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Quantum Reality Beyond the New Physics
This clearly explained layman's introduction to quantum physics is an accessible excursion into metaphysics and the meaning of reality. Herbert exposes the quantum world and the scientific and philosophical controversy about its interpretation.
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First published June 1, 1985
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About the author
Nick Herbert
20 books23 followersNick Herbert (born September 7, 1936) is an American physicist and author.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews
June 2, 2015
shit's fucked.
we don't know how reality works.
everyone go home.
einstein, erwin shroddinger, and john stewart bell seem to be the only physicists in the last 100 years with any common sense.
neils bohr seems like he'd be fun to party with.
we don't know how reality works.
everyone go home.
einstein, erwin shroddinger, and john stewart bell seem to be the only physicists in the last 100 years with any common sense.
neils bohr seems like he'd be fun to party with.
January 31, 2012
Ride the particulate waveform, sweet universe of mine.
How our human consciousnesses perceive reality at the subphenomenal level makes for a truly extraordinary conundrum, and Herbert is an appreciably lucid and patient explicator of this primordial soup of uncertainty brought to our awarenesses through the mathematics, theorizing, and testing of many of the most brilliant physicists of the past century and a half. Even more so than other elucidators like the late Heinz Pagels, John Gribbin, and Brian Greene, Herbert comes the closest to allowing a layperson to wrap their heads around how it is, exactly, that Quantum Mechanics has driven these same scientific lawgivers and architects to the point of breakdown with its paradoxical formations and uncanny peculiarities, seemingly irreconcilable to the logical parameters that we have come to both assume and require through our own existence embedded within the natural world. What's more, he eschews the lame pop-culture analogies that so often lead one to grit one's teeth or cauliflower-cook from one's ears with two of those aforementioned peers.
Above all, Herbert constructs his work to stress, and subsequently elaborate upon, the central point that elementary particles—for which he interchangeably uses his self-coined terms Quons and Quantumstuff—whether constituting energy or matter, display particle behavior when being measured, and a wave formation when not; with the latter, of necessity, requiring that whenever one dynamic aspect of a quons' particle form is being determined, its conjugate aspect will prove impossible to pin down with a similar accuracy due to a continually elevating uncertainty attending to that specific quality; and that, when said quon is not under some manner of measurement, it exists as a wavelike element of fluxing probabilities that, paradoxically, concurrently displays all the possible attributes possible for any particular aspect that a physicist could undertake to quantify—regardless of time, space, or momentum. Indeed, as Herbert explains in a particularly startling example, the act of observation can apparently influence even the stellar pathway of photons emitted from a quasar several billion years ago—a stretching of the subphenomenal proxy-wave probability across an incomprehensible immensity of light-years. At such a moment—the absurdity of the contention notwithstanding—it certainly does seem that the very act of our being a conscious observer undertakes to determine, in a particular moment, the constituted reality of that very element of the universe; that said light beam's existence comprised a murky, ghostly ephemerality of possible states until our measuring gaze forced upon it the necessity of making a determination, of collapsing the wave function to the degree that it particulated in space-time with the very attributes we discover when we brought it to bear in such an enigmatic fashion.
In order to set the stage properly, the author spends a great deal of time in carefully elaborating upon the composition and behavior of waves—whether sine, impulse, spherical—their periodicity and phase, their frequency and amplitude, at how the latter affects their inherent energy (at the material real level) or probability (at the quantum configuration level). Especially important is the quality of disturbance generated when waves impact each other, and in which their energy/probability is either augmented, diminished, or maintained depending upon the congruencies in the temporal and spatial attributes they share at the moment of confluence. There is also the mysterious property of Phase Entanglement, in which, when any two quons engage and disengage with each other, their amplitudes separate but their phases remain entangled; this mixed phase attribution resonates with each quon from that point forward—a property that might perhaps point, through such as Bell's Theorem, towards a superluminal information exchange between these particles, though they be separated by hundreds of light years. A feature of particular usefulness for experimental measurement is the determination by mathematicians and physicists that any wave function can be said to be made up of, and thus capable of being broken down into, a wide variety of individual wave shapes—including their conjugate opposites—and which fact, combined with the use of analysis or synthesis prisms to separate/combine these individual forms from/into the constituent whole, can be used to measure whatever attributes of a quon can be held to be represented by that(those) particular waveform(s). The fact that the conjugate waves can never be realized at a 1:1 level with their antithesis demonstrates the reality that the precise measurement of two such opposing quantum-level aspects—as, for instance, position and momentum—cannot be determined in coevality. Thus, subphenomenal uncertainty is proven mathematically, and the paradox and puzzle of such a bedrock to nature given a rigor that scientists have so far found impossible to escape from or reconcile with, absent the bizarre scenarios they have concocted to explain the unexplainable.
For this is the crux of the matter from the authorial perspective—to allow the reader to get a handle upon how, exactly, the physicists themselves have come to order this molecular level of elementary reality, one which deals in measurements so unfathomably small as to defy any manner of mental purchase. Since the phenomenal level can be well-understood with classical methodologies and terminologies, physicists would prefer to extend such to the quantumstuff underlying it; since, apart from the actual measurements, this has proven exceedingly problematic, there have developed eight primary schools of thought about Quantum Reality and how to address its wispily heavy presence as the shimmery white elephant in the room.
Quantum Reality #1 & #2: This is the Copenhagen Interpretation of Bohr and its later-derived, Observer-Promoted adjunct, which holds that there is no underlying subphenomenal reality to discover; instead, we have elementary particles at the quantum level in an undefined state of fluctuating and concurrent probabilities; it is our act of observation that forces a wave function collapse and assigns a measured value to these properties. This determined value had no existence, or meaning, until a measurement created a tangible value out of a sea of possibilities. Whether atoms really exist, pondering the structure of the quantum world—such is but idle speculation, irrelevant to the quantifications imparted by observational imposition.
Quantum Reality #3: The Whole Worlds theory, which maintains that there is no dissociative distinction between the phenomenal and subphenomenal worlds, as the quantum attributes are not localized with the quon but are rather an inherent part of the experimental arrangement. The phase entanglement mentioned above is a primary component of this theory, in which it is plausible that the majority of quons carry wave phase remembrances of their past collisions in the dawning days of the universe.
