The God Effect: Quantum Entanglement, Science's Strangest Phenomenon

by Brian Clegg

The phenomenon that Einstein thought too spooky and strange to be trueWhat is entanglement? It's a connection between quantum particles, the building blocks of the universe. Once two particles are entangled, a change to one of them is reflected---instantly---in the other, be they in the same lab or light-years apart. So counterintuitive is this phenomenon and its implications that Einstein himself called it "spooky" and thought that it would lead to the downfall of quantum theory. Yet scientists have since discovered that quantum entanglement, the "God Effect," was one of Einstein's few---and perhaps one of his greatest---mistakes.What does it mean? The possibilities offered by a fuller understanding of the nature of entanglement read like something out of science communications devices that could span the stars, codes that cannot be broken, computers that dwarf today's machines in speed and power, teleportation, and more. In The God Effect, veteran science writer Brian Clegg has written an exceptionally readable and fascinating (and equation-free) account of entanglement, its history, and its application. Fans of Brian Greene and Amir Aczel and those interested in the marvelous possibilities coming down the quantum road will find much to marvel, illuminate, and delight.

Genres: Science, Physics, Nonfiction, Quantum Mechanics, Philosophy, Spirituality, Reference

289 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 27, 2006

About the author

Brian's latest books, Ten Billion Tomorrows and How Many Moons does the Earth Have are now available to pre-order. He has written a range of other science titles, including the bestselling Inflight Science, The God Effect, Before the Big Bang, A Brief History of Infinity, Build Your Own Time Machine and Dice World.

Along with appearances at the Royal Institution in London he has spoken at venues from Oxford and Cambridge Universities to Cheltenham Festival of Science, has contributed to radio and TV programmes, and is a popular speaker at schools. Brian is also editor of the successful www.popularscience.co.uk book review site and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Brian has Masters degrees from Cambridge University in Natural Sciences and from Lancaster University in Operational Research, a discipline originally developed during the Second World War to apply the power of mathematics to warfare. It has since been widely applied to problem solving and decision making in business.

Brian has also written regular columns, features and reviews for numerous publications, including Nature, The Guardian, PC Week, Computer Weekly, Personal Computer World, The Observer, Innovative Leader, Professional Manager, BBC History, Good Housekeeping and House Beautiful. His books have been translated into many languages, including German, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese, Polish, Turkish, Norwegian, Thai and even Indonesian.

Reviews

[Ron Wroblewski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny he should name the book "The God Effect" since he doesn't even mention God or Effect until the last 2 pages. I did learn the history of cryptography and computer development. I understood some of the experiments. Very little is said about time travel, and telepathy even thought time travel is mentioned on the cover. Teleportation takes up a chapter without a definite conclusion.
Not a keeper

[WarpDrive · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am really undecided about this book, which I really wanted to like.
To be honest, while there are some sections that are done brilliantly, there are unfortunately some examples/experiments that are not described clearly and where the hand-waving is really a bit too much. I did not particularly like the section on relativity either: I can easily remember several other books where relativity is explained still in a concise but in a much more clear manner.
In summary, I found that the book is uneven - some sections are good, others not so good. So, while I did not regret taking the time to read this book, I was left a bit unsatisfied.

[Blarg · Rating 2 out of 5]

(Cross-posted from my blog at http://thebartbooks.blogspot.com/2009...)

Anton Chekhov once said that if you say in the first chapter of your book that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off. In other words, if the gun is not going to be fired, it shouldn't be hanging prominently on the wall.

With that in mind, I looked forward to the author’s discussion of how quantum entanglement could be seen as evidence of an invisible space deity, and was seriously disappointed that he dedicated but a single sentence to the topic, saying in the preface that entanglement is “a physical phenomenon so strange and all pervasive that this book calls it “the God Effect.””

I found his use of the third person here quite odd. Why does “the book” call entanglement “the God Effect?” Did the book write itself? What does the author think? We never find out, and I suspect that the word was added to the title to be sensationalistic.

Much of the rest of the book was similarly unsatisfying. Some parts were clever and thorough and I was fascinated to learn that mirrors do not really “reflect” photons of light. Rather, each time a photon of light hits the surface of a mirror it is absorbed by an electron. Nearly instantaneously, the electron make a quantum leap to a higher energy state where it becomes unstable and emits a new (different) photon of light to stabilize itself.

That said, I got the feeling that the book was dictated to a research assistant while the author sat before a fireplace with a glass of wine: Many of the chapters started on one topic and then devolved into anecdotes or historical explanations only tangentially related to the concept at hand.

