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Understanding Our Unseen Reality: Solving Quantum Riddles
This captivating book presents a new, unified picture of the everyday world around us. It provides rational, scientific support for the idea that there may well be more to our reality than meets the eye…
Accessible and engaging for readers with no prior knowledge of quantum physics, author Ruth Kastner draws on the popular transactional interpretation of quantum mechanics to explain our ‘quantum reality.’ Her book focuses on modern-day examples and deals with big philosophical questions as well as ideas from physics.
If you have any interest in quantum physics, this book is for you — whether you be a physics student or academic, or simply an inquisitive reader who wants to delve deeper into the reality of the world around you.
Dr Ruth Kastner has received two National Science Foundation awards for the study of interpretational issues in quantum theory.
Accessible and engaging for readers with no prior knowledge of quantum physics, author Ruth Kastner draws on the popular transactional interpretation of quantum mechanics to explain our ‘quantum reality.’ Her book focuses on modern-day examples and deals with big philosophical questions as well as ideas from physics.
If you have any interest in quantum physics, this book is for you — whether you be a physics student or academic, or simply an inquisitive reader who wants to delve deeper into the reality of the world around you.
Dr Ruth Kastner has received two National Science Foundation awards for the study of interpretational issues in quantum theory.
250 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 26, 2015
26 people are currently reading
84 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 15, 2020
I didn't know much about the Transactional Interpretation before reading this book, and I appreciated the author's attention to detail and the step-by-step walk-through of concepts for those of us who lack graduate-level physics. My workplace, where I'm a librarian who liaises to the physics department, has put quantum science on its top priority list, so I've been trying to read widely to understand more about the conversation — my background is strongest in astrophysics/cosmology/astronomy because astro was my minor way back in college. I'd recommend reading this to anyone who is doing similar professional development.
The framing of the narrative around Plato's Cave was interesting, and I had never seen a physicist quote from the Hermetica before in a beginning-of-chapter quote, which delighted me. The appendix on free will was very interesting — I think to go back to the heavy use of Plato's Cave in the book, it would have been interesting to see Kastner look at the Myth of Er and lots, but perhaps I've just got Proclus' commentary on the Myth of Er too fresh in my mind. I'm reading Proclus' Timaeus commentary right now and have found it enriching to co-read science writing — I did, in fact, draw bow-ties in the margins at 236.15-30 of the Runia/Share translation of Book II — because even though the cosmology in the Timaeus is geocentric, the underlying concepts discussed by Plato and drawn out by the commentators are useful in thinking conceptually about our observations and "likely accounts" of the quantum and classical world around us. I'll be thinking about the intersections between TI and what I'm reading in Late Antique philosophical commentaries a lot!
The framing of the narrative around Plato's Cave was interesting, and I had never seen a physicist quote from the Hermetica before in a beginning-of-chapter quote, which delighted me. The appendix on free will was very interesting — I think to go back to the heavy use of Plato's Cave in the book, it would have been interesting to see Kastner look at the Myth of Er and lots, but perhaps I've just got Proclus' commentary on the Myth of Er too fresh in my mind. I'm reading Proclus' Timaeus commentary right now and have found it enriching to co-read science writing — I did, in fact, draw bow-ties in the margins at 236.15-30 of the Runia/Share translation of Book II — because even though the cosmology in the Timaeus is geocentric, the underlying concepts discussed by Plato and drawn out by the commentators are useful in thinking conceptually about our observations and "likely accounts" of the quantum and classical world around us. I'll be thinking about the intersections between TI and what I'm reading in Late Antique philosophical commentaries a lot!
July 17, 2020
The good: a clear explanation of transactional interpretation, with which I was relatively unfamiliar until now; good examples of how it clears up and solves some outstanding issues in QM; a decent overview of quantum information/computing.