Quantum Reality #4: This is the infamous Many-Worlds theory, primarily developed by Everett under the auspices of Wheeler. This beauty avoids many of the paradoxes and pratfalls associated with the particulate uncertainties and wave functions with a whopper all of its own: whenever a measurement forces a value to be assigned to any dynamic value of a quon, every possible option is realized, a free-for-all made possible by the assignation of a brand new parallel universe arising out of each and every quantum value implementation. Our human minds, delimited to sensory perceptions in our own space-time, cannot perceive this exponential proliferation of fully-formed universes, blossoming under the imposition of every available attribute value allowable to each and every particle; but there they are, expanding rapid-fire like the zits on a soda-chugging teenager under the cascading avalanche of observations that are brought to bear.
Quantum Reality #5: An intriguing offering that places itself about halfway between #s 3 and 6, but states that we need an entirely new branch of logic, superimposed upon a Boolean framework, that will allow us to grasp and bring within the limits of our human understanding the actual nature of the alien quantum world. Using as an example the peculiar quantum properties of photon polarization, Herbert delineates a mathematical logic that endeavors to penetrate the walled mysteries that have so far repulsed us, weaving lattices of quantum logic that will allow us (partial) egress after clambering these probability-permeated barriers.
Quantum Reality #6: The favored purview of so-called realist physicists like Einstein and the Copenhagen apostate Bohm. This position, called Neorealism, attempts to salvage as much of the classical stability as is possible for the quantum realm. The neorealists hold that atoms exist, that quons have properties, that the wave functions are of the Schrödinger form and do not collapse upon measurement. Diametrically opposed to the Copenhagen majority, the fatal flaw in the Neorealist position is the juggling they have to perform to account for the almost perfect accuracy of Quantum Mechanics, including the necessity for waves and particles to communicate with each other at superluminal speeds—a thing utterly forbidden by the Special Relativity of this very school's chief proponent.
Quantum Reality #7: Developed initially by the rigorous mathematical mind of John von Neumann, this is the school of the Conscious Observer, a sort of idealist kin for the scientific field. Von Neumann, and his ilk, deem that the only reality is quantumstuff, of which everything in the universe is composed. It is the act of measurement that is the deciding factor in the wave function collapse that causes the Quantum Jump, the imposition of a single reality from the sea of waveform possibilities—but the powerful math of von Neumann showed that this measurement could be initiated anywhere in the von Neumann chain that bound the stages of the event. Taking note that the only unique variable in this chain was human consciousness, von Neumann thus determined that existent reality is created by the conscious mind. There is an actual reality, but it can only be in conjunction with a consciousness that can force a fact from probability through the act of observation.
Quantum Reality #8: Finally, Herbert offers up the theory established primarily by the great Heisenberg, whose self-named Uncertainty Principle is one of the foundational theorems of Quantum Mechanics. Heisenberg proffers a duality-riven single world, composed of the potentiality implicit within the quantumstuff waveforms, and the actuality present after the wave function has collapsed in order to accommodate a measurement. In other words, when nobody is looking, the universe is a soup of probability—only to convert to an existing, quantified reality when focus is brought to bear upon what had priorly been a mere bundle of promise. Theoretically capable of extending itself all the way backwards to the initializing Big Look from the singularly Big Guy, Heisenberg's QR is one where there is an omnipresent sense of something lurking just out of vision at the corner of one's eye.
The final section of this excellent book is the prep-work and subsequent walk-through by Herbert in order to impart upon the reader all of the implicit potentialities held within one Bell's Theorem, a probing of the famous EPR paradox crafted by Einstein and Co. in order to challenge the regnancy of a Quantum Mechanics that deeply troubled the genius of Relativity. By means of a construct that measures the polarization of twinned-photons by splitting them at varying angles with a rotated crystal and projecting these binary polarizations onto a phosphor screen, a somewhat obscure Northern Irish physicist named John Bell made the stunning determination that reality is non-local. In other words, though our phenomenal world operates at the local level—diminishing with distance, shielded, coterminous, subluminal—reality, the quantum bedrock, is non-local: undiminished with distance, unshielded, incongruent, superluminal. What's more, Bell's Theorem has subsequently been proven mathematically, meaning its truth no longer relies on the viability of Quantum Theory: it is a reality of it own. Herbert uses this perturbing discovery to realign the eight schools of Quantum Reality and work out how it impacts them all, especially in its potential links to that weirdest of quantum bunnies, Phase Entanglement.
Three stars only because Herbert, while proving himself a highly competent guide, writes with a workmanlike prose, and can occasionally get a bit bogged down, ironically most often by trying to make complicated mathematics explicable to the general reader. Tantalizing with its glimpses of the potential for faster-than-light communication and movement, whilst simultaneously dampening with its allusions to the all-too-likelihood that such communications would be at a level comprehensible only to nature itself, and, alas, not to the human consciousness that, as this book shows over and again, despite being profoundly confounded by the subatomic world it has uncovered, refuses to leave it be without having done everything possible to make some manner of sense of it all.
How our human consciousnesses perceive reality at the subphenomenal level makes for a truly extraordinary conundrum, and Herbert is an appreciably lucid and patient explicator of this primordial soup of uncertainty brought to our awarenesses through the mathematics, theorizing, and testing of many of the most brilliant physicists of the past century and a half. Even more so than other elucidators like the late Heinz Pagels, John Gribbin, and Brian Greene, Herbert comes the closest to allowing a layperson to wrap their heads around how it is, exactly, that Quantum Mechanics has driven these same scientific lawgivers and architects to the point of breakdown with its paradoxical formations and uncanny peculiarities, seemingly irreconcilable to the logical parameters that we have come to both assume and require through our own existence embedded within the natural world. What's more, he eschews the lame pop-culture analogies that so often lead one to grit one's teeth or cauliflower-cook from one's ears with two of those aforementioned peers.
Above all, Herbert constructs his work to stress, and subsequently elaborate upon, the central point that elementary particles—for which he interchangeably uses his self-coined terms Quons and Quantumstuff—whether constituting energy or matter, display particle behavior when being measured, and a wave formation when not; with the latter, of necessity, requiring that whenever one dynamic aspect of a quons' particle form is being determined, its conjugate aspect will prove impossible to pin down with a similar accuracy due to a continually elevating uncertainty attending to that specific quality; and that, when said quon is not under some manner of measurement, it exists as a wavelike element of fluxing probabilities that, paradoxically, concurrently displays all the possible attributes possible for any particular aspect that a physicist could undertake to quantify—regardless of time, space, or momentum. Indeed, as Herbert explains in a particularly startling example, the act of observation can apparently influence even the stellar pathway of photons emitted from a quasar several billion years ago—a stretching of the subphenomenal proxy-wave probability across an incomprehensible immensity of light-years. At such a moment—the absurdity of the contention notwithstanding—it certainly does seem that the very act of our being a conscious observer undertakes to determine, in a particular moment, the constituted reality of that very element of the universe; that said light beam's existence comprised a murky, ghostly ephemerality of possible states until our measuring gaze forced upon it the necessity of making a determination, of collapsing the wave function to the degree that it particulated in space-time with the very attributes we discover when we brought it to bear in such an enigmatic fashion.
In order to set the stage properly, the author spends a great deal of time in carefully elaborating upon the composition and behavior of waves—whether sine, impulse, spherical—their periodicity and phase, their frequency and amplitude, at how the latter affects their inherent energy (at the material real level) or probability (at the quantum configuration level). Especially important is the quality of disturbance generated when waves impact each other, and in which their energy/probability is either augmented, diminished, or maintained depending upon the congruencies in the temporal and spatial attributes they share at the moment of confluence. There is also the mysterious property of Phase Entanglement, in which, when any two quons engage and disengage with each other, their amplitudes separate but their phases remain entangled; this mixed phase attribution resonates with each quon from that point forward—a property that might perhaps point, through such as Bell's Theorem, towards a superluminal information exchange between these particles, though they be separated by hundreds of light years. A feature of particular usefulness for experimental measurement is the determination by mathematicians and physicists that any wave function can be said to be made up of, and thus capable of being broken down into, a wide variety of individual wave shapes—including their conjugate opposites—and which fact, combined with the use of analysis or synthesis prisms to separate/combine these individual forms from/into the constituent whole, can be used to measure whatever attributes of a quon can be held to be represented by that(those) particular waveform(s). The fact that the conjugate waves can never be realized at a 1:1 level with their antithesis demonstrates the reality that the precise measurement of two such opposing quantum-level aspects—as, for instance, position and momentum—cannot be determined in coevality. Thus, subphenomenal uncertainty is proven mathematically, and the paradox and puzzle of such a bedrock to nature given a rigor that scientists have so far found impossible to escape from or reconcile with, absent the bizarre scenarios they have concocted to explain the unexplainable.
For this is the crux of the matter from the authorial perspective—to allow the reader to get a handle upon how, exactly, the physicists themselves have come to order this molecular level of elementary reality, one which deals in measurements so unfathomably small as to defy any manner of mental purchase. Since the phenomenal level can be well-understood with classical methodologies and terminologies, physicists would prefer to extend such to the quantumstuff underlying it; since, apart from the actual measurements, this has proven exceedingly problematic, there have developed eight primary schools of thought about Quantum Reality and how to address its wispily heavy presence as the shimmery white elephant in the room.
Quantum Reality #1 & #2: This is the Copenhagen Interpretation of Bohr and its later-derived, Observer-Promoted adjunct, which holds that there is no underlying subphenomenal reality to discover; instead, we have elementary particles at the quantum level in an undefined state of fluctuating and concurrent probabilities; it is our act of observation that forces a wave function collapse and assigns a measured value to these properties. This determined value had no existence, or meaning, until a measurement created a tangible value out of a sea of possibilities. Whether atoms really exist, pondering the structure of the quantum world—such is but idle speculation, irrelevant to the quantifications imparted by observational imposition.
Quantum Reality #3: The Whole Worlds theory, which maintains that there is no dissociative distinction between the phenomenal and subphenomenal worlds, as the quantum attributes are not localized with the quon but are rather an inherent part of the experimental arrangement. The phase entanglement mentioned above is a primary component of this theory, in which it is plausible that the majority of quons carry wave phase remembrances of their past collisions in the dawning days of the universe.
Quantum Reality #4: This is the infamous Many-Worlds theory, primarily developed by Everett under the auspices of Wheeler. This beauty avoids many of the paradoxes and pratfalls associated with the particulate uncertainties and wave functions with a whopper all of its own: whenever a measurement forces a value to be assigned to any dynamic value of a quon, every possible option is realized, a free-for-all made possible by the assignation of a brand new parallel universe arising out of each and every quantum value implementation. Our human minds, delimited to sensory perceptions in our own space-time, cannot perceive this exponential proliferation of fully-formed universes, blossoming under the imposition of every available attribute value allowable to each and every particle; but there they are, expanding rapid-fire like the zits on a soda-chugging teenager under the cascading avalanche of observations that are brought to bear.
Quantum Reality #5: An intriguing offering that places itself about halfway between #s 3 and 6, but states that we need an entirely new branch of logic, superimposed upon a Boolean framework, that will allow us to grasp and bring within the limits of our human understanding the actual nature of the alien quantum world. Using as an example the peculiar quantum properties of photon polarization, Herbert delineates a mathematical logic that endeavors to penetrate the walled mysteries that have so far repulsed us, weaving lattices of quantum logic that will allow us (partial) egress after clambering these probability-permeated barriers.
Quantum Reality #6: The favored purview of so-called realist physicists like Einstein and the Copenhagen apostate Bohm. This position, called Neorealism, attempts to salvage as much of the classical stability as is possible for the quantum realm. The neorealists hold that atoms exist, that quons have properties, that the wave functions are of the Schrödinger form and do not collapse upon measurement. Diametrically opposed to the Copenhagen majority, the fatal flaw in the Neorealist position is the juggling they have to perform to account for the almost perfect accuracy of Quantum Mechanics, including the necessity for waves and particles to communicate with each other at superluminal speeds—a thing utterly forbidden by the Special Relativity of this very school's chief proponent.
Quantum Reality #7: Developed initially by the rigorous mathematical mind of John von Neumann, this is the school of the Conscious Observer, a sort of idealist kin for the scientific field. Von Neumann, and his ilk, deem that the only reality is quantumstuff, of which everything in the universe is composed. It is the act of measurement that is the deciding factor in the wave function collapse that causes the Quantum Jump, the imposition of a single reality from the sea of waveform possibilities—but the powerful math of von Neumann showed that this measurement could be initiated anywhere in the von Neumann chain that bound the stages of the event. Taking note that the only unique variable in this chain was human consciousness, von Neumann thus determined that existent reality is created by the conscious mind. There is an actual reality, but it can only be in conjunction with a consciousness that can force a fact from probability through the act of observation.