Other ideas were explained in a way that I can only describe as lazy in their reasoning. One example concerns the concept of whether light is a wave or particle, and the concept of superposition, which says that photons fly through the air not as a single particles but rather as a clouds of possibility that coalesce into physical states only when they are forced to, by third-party observation/interaction.

The author describes an experiment in which 45-degree-polarized photons are fired through three slots in different orientations and claims that the fact of some particles getting through the obstacle course proves the concept of superposition.

He may be right that superposition is why it happens but his explanation is incomplete at best. The way he describes the experiment, the answer to what happens could be as simple as “anytime a photon goes through a slot it become oriented such that it can only go through another slot oriented within 45 degrees of the previous slot.”

To make my point let’s imagine high speed racecars instead of photons going 200 mph traveling north through a pair of cones and then trying to make a quick 90 degree turn. They are unable to do it because they are going too fast. Then, we change the 90 degree turn into two 45 degree angle turns, spaced out. Does the fact that some cars are now able to make those two turns mean that they entered a superposition and were simultaneously heading north and east? No, of course not.

The point here is not that the experiment was wrong (I’ve read much better descriptions of this experiment and I’m grudgingly willing to accept its conclusion) but rather that the author does a poor job of explaining how he (or anyone) knows that probabilities in quantum physics are real.

Also frustrating is the fact that the author give no effort to explaining what he (or anyone) thinks is the actual, factual, physical cause of quantum entanglement and spooky action at a distance. How can someone write a book called “Quantum Entanglement, Science’s Strangest Phenomenon” and not discuss the how and why of two particles being separated by great distance, impacting each other simultaneously, seemingly faster than the speed of light?

My layman’s research into this topic is in its infancy, but even I have my wild guesses about what is going on with entanglement (more on that in another post). Unfortunately, this author was more interested in telling stories of the CERN laboratory, the history of the telegraph and typewriter, and explaining how entanglement impacts cryptography than he was in diving in to the meat of how spooky action at a distance works.

In the end I don’t recommend this book to anyone, other than perhaps to those seriously into cryptography. “The God Particle” isn’t a good first introduction to the concept of quantum entanglement and it isn’t a book that dives deeper into any particular concepts. It rants and rambles and tries to mesmerize but in the end failed to interest, intrigue or inspire me much at all, other than to look for more and better books on the subject.

[Sawyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought the book was pretty good and helped to give me a ok understanding of quantum entanglement which is till a little hard to understand. I also liked it a lot because it talked about Einstien and it showed how he didn't like the concept of it and tried to prove it wrong on several ocasions but only strengthend the theory

[George Lai · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read the first 3 chapters of the book’s total of 8 and I just don’t get it. I guess it got too “entangled” for me.

[Hanka Jirovská · Rating 5 out of 5]

A comprehensive study of entanglement and its consequences for real-world applications. Brian Clegg covers all the relevant topics in a very approachable way, providing the best overview I’ve come across so far. One has to keep in mind that the book was written in 2006; all of the discussed topics are still parts of evolving fields so not everything is exactly up to date. Still, if you’re ever interested in applications of the quantum theory (at least those applications with the highest potential up until now), this is the book I’d point you towards.

[Benjamin Pierce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable history of the discovery of quantum entanglement and a good primer on quantum encryption, quantum computing, and other future applications. Book is a bit dated, as it discusses the possibility of a Higgs Boson existing (whereas CERN confirmed it a few years back).

[S. Kallahan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great stuff. Exactly what I was looking for. For anyone interested in QE, a good starter book.

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

MIGHT ENTANGLEMENT MAKE TELEPORTATION & TIME TRAVEL POSSIBLE?

Author Brian Clegg wrote in the Preface to this 2006 book, “If you thought science was a predictable, commonsense business---maybe even a little dull---you haven’t encountered quantum entanglement. A physical phenomenon so strange and all pervasive that this book calls it ‘the God Effect,’ entanglement leaves common sense shattered… entanglement can reach instantaneously from one end of the universe to the other… entanglement has powerful potential uses from unbreakable encryption to teleportation. It’s the strangest effect in all of science, yet hardly anyone has heard of it… The topic of this book, quantum entanglement, takes the absurdities and delights … to a new level. Entanglement is remarkable in its own right, but even more amazing are the recent discoveries of real-world applications for this strange effect. Be prepared to encounter surprise and wonder.”

