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A review by heydebigale
Beyond Weird by Philip Ball
informative
slow-paced
3.75
Overall, I thought this book did a decent job describing some of the main concepts of quantum mechanics to a general audience.
I especially appreciated the discussion about the disconnect between the language we have available, language that was developed for trading of goods, and describing the macroscopic world around us… breaks down when trying to describe the principles of quantum mechanics.
“In quantum mechanics, the concepts defy the language we have to describe them.”
I also thought there were some nice analogies in this book that I hadn’t read or heard before—particularly the order of adding milk and tea yielding different results.
I wasn’t sure about Ball’s discussion about quantum mechanics being a theory about information. Ball wrote about quantum mechanics as if it is a empirical formula, but the Schrödinger equation can be broken down into first principles. At least specifically for the hydrogen atom.
The book primarily focused on the controversy around the Copenhagen interpretation… I was hoping to read more about applications of quantum mechanics.
One major issue I had was the glorification of known abuser Richard Feynman. Like I get it, he won the Nobel prize for this contributions to the field of quantum mechanics. But I just don’t really want to read about his “genius” without some critical reflection of the horrible person he was.
I also really disliked his whole passage about the old axiom of not being an expert unless you’re able to explain quantum mechanics to your grandmother. Like yeah, Ball said it was outdated, but maybe don’t mention it at all? It made me roll my eyes.
This book is a pretty accessible description of the fundamental principles of quantum mechanics. But, YMMV with the way certain principles were framed.
I especially appreciated the discussion about the disconnect between the language we have available, language that was developed for trading of goods, and describing the macroscopic world around us… breaks down when trying to describe the principles of quantum mechanics.
“In quantum mechanics, the concepts defy the language we have to describe them.”
I also thought there were some nice analogies in this book that I hadn’t read or heard before—particularly the order of adding milk and tea yielding different results.
I wasn’t sure about Ball’s discussion about quantum mechanics being a theory about information. Ball wrote about quantum mechanics as if it is a empirical formula, but the Schrödinger equation can be broken down into first principles. At least specifically for the hydrogen atom.
The book primarily focused on the controversy around the Copenhagen interpretation… I was hoping to read more about applications of quantum mechanics.
One major issue I had was the glorification of known abuser Richard Feynman. Like I get it, he won the Nobel prize for this contributions to the field of quantum mechanics. But I just don’t really want to read about his “genius” without some critical reflection of the horrible person he was.
I also really disliked his whole passage about the old axiom of not being an expert unless you’re able to explain quantum mechanics to your grandmother. Like yeah, Ball said it was outdated, but maybe don’t mention it at all? It made me roll my eyes.
This book is a pretty accessible description of the fundamental principles of quantum mechanics. But, YMMV with the way certain principles were framed.