Present Books In Pursuance Of Absolutely Small: How Quantum Theory Explains Our Everyday World
| Original Title: | Absolutely Small: How Quantum Theory Explains Our Everyday World |
| ISBN: | 0814414885 (ISBN13: 9780814414880) |
| Edition Language: | English |
Michael D. Fayer
Hardcover | Pages: 383 pages Rating: 3.88 | 456 Users | 39 Reviews
Description As Books Absolutely Small: How Quantum Theory Explains Our Everyday World
Physics is a complex, even daunting topic, but it is also deeply satisfying--even thrilling. And liberated from its mathematical underpinnings, physics suddenly becomes accessible to anyone with the curiosity and imagination to explore its beauty. Science without math? It's not that unusual. For example, we can understand the concept of gravity without solving a single equation. So for all those who may have pondered what makes blueberries blue and strawberries red; for those who have wondered if sound really travels in waves; and why light behaves so differently from any other phenomenon in the universe, it's all a matter of quantum physics. Absolutely Small presents (and demystifies) the world of quantum science like no book before. It explores scientific concepts--from particles of light, to probability, to states of matter, to what makes greenhouse gases bad--in considerable depth, but using examples from the everyday world. Challenging without being intimidating, accessible but not condescending, Absolutely Small develops the reader's intuition for the very nature of things at their most basic and intriguing levels.
Details Based On Books Absolutely Small: How Quantum Theory Explains Our Everyday World
| Title | : | Absolutely Small: How Quantum Theory Explains Our Everyday World |
| Author | : | Michael D. Fayer |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | First Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 383 pages |
| Published | : | June 16th 2010 by AMACOM/American Management Association |
| Categories | : | Science. Nonfiction. Physics. History |
Rating Based On Books Absolutely Small: How Quantum Theory Explains Our Everyday World
Ratings: 3.88 From 456 Users | 39 ReviewsWeigh Up Based On Books Absolutely Small: How Quantum Theory Explains Our Everyday World
This book was a great introduction to the quantum world and made the connection to what we experience daily (a.k.a. "the classical world") apparent and understandable. Of special interest was the explanation of why objects have color, and why molecules have the shapes (and therefore the physical properties) that they do, why electricity is conducted (or not) by certain materials, etc. To lift a phrase from the author, after reading this book, I no longer feel like a "quantum toddler". While theI rarely quit a book, but the description of the Schroedinger's cat concept was beyond disappointing. I'm far from a physicist, but I know enough to know I was wasting mt time.
This book is not for the scientifically faint of heart. He sticks to his promise of no math, but he really digs into the atomic structure. If you don't remember the difference between a covalent and ionic bond, what a wave function is or the ground state of the hydrogen atom, then I'd suggest moving along. I'm not ashamed to admit there were portions of this book that I flat out skipped. Several chapters went way to far into the weeds for my level of understanding.
There is a very special blindness about boundaries, encountered when experts try to explain things to non-experts (Id avoid saying laypersons, for one may come short of being an expert in a field while not exactly being a full-on layperson, either). The expert knows so much about their own field that there are lots of things that, for them, are a given, something that everyone implicitly knows and something we can skip or skim over, yet for non-experts they are something that needs explaining.
I've read a number of popular science books on quantum physics by physics such as Brian Greene, Lisa Randall, and Brian Cox. Absolutely Small is different: it's by a chemist. The book starts with a good overview of quantum physics, the Schrodinger Equation, the Uncertainty Principle, and so, unlike many other books, explores atoms and molecules. It discusses the quantum nature of molecular bonds, and how this influences size, shape, and other properties. It even looks at complex organic
This is not a book to listen to unless you have a good understanding of chemistry. The reader references dozens of molecular structures and unless you can visualize those you will struggle to grasp the content. College-level chemistry suggested.
This is an excellent book for a non-specialist. It may be a bit challenging to a non-scientist with little math background--but the math is not difficult--just simple algebra. The book is filled with useful diagrams that really do help elucidate the concepts. I like how the book starts from first principles of quantum theory. It explains lucidly how quantum theory deviates from classical physics. The book explains that in classical physics, relative sizes matter, but in quantum physics, absolute
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