In the first chapter he explains, “Entanglement … refers to a very specific and strange concept, an idea so bizarre, so fundamental, and so far reaching that I have called it ‘the God Effect.’ Once two particles become entangled, it doesn’t matter where those particles are; they retain an immediate and powerful connection that can be harnessed to perform seemingly impossible tasks… The phenomenon at the heart of this book is a linkage between the incomprehensibly small particles that make up the world around us. At the quantum level, it is possible to link particles together so completely that the linked objects (photons, electrons, and atoms, for instance) become, to all intents and purposes, part of the same thing. Even if these entangled particles are then separated to opposite sides of the universe, they retain this strange connection. Make a change to one particle, and that change is instantly reflected in the other(s)---however far apart they may be. The God Effect has an unsettling omnipresence.” (Pg. 1-2)

He observes, “it is worth remembering that [Einstein’s] opposition to quantum theory did not go away just because he stopped coming up with new challenges. On September 7, 1944… he wrote to Max Born: ‘I [believe] in complete law and order in a world which objectively exists, and which I… am trying to capture… Even the great initial success of the quantum theory does not make me believe in the fundamental dice game…’ And as late as … just three years before his death, Einstein was still scathing on the subject of quantum theory: ‘The theory reminds me a little of the system of delusions of an exceedingly intelligent paranoic, concocted of incoherent elements of thoughts.’ For Einstein, quantum theory (and by implication entanglement) would never make sense.” (Pg. 43-44)

He explains, “It was not the existence of quantum theory per se that offended [John] Bell, but the fuzziness of what was said about it. He also felt that there was something missing. His natural inclination was to side with Einstein against the vast majority of physicists, in his criticism of the ideas at the heart of the quantum world. The purpose of his intervention in 1964 was to devise a new thought experiment that made it clearer that only if quantum theory was wrong would you have local reality—'reality’ here meaning that there were true, if hidden, values of what was being measured rather than a fuzzy probability distribution… However, many in the scientific community, happy that quantum theory explained the observed results and not wanting to be drawn into philosophical arguments, were prepared to accept Bohr’s point of view, without thinking about what this implied. As long as the result matched experiment, you could sweep under the carpet any discomfort caused by the interpretation.” (Pg. 48-49)

He notes, “What [Alain] Aspect’s experiments showed is that, beyond reasonable doubt, Bell’s theorem provided a successful confirmation of quantum theory. The experiment came up with the results predicted by the theory, demonstrating that Einstein’s assumption, that local reality always holds, is false. The phenomenon Einstein considered spooky action at a distance was real, not the unacceptable outcome in a thought experiment.” (Pg. 69)

He says, “ANY message traveling faster than light also travels backward in time. If entanglement did mean we could send messages with no transmission delay, at an infinite speed, we would have the technology to build an informational time machine.” (Pg. 127) He suggests, “When time travel, or the simpler concept of sending messages through time, is discussed, the whole idea is often dismissed because of a lack of evidence. If it were possible to send messages back in time, surely we would be flooded with messages from the future?... The realities of relativity mean that an instant message can never travel back to a point in time before the launch of the probe that relays it. We have to have already built the technology before we can receive messages from the future. This is an extreme version of the technique, necessary to produce large-scale time slips… to activate the paradox of the machine that switches itself off before it sent the message that would activate the switch… this technique would make it possible to distort the very fabric of reality. IF there were a way of sending a truly instant message.” (Pg. 139-140)

He continues, “Yes, it’s true---if you could send a genuinely instantaneous message … it would be received before it was sent. Yes, it’s true---the spooky link of entanglement simply disregards distance and acts immediately. But however hard you try, it is not going to be possible to make use of that link to send a message… The only way to get anything usable out of entanglement is to communicate SOMETHING in a conventional way as well, and that takes you back down to light speed at best.” (Pg. 144)

He acknowledges, “should a quantum computer appear by magic on the desk of a computer scientist, its ability to factor large primes would have both a real potential for causing chaos and the capacity to transform the business of search. ‘Appear by magic’ is about as far as we’ve got right now. There is no such thing as a quantum computer to run these clever programs on… We have already seen that entanglement is needed to make superdense coding possible. In fact, there seems to be no way to have a working quantum computer at all WITHOUT making use of entanglement...” (Pg. 187)

He observes, “The reason so much work has been put into quantum computers without them even existing is that… most developments in quantum computing are entirely separate from the technology. Quantum computing and its benefits can be described with math and a knowledge of quantum mechanics alone. The technology to make it a physical reality may take a long time to perfect, but it will come. This is likely to take ten to twenty years, or even a more pessimistic one hundred years, but the clock is ticking.” (Pg. 191-192)