The bad: an entirely embarrassing chapter on free will (essentially, the irreducibility of qualia is taken as axiomatic, leading to wild and woolly speculation on the quantum origins of consciousness and volition full on with the equivalence of random outcomes and free will and a full-blown affirmation of duality). It is perhaps of some value as speculation, but unconvincing and ignores plenty of problems and proposed solutions. And it creates a feeling that the motivation for this interpretation is at least in part due to the desire to affirm non-local nature of consciousness, free will and all that. Perhaps a laudable goal, but one that is not entirely waterproof.
Also, too many mentions of subjects that are NOT discussed in the book: we are referred to a blog post for a "refutation" of the Everett interpretation; Maudlin's significant objections to transactional interpretation are mentioned once but not discussed at all--if space and scope were of concern, a discussion of them would have worked great replacing the aforementioned free will chapter.
Ah well: one has to take the good and the bad. I am on to a more rigorous treatment of the subject by the same author, as well as Maudlin's original text. So at the very least, this stimulated my brain and piqued my interest.
The bad: an entirely embarrassing chapter on free will (essentially, the irreducibility of qualia is taken as axiomatic, leading to wild and woolly speculation on the quantum origins of consciousness and volition full on with the equivalence of random outcomes and free will and a full-blown affirmation of duality). It is perhaps of some value as speculation, but unconvincing and ignores plenty of problems and proposed solutions. And it creates a feeling that the motivation for this interpretation is at least in part due to the desire to affirm non-local nature of consciousness, free will and all that. Perhaps a laudable goal, but one that is not entirely waterproof.
Also, too many mentions of subjects that are NOT discussed in the book: we are referred to a blog post for a "refutation" of the Everett interpretation; Maudlin's significant objections to transactional interpretation are mentioned once but not discussed at all--if space and scope were of concern, a discussion of them would have worked great replacing the aforementioned free will chapter.
Ah well: one has to take the good and the bad. I am on to a more rigorous treatment of the subject by the same author, as well as Maudlin's original text. So at the very least, this stimulated my brain and piqued my interest.
February 26, 2025
I'm a huge fan of any book that makes quantum physics accessible - I've always felt that the field is unnecessarily littered with jargons and complicated ideas when the premise is simple.
This book breaks all the ideas down into easy language, is well-illustrated, and also introduces the novel idea of the Transactional Interpretation, which like all other theories of everything, is worth exploring just for the avenues of curiosity and inspiration it opens up.
This book breaks all the ideas down into easy language, is well-illustrated, and also introduces the novel idea of the Transactional Interpretation, which like all other theories of everything, is worth exploring just for the avenues of curiosity and inspiration it opens up.
August 1, 2017
Fascinating
This is a subject involving material that is difficult to get one's head around. At least I can now say that I have read a book about quantum physics, and I know more about it now than I did when I started.
This is a subject involving material that is difficult to get one's head around. At least I can now say that I have read a book about quantum physics, and I know more about it now than I did when I started.
May 22, 2017
Interesting - resolves some of the major conceptual dilemmas in the field of quantum mechanics and provides a new (to me) way of thinking about the very notions of time and space - a way that connects nicely to the most fruitful philosophical thought on those topics.
For me, Kastner seems to have what I consider to be an unfortunate view of her own descriptions - that is, she seems to still be held by notions of objectivity beyond agreement and truth beyond usefulness - which is to say that she seems to have an unRortian attitude toward Kuhn and toward the relationship between language and the events of the world. Still, her view of reality (which includes the notion of physically real events that transcend the spacetime construct - that can be considered either "everywhere" or "nowhere") seems to me to be scientifically, philosophically, spiritually, and poetically useful and beautiful.
For me, Kastner seems to have what I consider to be an unfortunate view of her own descriptions - that is, she seems to still be held by notions of objectivity beyond agreement and truth beyond usefulness - which is to say that she seems to have an unRortian attitude toward Kuhn and toward the relationship between language and the events of the world. Still, her view of reality (which includes the notion of physically real events that transcend the spacetime construct - that can be considered either "everywhere" or "nowhere") seems to me to be scientifically, philosophically, spiritually, and poetically useful and beautiful.
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March 23, 2016530.12 K1945 2015
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews