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jackflagg's review against another edition
4.0
I never truly understood Quantum Mechanics in college. We had the course over two semesters and, sure, I did alright, passed the course, did my best at memorizing all the wave functions and bra-ket notations and wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff... But I kept asking myself "why" these phenomena happened, which kept leading me into a rabbit hole of information that not even all physicists truly understand. Unlike classical physics, there's no real "why" to talk of, things are just weird at the quantum level. So you either go all in with the madness and start studying advanced mathematics or you get out while you still have your wits. So I got my B+, thanked the professor and got the hell outta there. :)
Years later, having finished college and dropped out of a master's, I was left with the impression that Quantum Theory is a messy web of math and physics and unintuitive results. And, boy, after this book refreshed my memory, I was completely right. It's a great choice for the layman who wants to understand the important theories and experiments in quantum physics and relativity, without getting their hands dirty with Hilbert spaces and Hamiltonians. It's fun and light and explains all the good stuff, like how entanglement and special relativity work. You'll scratch your head reading all these space oddities and don't worry if you don't understand it fully, just enjoy the ride and cash-out early. I give it a B+
Years later, having finished college and dropped out of a master's, I was left with the impression that Quantum Theory is a messy web of math and physics and unintuitive results. And, boy, after this book refreshed my memory, I was completely right. It's a great choice for the layman who wants to understand the important theories and experiments in quantum physics and relativity, without getting their hands dirty with Hilbert spaces and Hamiltonians. It's fun and light and explains all the good stuff, like how entanglement and special relativity work. You'll scratch your head reading all these space oddities and don't worry if you don't understand it fully, just enjoy the ride and cash-out early. I give it a B+
slimikin's review against another edition
3.0
A readable and fairly easy to understand explanation of many of the essentials of modern physics, though a few diagrams wouldn't have gone amiss. I also couldn't help wondering which technical details Chown had streamlined or left out for clarity's sake.
I'll doubtless seek out a few more introductions to physics and quantum mechanics in hopes of enriching my personal comprehension of these concepts...but I do think I might take another crack at Connie Willis' "At the Rialto" with a better chance of grasping the metaphors now.
I'll doubtless seek out a few more introductions to physics and quantum mechanics in hopes of enriching my personal comprehension of these concepts...but I do think I might take another crack at Connie Willis' "At the Rialto" with a better chance of grasping the metaphors now.
etlias's review
4.0
I'm not going to lie, I love popular science books. While reading this I could feel Chown’s enthusiasm, his passion for physics. And that just makes me even more enthusiastic and passionate about physics. This is the value of popular science, it nurtures enthusiasm and encourages passion.
As I am a nerd, I had encountered lots of the ideas discussed in this book before. Yet I didn't feel bored. Chown links them all wonderfully, in a way I would never have been able to do on my own.
I'm hesitant to say that I understand quantum theory better now, because there is no maths in this book. But that's not the point, popular science books aren't intended to be textbooks, they don't pretend to rigorously explain everything. The purpose of reading popular science is to become acquainted with complicated ideas, not to become an expert. Which is fine, and Chown has certainly achieved this goal. (Although I would have liked some maths, or at least some diagrams, because I'm a nerd).
Overall, I'd definitely recommend this if you have any sort of vague notion about quantum theory and want to read something to keep you interested.
(As a final note, when the book was written gravitational waves had not been observed. They have been since. But as far as I can tell that's the only major outdated piece of information presented in the text).
As I am a nerd, I had encountered lots of the ideas discussed in this book before. Yet I didn't feel bored. Chown links them all wonderfully, in a way I would never have been able to do on my own.
I'm hesitant to say that I understand quantum theory better now, because there is no maths in this book. But that's not the point, popular science books aren't intended to be textbooks, they don't pretend to rigorously explain everything. The purpose of reading popular science is to become acquainted with complicated ideas, not to become an expert. Which is fine, and Chown has certainly achieved this goal. (Although I would have liked some maths, or at least some diagrams, because I'm a nerd).
Overall, I'd definitely recommend this if you have any sort of vague notion about quantum theory and want to read something to keep you interested.
(As a final note, when the book was written gravitational waves had not been observed. They have been since. But as far as I can tell that's the only major outdated piece of information presented in the text).
op_ivey's review against another edition
3.0
Very interesting and wondrous, but could've used more info for the laymen. We aren't all astrophysicists, here!
thombeckett's review against another edition
4.0
Although Chown doesn't make everything entirely understandable - one could hardly expect him to, this book certainly engages the awe sections of your brain. Over and over again. Chown does a grand job of, where possible, providing metaphors and similes to help you get some of the more esoteric areas of modern science in an immensely readable way.
If you really enjoyed [author: Bill Bryson]'s [book: A Short History Of Nearly Everything], this book is an excellent next step.
If you really enjoyed [author: Bill Bryson]'s [book: A Short History Of Nearly Everything], this book is an excellent next step.
methemuppet's review against another edition
5.0
A really good overview of how the universe works on a Very Small (quantum theory) and Very Large (general relativity) scale.
It links different concepts and theories, most of which I had already read about, into a kind of high-level tapestry understanding. Worked really well for me; can't say how well it'll work for others. At the very least it gives you a leg-up for further research.
It links different concepts and theories, most of which I had already read about, into a kind of high-level tapestry understanding. Worked really well for me; can't say how well it'll work for others. At the very least it gives you a leg-up for further research.
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