He considers teleportation: “Thanks to the uncertainty principle, the only way you can teleport a particle, the only way you can apply its state to another particle remotely, is if you can manage to do this without ever finding out what the particle is really like… entanglement enables us to strip the state from one particle and transfer it to another, without ever knowing what that state is. If this seems paradoxically insoluble, we should remember that entanglement is all about making paradoxes real. The trick here is to use two sets of information, one transmitted by the spooky quantum link of entanglement but never observed by anyone, the other known and sent by a conventional channel---say, by radio… No one ever finds out what is communicated by the entanglement link, so the quantum state isn’t disturbed by it. When you get down to detail, quantum teleportation has a very real resemblance to a magic trick---you need to keep an extra particle up your sleeve… At the receiver end, the second entangled particle is modified by the information sent across the radio link---the information that is known. Now the receiver particle has become, to all intents and purposes, the same particle that was originally examined at the transmitter.” (Pg. 208-210)

But he admits, “even if there can never be ‘real’ teleportation of physical objects, it doesn’t mean that this isn’t a development of great importance. Teleportation even in its limited form will prove vitally useful in making quantum computers real… Can we ever use teleportation on solid objects with structure---perhaps even with life? Even for a single particle this is a nontrivial challenge. Teleportation experiments to date have focused on a single property of a particle… but to truly teleport a particle it would be necessary to teleport all the properties separately. As Professor Artur Ekert comments, ‘This is mathematically possible, but it may be way more difficult to do it in the lab!’” (Pg. 212-213) He adds, “There’s a long way to go down a path that could see the transportation of a living creature, however simple. The process would have to begin with something like a tiny crystal, move on to a virus… and eventually work up to a bacterium… And the leap from there to large-scale life, such as a human being, is even greater and probably will never be practical.” (Pg. 215)

He points out, “Quantum science has to accept that the experimenter exists and is part of the experiment, an acknowledgement that appeals to the postmodernist urge to deny the existence of objectivity… this ‘fluffiness’ appeals to some who argue that quantum physics ties in well with traditional Eastern philosophy and religions… Perhaps the strongest influence on the idea that quantum theory is somehow a vindication of ancient Eastern wisdom was a book called ‘The Dancing Wu Li masters,’ written by Gary Zukav… Zukav’s book was very successful but, though it did bring aspects of modern physics to readers who had never heard of them before, it would also inevitably have made scientists even more wary of quantum entanglement being picked up by the lunatic fringe…” (Pg. 237)

He concludes, “Quantum encryption, quantum computing, and quantum teleportation could be just the start of the new quantum revolution. Through quantum entanglement, new quantum effects are exploding onto the practical world scene. There can be little doubt that quantum entanglement, the God Effect, IS the next big thing.” (Pg. 245)

This book will be of keen interest to those seeking speculative ideas about quantum theory, and particularly quantum entanglement.

[Bryan Higgs · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been trying, of late, to learn something about quantum entanglement. You'd think that this subject would have lots of books written about it, given that its basic discovery was made close to 100 years ago, and is intertwined with the famous. celebrated arguments between Einstein, who never really liked the ideas of quantum theory -- probability, God playing dice with the world, and all that), and Bohr, who was the champion of the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics, and one of its originators. But there don't seem to be many books on quantum entanglement, and too many of them were written a long time ago. There have been recent experiments performed and achievements made in quantum computing, and in electro-optics that you would think would cry out for a more up-to-date treatment.
So, I had hopes for this book, published in 2006. Unfortunately, its coverage is uneven, and it is rather heavy on history. It is relatively wide-ranging, and many of its descriptions are difficult to follow -- perhaps endemic to the subject. I think it needs an updated edition that updates based on some of the more recent discoveries/experimental achievements.
I note that at least one review in Goodreads said that the book was rather too mathematical. Strange, since there are basically no equations in the book. There are some descriptions of experiments (many very old ones), and some even have diagrams -- a rarity in such books; I like the presence of images rather than longwinded prose descriptions which so many books seem prone to.

The book was good, but it didn't satisfy my need to learn more about quantum entanglement so I can get a better understanding about it. Of course, that may be the point: It's a very difficult subject.