Quantum Reality #8: Finally, Herbert offers up the theory established primarily by the great Heisenberg, whose self-named Uncertainty Principle is one of the foundational theorems of Quantum Mechanics. Heisenberg proffers a duality-riven single world, composed of the potentiality implicit within the quantumstuff waveforms, and the actuality present after the wave function has collapsed in order to accommodate a measurement. In other words, when nobody is looking, the universe is a soup of probability—only to convert to an existing, quantified reality when focus is brought to bear upon what had priorly been a mere bundle of promise. Theoretically capable of extending itself all the way backwards to the initializing Big Look from the singularly Big Guy, Heisenberg's QR is one where there is an omnipresent sense of something lurking just out of vision at the corner of one's eye.
The final section of this excellent book is the prep-work and subsequent walk-through by Herbert in order to impart upon the reader all of the implicit potentialities held within one Bell's Theorem, a probing of the famous EPR paradox crafted by Einstein and Co. in order to challenge the regnancy of a Quantum Mechanics that deeply troubled the genius of Relativity. By means of a construct that measures the polarization of twinned-photons by splitting them at varying angles with a rotated crystal and projecting these binary polarizations onto a phosphor screen, a somewhat obscure Northern Irish physicist named John Bell made the stunning determination that reality is non-local. In other words, though our phenomenal world operates at the local level—diminishing with distance, shielded, coterminous, subluminal—reality, the quantum bedrock, is non-local: undiminished with distance, unshielded, incongruent, superluminal. What's more, Bell's Theorem has subsequently been proven mathematically, meaning its truth no longer relies on the viability of Quantum Theory: it is a reality of it own. Herbert uses this perturbing discovery to realign the eight schools of Quantum Reality and work out how it impacts them all, especially in its potential links to that weirdest of quantum bunnies, Phase Entanglement.
Three stars only because Herbert, while proving himself a highly competent guide, writes with a workmanlike prose, and can occasionally get a bit bogged down, ironically most often by trying to make complicated mathematics explicable to the general reader. Tantalizing with its glimpses of the potential for faster-than-light communication and movement, whilst simultaneously dampening with its allusions to the all-too-likelihood that such communications would be at a level comprehensible only to nature itself, and, alas, not to the human consciousness that, as this book shows over and again, despite being profoundly confounded by the subatomic world it has uncovered, refuses to leave it be without having done everything possible to make some manner of sense of it all.
on-hold
December 15, 2019“Nothing exposes the perplexity at the heart of physics more starkly than certain preposterous-sounding claims a few outspoken physicists are making concerning how the world really works. If we take these claims at face value, the stories physicists tell resemble the tales of mystics and madmen.
Physicists are quick to reject such unsavory associations and insist that they speak sober fact. We do not make these claims out of ignorance, they say, like ancient mapmakers filling in terra incognitas with plausible geography. Not ignorance, but the emergence of unexpected knowledge forces on us all new visions of the way things really are.
The new physics vision is still clouded, as evidenced by the multiplicity of its claims, but whatever the outcome it is sure to be far from ordinary. To give you a taste of quantum reality, I summarize here the views of its foremost creators in the form of eight realities which represent eight major guesses as to what’s really going on behind the scenes. Later we will look at each of these realities in more detail and see how different physicists use the same data to justify so many different pictures of the world.
Quantum Reality # 1: The Copenhagen interpretation, Part I (There is no deep reality.) No one has influenced more our notions of what the quantum world is really about than Danish physicist Niels Bohr, and it is Bohr who puts forth one of quantum physics’ most outrageous claims: that there is no deep reality. Bohr does not deny the evidence of his senses. The world we see around us is real enough, he affirms, but it floats on a world that is not as real. Everyday phenomena are themselves built not out of phenomena but out of an utterly different kind of being.”
Physicists are quick to reject such unsavory associations and insist that they speak sober fact. We do not make these claims out of ignorance, they say, like ancient mapmakers filling in terra incognitas with plausible geography. Not ignorance, but the emergence of unexpected knowledge forces on us all new visions of the way things really are.
The new physics vision is still clouded, as evidenced by the multiplicity of its claims, but whatever the outcome it is sure to be far from ordinary. To give you a taste of quantum reality, I summarize here the views of its foremost creators in the form of eight realities which represent eight major guesses as to what’s really going on behind the scenes. Later we will look at each of these realities in more detail and see how different physicists use the same data to justify so many different pictures of the world.
Quantum Reality # 1: The Copenhagen interpretation, Part I (There is no deep reality.) No one has influenced more our notions of what the quantum world is really about than Danish physicist Niels Bohr, and it is Bohr who puts forth one of quantum physics’ most outrageous claims: that there is no deep reality. Bohr does not deny the evidence of his senses. The world we see around us is real enough, he affirms, but it floats on a world that is not as real. Everyday phenomena are themselves built not out of phenomena but out of an utterly different kind of being.”
July 15, 2010
This is a great book by Nick Herbert. This is a book that deals with the interpretation of Quantum Physics. But its importance is that it deals not with a 'spiritual' or 'mystical' understanding of quantum physics but with how scientists and physicists themselves interpret quantum physics. It is a book of pure science and there is no quantum mysticism involved here.
Nick Lembert discusses basically eight different interpretations of quantum physics. These include the Copenhagen interpretation, Feynman's interpretation, the 'multiple worlds' interpretation, etc. All these interpretations are the work of the greatest physicists in quantum physics. These are the ways in which the scientists understand how physics work. They are not important in getting the results of quantum dynamics, the maths of quantum physics works independently of which interpretation we may choose to believe.
And this is where Herbert shows the craziness of quantum physics: although all these interpretations are radically different from each other, they can all explain quantum physics equally well. Neither we, the non-physicists, nor the greatest physicists in the world, really know what actually is going on in this strange little world, whether the particles are behaving according to the Copehnhagen interpretation, the multiple world explanation, etc. Herbert handles this very well, we get a sense of why Feynman said, 'just shut up and calculate'. Scientists dont understand the basic reality of quantum physics either!
