contradicted what was known to classical physics at this time. This eventually required the development of an almost completely independent and totally new branch of science to explain the phenomena. In the early years it remained completely outside of the box of modern physics but was about to become a whole new way to explain more about the world we live in.
Quantum theory is the kind of result you would expect of a young Isaac Newton who chose to explore the micro instead of the macro full time. While Newton had investigated light and lent much to the development of the procedures that discovered quantum theory it was quantum theory that was eventually going to shed light on light.
Quantum theory can be better understood as the solution to a series of problems occurring in classical physics experimentations.
The most major of these problems was the discovery of black bodies which absorb radiation without reflection. There are no perfect black bodies. To see it some light must emit back. An example would be an oven burning inside you can peep through a whole and see what is being reflected while the oven absorbs the radiation. Planck eventually explained why this reflected radiation doesn’t burn our eyeballs out when we see it by devising and proving Planck’s constant. Boer would take this constant and improve it with spectrums of chemical compounds, proving subatomic properties. Schrodinger developed the theory of the motions of subatomic particles called quantum mechanics.
Quantum mechanics is thus the mathematical description of the states particles and waves.
Core criteria:
The Solvay conference (1927) Brussels
The first law of thermodynamics is the conservation of energy.
The entropy (heat transfer from one body to another) of an isolated system always increases reaching a maximum at thermal equilibrium (same temperature).
Maxwell’s theory of kinetic gases.
Initial random position and velocities of molecules.
Heat is generated by motion of atoms.
Equipartition of energy theorem – energy equally shared at thermal equilibrium.
Black body radiation and the ultraviolet catastrophe
Planck’s constant and quantum size
Photoelectric effect
Spectra effects
Hydrogen frequencies
The discovery of the electron
Neils Bohr
Linear momentum and Angular Momentum
Bohr’s postulates
Zeeman Effect
Wolfgang Pauli, the Pauli effect and Pauli’s exclusion principle
Closed shells and inert gases
Properties of waves
Diffraction and interference
Prince Louis de Broglie
Matter waves
Heisenberg’s atom
Matrix Mechanics
Schrodinger’s cat and atom
Probability
Dirac’s transformation
Anti-matter
The uncertainty principle
EPR paradox
Bell’s inequality
Imagine two great circles. One realm is quantum theory the other is relativity. Sometimes they cross over. Unification of both is still a modern scientific quest today that even baffled Einstein until his death. You will probably also want `Introducing Relativity’ if you are in for this one. I would also recommend `Introducing Time’ for the best explanation of Boltzmann’s statistical mechanics although that book has very little else on Quantum Mechanics.
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This one is in my top 5 of the Introducing… series. I’m not exactly a math/physics whiz, so it was nice to read something that gave me what I believe to be a good introduction to Quantum Theory.
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Given that this is a “comic book” on quantum theory, I expected a fairly superficial treatment which I’d breeze through quickly.
I was instead rather surprised and very pleased to find that this book goes into substantial depth. McEvoy presents most of the key concepts of quantum theory in their historical context, and he goes beyond typical popularized treaments by including quite a few equations (sometimes with derivations), along with topics like statistical mechanics, the Zeeman effect, links to chemistry, Dirac’s quantum algebra, Fourier series, and other important technical details. He even touches on philosophical interpretations and implications of quantum theory, though that’s not a main feature of the book.
To be clear, McEvoy doesn’t provide anything resembling a comprehensive treatment of quantum theory. No one can do that in just 173 pages, with much of the space taken by cartoons. But he still packs in a lot of content by writing clearly and concisely, and organizing the book well.
In short, I highly recommend this book as an effective and enjoyable resource to learn or review the basic concepts and history of quantum theory. The only caveat is that readers should preferably come to the book with at least a decent background in general physics. In other words, the ideal target audience for the book is perhaps a notch beyond the general reader and instead consists of people with a technical background, such as scientists, engineers, and mathematicians.