[charlotté · Rating 4 out of 5]

Das Buch bietet, finde ich, eine anschauliche Einführung in das Phänomen der Quantenverschränkung und richtet sich an ein breites Publikum ohne tiefgehende Vorkenntnisse in Physik. Was an sich erstmal gut ist. Dass der Autor die historischen Entwicklungen erklärt, beginnend mit Einsteins berühmter Skepsis gegenüber der Quantenmechanik, bis hin zu modernen Anwendungen in Quantencomputing und Kryptographie, finde ich wirklich erstaunlich gut. Besonders Einsteins Kritik an der Verschränkung als "spukhafte Fernwirkung" wird thematisiert, allerdings eher oberflächlich behandelt.
Die Darstellung vermeidet weitgehend mathematische Details, was den Zugang erleichtert, aber für Leser mit physikalischem Hintergrund unbefriedigend sein könnte. Zudem wird gelegentlich eine sensationelle Sprache verwendet, die das Thema dramatisiert, ohne immer wissenschaftlich präzise zu bleiben.

Trotz dieser Schwächen ist das Buch eine unterhaltsame und informative Lektüre, was von meiner Seite aus wirklich als großes Lob angesehen werden kann, weil ich ansonsten immer kritisch gegenüber derartigen Büchern bin. Den Autor kannte ich tatsächlich auch noch nicht. Was ich an seiner Stelle wahrscheinlich noch ergänzt hätte, wären mehr Einstein Zitierung, weil diese an vielen Stellen wirklich sehr gepasst hätten.

[YHC · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each time I read a book about quantum physics, I get to understand more and more even though it is very slow to puzzle up a whole picture (due to my limited knowledge of math and physics).
This book helped me to understand the meaning of quantum entanglement and the usage in the future.
When we can master this entanglement, we will be able to use it on encryption. For 2 sides of the sender and receiver, the entanglement provides a perfect encryption system if they understand the rules. This system is very different from how Bitcoin uses now as encryption. So far Bitcoin's system (Block chain : thanks to the book 区块链：从数字货币到信用社会 I read previously i learned a lot about Bitcoin encryption)

The second part of the book was on History of telegraph and early computer(punching card machine), it even mentioned about the book i read yesterday. The Victorian Internetwhat a coincidence!

However, if the quantum computer is invented and used wildly, then it will break Bitcoin's encryption instantly with the simultaneously power. People don't see what the impact of quantum computer in use, it would be real God effect!

[Science and Fiction · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are a casual enthusiast of matters scientific there are certainly authors who are more entertaining (Michio Kaku) or more provocative (Sabine Hossenfelder), but Clegg writes with clarity and focus and, despite numerous tangential asides, always manages to keep to a logical progression of ideas. If you are a more serious reader then you know that a book written in 2006 will already be dated in some regards.

There is a lot of history here, especially the ‘animus’ between Einstein and Niels Bohr, but also unexpected detours into ciphers (the very first being the Spartan’s scytale), game theory, and quantum encryption. There is also a detailed explanation of beam slitting to propagate entangled photons.

I did notice that each chapter starts out rather optimistically about possibilities, but by the end we discover that most of these are impractical or half-baked ideas. In other words, don’t expect a Star Trek transporter anytime this century!

[Trung · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is probably the best introduction to the many quirks of quantum mechanics I have read so far. It remains non-technical while providing relatively understandable descriptions for spooky effects and the uncertainty principle.

I would have rated this 5 stars (because I learned a bit from it) had the author not gone on and on about a lot of topics that have little to do with physics, such as the origin of intelligence and computations. The book is about at least three times longer than it should be as a result.

[C.A. Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

For what it is, this is very readable. Even though I've read a lot on quantum physics over the years, my understanding of quantum entanglement was very superficial, and limited just to the concept of two particles once entangled and separated maintaining an opposite spin to one another. This book took that concept and applied it to things like quantum computing, theoretical informational time travel, and other such concepts. I took notes and may use some of these concepts in an upcoming book...

[El · Rating 3 out of 5]

Learned a lot about Cryptography and QE unfortunately writing was little off. It tries to be about QE but the God Effect isn't mentioned until last pages random anecdotes on research paper like book was weird as well. I still don't understand the views and understandings of the author on this theory.

[Daniel de Lisle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Highly recommended for the aspiring Physicist. For the lay reader it is however a little too academic. That said it is very well written and gave insight into the rapid advances in human knowledge of the world around us and of future advances to come. Just not the read I was looking for.

[Krantz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely mind blowing...

