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New Scientist: Instant Expert

The Trouble With Reality: Inside the disturbing world of quantum theory

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Forget everything you thought you knew about reality.

The world is a seriously bizarre place. Things can exist in two places at once and travel backwards and forwards in time. Waves and particles are one and the same, and objects change their behavior according to whether they are being watched.

This is not some alternative universe but the realm of the very small, where quantum mechanics rules. In this weird world of atoms and their constituents, our common sense understanding of reality breaks down - yet quantum mechanics has never failed an experimental test.

What does it all mean?

For all its weirdness, quantum mechanics has given us many practical technologies including lasers and the transistors that underlie computers and all digital technology. In the future, it promises computers more powerful than any built before, the ability to communicate with absolute privacy, and even quantum teleportation.

The Quantum World explores the past, present and future of quantum science, its applications and mind-bending implications. Discover how ideas from quantum mechanics are percolating out into the vast scale of the cosmos - perhaps, in the future, to reveal a new understanding of the big bang and the nature of space and time.

ABOUT THE SERIES
New Scientist Instant Expert books are definitive and accessible entry points to the most important subjects in science; subjects that challenge, attract debate, invite controversy and engage the most enquiring minds. Designed for curious readers who want to know how things work and why, the Instant Expert series explores the topics that really matter and their impact on individuals, society, and the planet, translating the scientific complexities around us into language that's open to everyone, and putting new ideas and discoveries into perspective and context.

224 pages, Paperback

Published March 21, 2017

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New Scientist

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
Profile Image for S.A  Reidman.
322 reviews8 followers
October 10, 2025
Lazy Researcher Review: Listen Albert Einstein Vs Neil Bohr, Schroedinger vs that student who basically inspired him to go on a ski trip and theorize on that cat, Einstein Vs Schroedinger, etc etc. Quantum Theory and Quantum Mechanics is so dramatic I'd pay to watch theorists go mad and enter the ring. Wave vs Duality.
"Einstein could not accept the outrageous randomness and unknowability of quantum mechanics, so he attacked the theory by devising a series of ingenious thought experiments". (Daniel Brühl can play Neil Bohr in the film)

Information Accessibility scale:
Let's talk level of effort here: Passive vs Active.
■1.Bob Ross- don't overthink it, paint it and just enjoy vibe.
■2. Crash Course TV: Phil Plait and team bite-size digestible chunks
■3.Bill Nye, Neil de Grasse Tyson glossy tv style appeal, a touch data bulky but very edutaining ******
■4.Feynman, Hawking, Einstein, Kaku, Curie data, concept, theory heavy degrees non-negotiable
■5.Christopher Nolan gloriously mind-bending, time-bending, sanity-bending fck your degree and linear thought

LEVEL: We are nesting at 3

Rabbithole Worthy or Nah?
It's Quantumn Theory. "Most theories are built on a solid foundation of first principles – not so quantum theory" and doesn't that just pique your curiosity?

If you're even a teenie tiny bit scifi inclined, maybe you tried to build a faraday cage as a kid or you're into Discworld or you watched the movie about the atom bomb with Cillian Murphy in it (don't make me say it) or whatever - this is the rabbithole you'll gladly fall into. Red shoes on, no Kansas in sight.

Spotlight on Theorists:   
Legends of this field emerged from the Solvay Conference in Brussels where 17 attendees would go on to become Nobel Peace Prize Winners.
"Quantum theory has never failed an experimental test. [...] Even today, we know of no natural law that prevents quantum mechanics from being true at the level of the universe.". (Vindication! )

Significant Concept:
■Faraday's Magic vs Einsteins complaint of "Spooky Magic" vs Schroedinger's Cat
■ Dueling over Duality: Wave vs Particle, Philosophers Vs Physicists.
■ Hilbert Space
■Quantum Revolution

OVERALL: So many theories, so little time (but time is a daydream) so here are the basics.
🖤Einsteins paper on photoelectric effect is a major propeller for QM
🖤Schroedinger's cat exposed the absurdity of QM.
🖤Planck aka Grandpa QM noted quanta - energy in discrete packets,
🖤Durac took Heisenberg, Schroedinger's, Einstein theories and married them leading to antiparticles
🖤Wolfgang Pauli and his principle of exclusion leading to our understanding of matter.
🖤Arthur Compton - yeah he was missing from the Oppenheimer movie despite playing a key role in the Manhattan Project
🖤De Broglie among other things is a founding father of CERN.

StoryGraph Challenge: 1800 Books by 2025
Challenge Prompt: 150 Non-Fiction (Sciences) books by 2025
Profile Image for Steph Bateman.
48 reviews5 followers
January 20, 2022
It got a bit deep at times, but that's the nature of the subject. If you're not confused when reading about quantum physics then you're probably a genius. 💖 I enjoyed it overall and it's a good introduction to the subject.
Profile Image for Tzu.
251 reviews16 followers
September 16, 2018
Perfect for anyone wanting to learn more about Quantum Physics, this is a good introduction. The content is close to being exhaustive while retaining complicated matter at the surface of things and thus making it understandable and approachable for newbies like us. It also covers many accurate topics while orchestrating the whole setting that makes up for the modern Quantum World that we know today.