Another very useful thing I took away from the book was the explanation of the wave equations of Quantum Physics. Herbert does a fine job of showing what exactly waves are and how physics describes the particles as waves and what this means. This again shows up the mysteriousness of Quantum Physics in another way.
All in all, I would call this a very important book to understand the general principles of quantum physics, one that is vital because it sets out the different interpretations in a very clear and comprehensible manner.
Nick Lembert discusses basically eight different interpretations of quantum physics. These include the Copenhagen interpretation, Feynman's interpretation, the 'multiple worlds' interpretation, etc. All these interpretations are the work of the greatest physicists in quantum physics. These are the ways in which the scientists understand how physics work. They are not important in getting the results of quantum dynamics, the maths of quantum physics works independently of which interpretation we may choose to believe.
And this is where Herbert shows the craziness of quantum physics: although all these interpretations are radically different from each other, they can all explain quantum physics equally well. Neither we, the non-physicists, nor the greatest physicists in the world, really know what actually is going on in this strange little world, whether the particles are behaving according to the Copehnhagen interpretation, the multiple world explanation, etc. Herbert handles this very well, we get a sense of why Feynman said, 'just shut up and calculate'. Scientists dont understand the basic reality of quantum physics either!
Another very useful thing I took away from the book was the explanation of the wave equations of Quantum Physics. Herbert does a fine job of showing what exactly waves are and how physics describes the particles as waves and what this means. This again shows up the mysteriousness of Quantum Physics in another way.
All in all, I would call this a very important book to understand the general principles of quantum physics, one that is vital because it sets out the different interpretations in a very clear and comprehensible manner.
February 5, 2017
The mid-1980s saw a flood of books such as "Quantum Reality" hit the shelves, books which tried to explain the latest findings in the world of physics in layperson's terms. (We used to call this genre "physics for poets.") This book, by author Nick Herbert, is a fairly typical example, even if it does leave something to be desired in both concision and lucidity. Whereas his contemporaries, such as Michio Kaku and F. David Peat, were able to provide explanations which were easy to grasp at first blush, Herbert doesn't wield quite the same facility with words. Thus, many of the passages in "Quantum Reality" can be a chore to read. In addition, Herbert tends to reiterate concepts more than necessary, and in constructing his book, structured it such that no less than eight competing theories had to be reviewed numerous times in order to contrast them against one another in light of some central point or theme.
The specific question behind Herbert's book is intriguing enough: Which of the eight major theories then in circulation might represent the underlying reality behind quantum theory? Herbert eventually lands on a theorem devised by John Bell which suggests that at its "bottom layer," the reality behind all physics (quantum or otherwise) requires an acceptance of non-locality, implying, among other things, superluminal (faster-than-light) connections. This theorem, in the intervening 50-plus years since its formulation, has yet to be discredited, meaning that it is still a sticking point which any model of physical reality must take into account. In this sense, Herbert's focus on Bell's work as a linchpin is apropos, although he could have made his point more forcefully if he had used clearer language and organized his text in a less sprawling manner.
The specific question behind Herbert's book is intriguing enough: Which of the eight major theories then in circulation might represent the underlying reality behind quantum theory? Herbert eventually lands on a theorem devised by John Bell which suggests that at its "bottom layer," the reality behind all physics (quantum or otherwise) requires an acceptance of non-locality, implying, among other things, superluminal (faster-than-light) connections. This theorem, in the intervening 50-plus years since its formulation, has yet to be discredited, meaning that it is still a sticking point which any model of physical reality must take into account. In this sense, Herbert's focus on Bell's work as a linchpin is apropos, although he could have made his point more forcefully if he had used clearer language and organized his text in a less sprawling manner.
May 22, 2019
The blurb for Quantum Reality says that it is accessible to the layman. That's why I chose to read it and I'm happy to say that I did find it a reasonable read, especially when it comes to the complexity of the subject.
Pages 1-45 read as a history of quantum physics. I've read enough books on the subject to be familiar with its history, but was happy with Herbert's handling of how he opened the book and where he focused his attention.
A notable line from the book is "Quantum theory was invented to deal with one problem: the interaction of light with atoms." I had not heard it stated that way and felt like a new level of understanding opened up for me after reading it.
Another notable part: "Try, for instance, to push your hand through the nearest wall. Since atoms are mostly empty space, their electrons are too small to stop you. Only each atom's possibility wave pushes back at you. Pretty substantial, aren't they?" The clearest explanation of reality I've seen yet!
I also really enjoyed Herbert's examples describing Bell's Theorem and now have a working understanding of it.
This is one of the few books on the subject I would consider reading again to better absorb the material.
It was dry at times, which is why I didn't give it five stars.
Pages 1-45 read as a history of quantum physics. I've read enough books on the subject to be familiar with its history, but was happy with Herbert's handling of how he opened the book and where he focused his attention.
A notable line from the book is "Quantum theory was invented to deal with one problem: the interaction of light with atoms." I had not heard it stated that way and felt like a new level of understanding opened up for me after reading it.
Another notable part: "Try, for instance, to push your hand through the nearest wall. Since atoms are mostly empty space, their electrons are too small to stop you. Only each atom's possibility wave pushes back at you. Pretty substantial, aren't they?" The clearest explanation of reality I've seen yet!
I also really enjoyed Herbert's examples describing Bell's Theorem and now have a working understanding of it.
This is one of the few books on the subject I would consider reading again to better absorb the material.
It was dry at times, which is why I didn't give it five stars.
February 28, 2018
Any sort of science that begins with “quantum” is going to be a rather confusing journey to your mind, and whether you’re willing to learn it or not, it’s best that you don’t throw your mind so far deep into it so that you’re unable to comprehend much of reality itself. Nevertheless, Herbert does an amazing job at explaining quantum reality. He does it in a way that provides just enough information, but not so much that you’re ready to doubt all scientific theories presented to you. He brings in things like sine waves and compares them to the sound waves of a piano to help the reader understand the strange nature of wave energy, but he doesn’t just just stop with the simple explanation of the waves, he continues his “easy” explanations throughout the book. Because this is a science book, there aren’t any characters or plot, just a huge amount of information being thrown at you. I’ve been in depth studying quantum theory and reality for around a year now, and this book should have been the first book I read. The world is confusing, and any science that includes the word “quantum” makes it even more confusing.