[Joseph Allocca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. Some parts went over my head so a background in physics is recommended

[Andy Schwartz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting book about the world of quantum and it's potential consequences

[Chris Seifert · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was fine. Petered out after 2/3s in, lost interest and stopped reading lol

[Boone Aamodt · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are interested in quantum entanglement, this book presents a fairly easy to understand presentation with little use of mathematical formulas.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Clegg book talks about an amazing aspect of quantum theory, which is that when two particles are created that are linked, or entangled, in spin or some other property, and then separated, and then when the spin of one particle is observed the spin of the other is automatically determined no matter how far away it is. This seems to violate the notion of local causality (not to mention the speed of light). The concept was dismissed by most physicists from the start (even Richard Feynman thought it bogus), but was experimentally demonstrated right around when I was in grad school. So much of the science is pretty new to me, which is why I enjoyed reading this so much.

The book has two problems though. One is that it goes off into long historical tangents, such as the history of cryptography. These get a bit boring, especially when you're chomping at the bit to see what cool things entanglement can do in the new cryptography.

The other problem, which is a bit more serious I think, is that it downplays some of the controversial aspects, such as the fact that nobody has yet shown that information can actually be transmitted faster than the speed of light this way. All the schemes you can think of to transmit information requiring sending a particle or light "classically" first.

Everybody knows the speed of light is the absolute limit, right? But actually there are some phenomena that can seem to travel at faster than the speed of light, it's just they don't transmit any information. If you want an example, think of shining a light beam on a moving object. The shadow cast by the object, if you go far enough away, will seem to be moving at faster than the speed of light. Of course, in this case, nothing real is actually moving - but you get the idea. Processes involving changes in light phase are a more interesting example - the phase velocity in some materials can be faster than light speed, but again, no information is transmitted.

But that doesn't mean there aren't a lot of interesting potential applications. Clegg covers a number of them in an interesting and engaging way.

[Roger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quantum Mechanics eerie phenomenon (one of the many) - quantum entanglement - is being described in this book that is clearly written for the non-hardcore-scientist (eg. me). That being said the reader can't just sit back and enjoy the ride, some thinking is necessary and since the topic is part of Quantum Mechanics one needs to be prepared to have ones brain twisted into a pretzel.

The chapters describe possible uses for the entanglement effect and why it is so fiendishly difficult to make it work. I personally was looking for a way to bypass the speed of light barrier using quantum entanglement for instant communication - alas, not gonna happen ... darn you, Einstein!!

What I DID find though was one of the the best (meaning that even I understood it) descriptions of Heisenbergs uncertainty principle I've so far come across.

A decent read for the science inclined reader - I would have like some more detail but that probably would have lost me.

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm constantly impressed by Brian Clegg's ability capture both the science and the fact of tricky phenomenon. It's not pedantic but necessary to spend fifty pages on the differences between a model and observed fact when talking about something like the quantum behavior of photons going through polarizing filters. I recall having seen the Bell Inequality and eventual Bell Experiments before but the treatment here is phenomenal.

The digression regarding the history of cryptography was largely unnecessary whereas the glossing over of quantum sorting algorithms seemed like the author playing to his strengths.

Finally, the title is a crappy one and the logical connection a bit tortured.

[Gary · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you know anything about quantum entanglement already you will not learning anything new from this book....well that may be a bit harsh. There might be twenty to thirty pages of information on entanglement itself the rest is a history of other topics in which entanglement could be exploited. It for some reason includes a whole chapter (out of 8) about the possibility of sending information instantaneously when he has already proved that no information can transfered through entangled particles. Frustrating.... Although the second and third chapters are worth a read.

[Ogi Ogas · Rating 5 out of 5]

My ratings of books on Goodreads are solely a crude ranking of their utility to me, and not an evaluation of literary merit, entertainment value, social importance, humor, insightfulness, scientific accuracy, creative vigor, suspensefulness of plot, depth of characters, vitality of theme, excitement of climax, satisfaction of ending, or any other combination of dimensions of value which we are expected to boil down through some fabulous alchemy into a single digit.

[MikeFromQueens · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was not terribly impressed. This book further solidified my belief that the Higgs Boson does not exit, nor does dark matter, but that these are constructs to fill in the gaps in theories where observations cannot be explained. Some areas were truly ridiculous to even read, such as teleportation. Action at a distance? Show me.

[Chad Carlock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read. Focuses more on potential applications than theory (since we don't really understand the whys and how's of quantum mechanics anyway), but an interesting survey of what is and is not possible.

[Dax]

I'm reading this based on a reference to entanglement by Ray Kurzweil.