April 20, 2018
I read this book many times and continue to pick it up almost daily for a page or two of pages marked of concepts that astound or elude me. I realize the book is old and physics is a quick moving fare, however, I feel understanding what they knew 20 years ago is a solid foundation to understanding the current affairs. Plus, it's like I still have 20 years or more worth of quantum physics to catch up on!
August 12, 2012
Much of this book was over my armchair-physicist head, BUT, among other things, Herbert has given me the first coherent explanation of Heisenberg that I can really understand. That alone is worth the price. I actually think I could now explain Heisenberg on a cocktail napkin. (I'm so much fun at parties!)
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May 18, 2022In the endlessly-quoted words of Richard Feynman, "If you think you understand quantum physics, you don't." But thanks to Nick Herbert's Quantum Reality, at least I understand what I don't understand about quantum physics. Or--who knows?--maybe I just think I do. At any rate, of all the books on the subject for the (I hope) intelligent-but-not-scientifically-trained layman that I've tried, this is the one that seemed to drive home the closest approximation of an understanding of quantum physics--its problems, implications, and rival schools of interpretation--into my bewildered gray matter.
As an enthusiast of science fiction and counter factual history, I'm most intrigued by the Many World's Interpretation. It's the one I most hope is true.
As an enthusiast of science fiction and counter factual history, I'm most intrigued by the Many World's Interpretation. It's the one I most hope is true.
September 28, 2007
I was lent this book by a math friend who thought I would enjoy it. It is really fascinating. The author seems to have a clear understanding of exactly what aspects of the situation are most fascinating to the laymen. The basic starting point: All of the pictures of the nature of reality proposed by the new physics are ludicrous from an intuitive standpoint. So what are we supposed to believe?
I love reading this book before bed. As a student of Tibetan Buddhism, I just find myself laughing myself to sleep every time another parallel conclusion rears it's head. Last night, it was the realization that waves have no inherent parts...
I love reading this book before bed. As a student of Tibetan Buddhism, I just find myself laughing myself to sleep every time another parallel conclusion rears it's head. Last night, it was the realization that waves have no inherent parts...
September 28, 2012
This book has been on my shelf for 15 years and never fails to excite me when I pick it up. Theoretical physics is so fascinating and only because Nick Herbert makes it so easy to understand. The realm of quantum mechanics is so unreal and begs us to consider its philosophical and even religious ramifications. Putting the many quantum principles in perspective, Quantum Reality takes the reader on a new journey of discovery. If we really want to know what we cannot explain and see the world for what it "really" is, which is beyond our wildest dreams, this is a good place to start.
August 4, 2011
what a fantastic book, great start into the deep reality question(s) we're facing through quantum theory. Nick Herbert does an excellent job presenting the leading reality theories and provides a better understanding of the quantum facts & theory that goes with them. His last few pages raise some intriguing questions and made me want to explore further.
June 19, 2016
I like physics and this book
August 4, 2019
If one is a science buff, this is a reasonably easy to understand overview of the various ways that quantum mechanics experts explain the underlying reality of our universe. This is a fairly old book as far as books are concerned, but the science hasn't changed all that much. For an up to date view on the same subject, I suggest reading "Spooky Action at a Distance: The Phenomenon That Reimagines Space and Time—and What It Means for Black Holes, the Big Bang, and Theories of Everything" by George Musser. He adds a few ideas, but the basics remain in this book, "Quantum Reality".
The book presents 8 ideas on what is really happening at the quantum level of reality. All of this is a build up to the author's opinion that Bell's Theorem holds the key to deciding which quantum reality idea is NOT correct. Bell started out trying to support Einstein's idea all attributes at the sub-atomic level are local (that is, somewhere close to where we would expect to find such attributes) even if they are hidden from us. They are there. Bell proved that this is incorrect. Some attributes of sub-atomic particles (or fields) are non-local. That means those attributes could be anywhere in the universe and are connected to the particle/field in question at instantaneous speed (that is, faster than light). Given the experimental data, Bell's Theorem is confirmed unless one believes that reality itself does not exist.
I hope I represented those ideas correctly. The author repeats these ideas at least twice, first in summary and then in detail, without math, but with a few corny illustrations.
Any problems with this book? Remember that this is a book for a popular audience with some interest in science. Although the author went into detail later in the book, it seemed more like repetition to me. I understood him the first time, and I didn't want more detail. On this other hand, some people do want more detail, so rest assured that he provides it.
I'd read this book again, but there are other books with more recent ideas that I recommend:
"Spooky Action at a Distance: The Phenomenon That Reimagines Space and Time" by George Musser.
"Reality Is Not What It Seems: The Journey to Quantum Gravity" by Carlo Rovelli.
The book presents 8 ideas on what is really happening at the quantum level of reality. All of this is a build up to the author's opinion that Bell's Theorem holds the key to deciding which quantum reality idea is NOT correct. Bell started out trying to support Einstein's idea all attributes at the sub-atomic level are local (that is, somewhere close to where we would expect to find such attributes) even if they are hidden from us. They are there. Bell proved that this is incorrect. Some attributes of sub-atomic particles (or fields) are non-local. That means those attributes could be anywhere in the universe and are connected to the particle/field in question at instantaneous speed (that is, faster than light). Given the experimental data, Bell's Theorem is confirmed unless one believes that reality itself does not exist.
I hope I represented those ideas correctly. The author repeats these ideas at least twice, first in summary and then in detail, without math, but with a few corny illustrations.
Any problems with this book? Remember that this is a book for a popular audience with some interest in science. Although the author went into detail later in the book, it seemed more like repetition to me. I understood him the first time, and I didn't want more detail. On this other hand, some people do want more detail, so rest assured that he provides it.
I'd read this book again, but there are other books with more recent ideas that I recommend:
"Spooky Action at a Distance: The Phenomenon That Reimagines Space and Time" by George Musser.
"Reality Is Not What It Seems: The Journey to Quantum Gravity" by Carlo Rovelli.
April 17, 2022
This is an older explanation of quantum physics for non-specialists, and doesn’t have the latest findings and theories, but if you want to understand the fundamental issues, it is one of the best. The writing is very clear and the mathematics minimal. I especially appreciated the origins story, from Max Planck and Einstein, through Schrodinger and Dirac, to Bell. Two pages of glossy white photos are tipped in at the center of the book, showing the “founders.”
I’ve read several popular books on quantum theory and this is the one that got me closest to the foundational issues of wave-particle duality, measurement uncertainty, superposition, and entanglement. I had not realized, for example, that Schrodinger’s waveform theory of electron behavior was arbitrary. There was (and is still) no intuitive reason to suppose that electrons should be described by classical wave mechanics, but Schrodinger devised wave equations that fit the data. So now, when we say that electrons can behave “like waves,” all we mean is that certain equations fit the data. There are no actual waves. If you begin visualizing electrons like waves on an ocean or sound waves in the air, you’re way off. The so-called waves are only mathematical.
And that is a central theme of the book. According to Niels Bohr and the “Copenhagen Interpretation” of quantum theory, there is nothing “beneath” the data. We have the measurements and the mathematics to organize them. There’s nothing to know beyond that. The title of this book would be nonsensical to him because there is no “quantum reality.” Schrodinger agreed. There is no “wavelike” reality. Physics is only about experiments and their data.
Despite that pillar of scientific faith, which is held by most physicists today, Herbert devotes the second half of the book to various interpretations of quantum reality. He considers Einstein’s famous objections to Bohr and the search for hidden variables beneath the measurements. He looks at von Neuman’s conclusion that human consciousness must underlie quantum behavior. He considers David Bohm’s neorealism, Heisenberg’s duplex theory, and Bell’s non-locality conclusion.
Herbert does not choose a favorite interpretation, and all have serious problems, and in fact, maybe Bohr was right all along: maybe there’s nothing to explain. Perhaps reality is nothing more than measurement and mathematics.
Herbert, Nick (1985). Quantum Reality. New York: Anchor, 250pp.
I’ve read several popular books on quantum theory and this is the one that got me closest to the foundational issues of wave-particle duality, measurement uncertainty, superposition, and entanglement. I had not realized, for example, that Schrodinger’s waveform theory of electron behavior was arbitrary. There was (and is still) no intuitive reason to suppose that electrons should be described by classical wave mechanics, but Schrodinger devised wave equations that fit the data. So now, when we say that electrons can behave “like waves,” all we mean is that certain equations fit the data. There are no actual waves. If you begin visualizing electrons like waves on an ocean or sound waves in the air, you’re way off. The so-called waves are only mathematical.
And that is a central theme of the book. According to Niels Bohr and the “Copenhagen Interpretation” of quantum theory, there is nothing “beneath” the data. We have the measurements and the mathematics to organize them. There’s nothing to know beyond that. The title of this book would be nonsensical to him because there is no “quantum reality.” Schrodinger agreed. There is no “wavelike” reality. Physics is only about experiments and their data.
Despite that pillar of scientific faith, which is held by most physicists today, Herbert devotes the second half of the book to various interpretations of quantum reality. He considers Einstein’s famous objections to Bohr and the search for hidden variables beneath the measurements. He looks at von Neuman’s conclusion that human consciousness must underlie quantum behavior. He considers David Bohm’s neorealism, Heisenberg’s duplex theory, and Bell’s non-locality conclusion.
Herbert does not choose a favorite interpretation, and all have serious problems, and in fact, maybe Bohr was right all along: maybe there’s nothing to explain. Perhaps reality is nothing more than measurement and mathematics.
Herbert, Nick (1985). Quantum Reality. New York: Anchor, 250pp.
November 6, 2020
"For if quantumstuff is all there is and you don't understand quantumstuff, your ignorance is complete." pg. 40
This book delves into the realm of accuracy in certainty and certainty in randomness and beyond! Afraid of math? Don't worry, this book does a superb job of explaining the subject in terms a layman can understand. Is probability an optimists way of expressing uncertainty, or is uncertainty really random, or is random just a term to conceal our ignorance? You'll get the answer. Very weird!
It explains very succinctly the two most important wave forms in science, sine waves and spherical harmonics. Thought color was an innate attribute? Wrong! Learn the 5-steps to take to find a attribute of a quon using quantum theory! You'll think you're Steven Hawking after reading this great book! Now I can say with confidence that DNA is to genetic code what a waveform attribute is to cosmic code! What the hell did I just say? You'll know after reading this book! Become a genius (or at least look like one) in a week!
Even if you don't like scientific "stuff", you'll love this book just for its weirdness! You'll see why possibility squared equals probability! heh heh... You'll also find out if a tree really makes a noise if it falls in a forest when you're not there! :)
Wondering about the finer aspects of the photoelectric effect? It's in here. Why does a camera lens look purplish? It's in here too! What is reality? ... :) If you thought Bell's Theorem was weird, you haven't seen nothin' yet! There is nothing as weird as quantum theory. You won't want to believe it, but "quantum theory boldly exposes itself to potential falsification on a thousand different fronts. Its record is impressive: quantum theory passes EVERY test we [physicists and philosophers alike] can devise. After over 60 years of play, this theory is still batting a thousand." pg. 94
Buy this book and enjoy! That is... if the book is real!
This book delves into the realm of accuracy in certainty and certainty in randomness and beyond! Afraid of math? Don't worry, this book does a superb job of explaining the subject in terms a layman can understand. Is probability an optimists way of expressing uncertainty, or is uncertainty really random, or is random just a term to conceal our ignorance? You'll get the answer. Very weird!
It explains very succinctly the two most important wave forms in science, sine waves and spherical harmonics. Thought color was an innate attribute? Wrong! Learn the 5-steps to take to find a attribute of a quon using quantum theory! You'll think you're Steven Hawking after reading this great book! Now I can say with confidence that DNA is to genetic code what a waveform attribute is to cosmic code! What the hell did I just say? You'll know after reading this book! Become a genius (or at least look like one) in a week!
Even if you don't like scientific "stuff", you'll love this book just for its weirdness! You'll see why possibility squared equals probability! heh heh... You'll also find out if a tree really makes a noise if it falls in a forest when you're not there! :)
Wondering about the finer aspects of the photoelectric effect? It's in here. Why does a camera lens look purplish? It's in here too! What is reality? ... :) If you thought Bell's Theorem was weird, you haven't seen nothin' yet! There is nothing as weird as quantum theory. You won't want to believe it, but "quantum theory boldly exposes itself to potential falsification on a thousand different fronts. Its record is impressive: quantum theory passes EVERY test we [physicists and philosophers alike] can devise. After over 60 years of play, this theory is still batting a thousand." pg. 94
Buy this book and enjoy! That is... if the book is real!
May 14, 2017
Quantum reality is science's elephant in the room. Many modern scientists plug along with research according to the outmoded classical view of reality, totally ignoring the unfathomably bizarre ramifications of quantum findings. Not only does QR have revolutionary implications for physics; its probability waves will eventually ripple throughout the world, transforming our understanding of the cosmos, society, and personal identity. That quantum reality and its paradigm-shifting implications are not in the forefront of our cultural zeitgeist only underscores how ignorant and myopic most people are.
Herbert's Quantum Reality was published back in 1985. It's become a classic popular introduction to the subject. It does a great job explaining the strangeness of quantum reality and how it departs from the classical worldview, and it offers a lucid description of 8 possible interpretations of quantum reality. Given the strangeness of the quantum world, maybe all 8 interpretations are correct!
Sometimes Herbert goes beyond an introductory work and gets technical in his detailed explanations of experiments, but the book is generally accessible and contains no dizzying math. I wish philosophical implications figured more heavily into the work, however I guess there's only so much one can say given that the mechanics of quantum reality are still a mystery.
Herbert fed my curiosity, but in the feeding, he only made my appetite 1,000 times greater. I must dive deeper down the rabbit hole!
Herbert's Quantum Reality was published back in 1985. It's become a classic popular introduction to the subject. It does a great job explaining the strangeness of quantum reality and how it departs from the classical worldview, and it offers a lucid description of 8 possible interpretations of quantum reality. Given the strangeness of the quantum world, maybe all 8 interpretations are correct!
Sometimes Herbert goes beyond an introductory work and gets technical in his detailed explanations of experiments, but the book is generally accessible and contains no dizzying math. I wish philosophical implications figured more heavily into the work, however I guess there's only so much one can say given that the mechanics of quantum reality are still a mystery.
Herbert fed my curiosity, but in the feeding, he only made my appetite 1,000 times greater. I must dive deeper down the rabbit hole!
April 17, 2022
Like any other human, I struggle with Quantum stuff and chose this book as it promised to help with that - and it did, a bit. The trouble is this is such a tricky subject that, getting an understanding is a life's work even for the largest brains around. So, this book was really shooting for the stars. That said, for a while, I was on board, getting more insights in the particle/wave duality of quantum stuff for example with some well crafted writing. But then, inevitably I guess, the author started to leave me behind and started going further and further over my head. Sometimes this was because the material is just so wierd; other times, because certain theoretical examples kept repeating. I struggled with these the when they were used at the basic level; when things got complex, well, I was barely there. The emitter sending photons to detecters on earth and betelgeuse was a particular problem. Nevertheless, concepts did reach my brain; I particularly liked the example of our touching reality and feeling 'stuff' being like King Midas touching stuff and only feeling gold. I will return to this subject but only once my brain has had some time to cool down.
January 11, 2022
Herbert brings us from the “we’ve almost solved all of physics!” era of the early 1900s through the unexpected experiments which forced us to develop a new and bizarre model of the universe, quantum mechanics. He starts with unexpected results, such as the “ultraviolet catastrophe,” and then brings us on a tour of the various ways that modern physicists developed quantum mechanics.
And note that there isn’t just one QM theory – there are several! Werner Heisenberg initially developed QM using a type of math called matrix mechanics, while Erwin Schrödinger created an entirely different way of explaining things using wave mechanics. Yet despite their totally different math languages – we soon discovered that both ways of looking at the world were logically equivalent, and made the same predictions. Herbert discussed the ways that Paul Dirac and Richard Feynman saw QM, and he describes eight very different interpretations of quantum mechanics, all of which nonetheless are consistent with observation
And note that there isn’t just one QM theory – there are several! Werner Heisenberg initially developed QM using a type of math called matrix mechanics, while Erwin Schrödinger created an entirely different way of explaining things using wave mechanics. Yet despite their totally different math languages – we soon discovered that both ways of looking at the world were logically equivalent, and made the same predictions. Herbert discussed the ways that Paul Dirac and Richard Feynman saw QM, and he describes eight very different interpretations of quantum mechanics, all of which nonetheless are consistent with observation
August 11, 2025
I love to recommend this book to people to highlight how modern science, while clinging to objectivity, is just a set of hypothetical assumptions and passive aggressive one up-manship for fame and certificates. Rather than explaining any one concept as the objective truth the author instead makes a timeline of unraveling thought as he demonstrates the way theories have been made for no other reason than to 'beat' or 'dethrone' another theory creating a snowball effect of snobs who really dont know much of anything but can sure write out fanciful equations.
January 7, 2024
surprisingly good overview of quantum theory - this was one of the few books that wasn't Copenhagenist-centric, and instead tried to take a broader view of the various theories for quantum reality that exist. Herbert's examples do a great job of painting 'quantum weirdness' in easy-to-understand layman terms. His admiration of Bell's theorem is also apparent, and he does the impact of Bell's theorem justice. Overall great book.
July 29, 2025
Nice summary of all the various interpretations of quantum theory. Great reading if you already know the basics of quantum mechanics. I especially appreciated the concept of spectrum as a result of the application of a special "prism" and the consequent description of the HUP as a product of spectrum bandwidths in the "natural" domain of the variable. I wish there were more examples in the interpretation. i had this book for a long time and I should have read it earlier!
October 24, 2021
Brilliantly written and easy enough for even an Art major to grasp this basic introduction to Bell’s Theorem and quantum physics. Quick read that helps one question the true nature of physical and non-physical reality.
August 23, 2024
I read this one because it's mentioned in the The Incunabula Papers/Ong's Hat otherverse. Herbert presents some very interesting ideas about reality proposed by scientists in light of quantum physics research.
I don't THINK it's wooey, but I could be wrong.
I don't THINK it's wooey, but I could be wrong.
January 2, 2025
Written for the layperson, but nevertheless a bit technical at times. Still, Herbert uses humor and accessible analogies to help the reader understand the content. The material is exciting and leaves me wondering, “what is reality?”
September 11, 2018
Helpful introductory overview of the major ideas and theories in quantum mechanics. Also has recommendations for further study.
August 27, 2019
Useful and interesting.
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December 27, 2022Great
March 25, 2023
Good for the new entry
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