If you are an advanced physicist or researcher, this book is nothing but repetition.

No maths were covered either.
Profile Image for Janice.
34 reviews
August 8, 2017
I won my copy from a Goodreads giveaway.

Take everything you think you know about Physics and throw it out the window...This book is a great primer on the history and general principles of quantum mechanics and will change the way you look at the world around you. As Niels Bohr famously said: "If quantum mechanics hasn't profoundly shocked you, you haven't understood it yet."
Profile Image for Eva Filoramo.
Author 10 books6 followers
June 30, 2018
It's an up-to-date review of what's hot in quantum information, as well as a documented essay about quantum theory history. Weird enough, some fundamental definitions are missing, such as what is the EPR paradox (it's everywhere in the book, but never cleary explained), but it's an interesting and informed reading, anyway.
Profile Image for Mario Bosnar.
Author 1 book
October 18, 2020
Not the best book out there. Talks more about the achievements and the products this theory brought us than the theory itself
Profile Image for Mack .
1,497 reviews57 followers
March 24, 2021
Lots of practical uses of quantum theory, like computing. Plenty of theory, too.
Profile Image for Dani.
145 reviews4 followers
October 24, 2021
A great stepping stone for anyone who wants to understand quantum mechanics
15 reviews
November 30, 2024
I think the most life changing discovery in physics was wave-particle light duality. It shakes to the core of reality. All this time humans had an obsession to certainty of anything, and Newtonian mechanics provided that. Ever since, physicists believed in something called determinism, the philosophy that all future events can be accurately predicted.

Then the light duality challenges the status quo for all we know based on Newtonian mechanics, even divides physicists into two groups of beliefs. Light as wave by Maxwell and light as particle or photon by Planck and einstein. Became the greatest debate in intellectual history, Even more phenomenal than the AC-DC war of tesla and edison. Because it argues at a deeper level, the most fundamental with deeper consequences for understanding our world, from deterministic to probabilistic. And established a different branch in physics called quantum mechanics.

How do you feel when what you believed all along turns out not to be the only truth, merely just a single piece of something bigger and bizarre? It’s mostly uncomfortable at first, makes us rethink everything, and challenges us to see reality differently.

Like how particles such as electrons or photons can be in two places at once? That’s called superposition, a fundamental idea in quantum mechanics. We couldn’t know for certain precisely where an electron was. All we could know was the probability of finding it as codified by Werner Heisenberg's uncertainty principle.

This leads to a paradox, where in the macroscopic world we live in, this scenario seems absurd. We humans can’t be in two places at the same time. Yet, in the quantum realm, this duality is a reality. It has profound implications, for example in quantum computing that leverages superposition and entanglement (2 key principles of quantum mechanics), they can perform complex calculations at unimaginable speeds for classical computers.

And other implications, like quantum biology, quantum information and also quantum cosmos, as discussed in this book, which comprehensively explain evolution of quantum mechanics in a brief, structural way and are easy to follow.
Profile Image for Septia K..
51 reviews13 followers
October 17, 2018
Dunia ini aneh; tidak hanya soal perilaku manusianya yang sulit sekali diatur, fenomena alamnya yang tidak mampu diprediksi, namun juga hal-hal mikroskopis yang belum mampu diindera oleh mata manusia.
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Partikel dan gelombang adalah satu. Partikel dapat berada pada dua tempat dalam waktu bersamaan. Partikel mengubah perilakunya sesuai pengamatan yang dilakukan.
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Pada dunia makroskopis tempat kita tinggal, perilaku objek dapat diperkirakan. Jika kita tahu masa lalu dan masa kini, kita dapat menebak bagaimana masa depannya; sesuatu yang disebut ekstrapolasi. Namun pada ranah kuantum, di mana objek seukuran sebuah elektron, aturan tersebut menjadi tidak berlaku. Segalanya menjadi acak (chaos) dan tidak dapat diperkirakan.
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Buku ini menjadi pengantar yang baik bagi siapa saja yang ingin mengenal fisika kuantum, sebuah bidang ilmu yang cukup membingungkan namun berdampak sangat besar pada kemajuan teknologi saat ini. Dibuka dengan sejarah penemuan fisika modern dan kuantum, perkembangan, hingga hasil yang diberikannya kepada umat manusia.
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Tidak ada persamaan matematis. Tidak ada definisi mengenai sebagian teorinya, padahal disebut cukup banyak dalam buku. Bagi yang sudah sering menamatkan buku serupa, buku ini hanya semacam perulangan saja dengan beberapa tambalan baru di sana-sini.
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Tapi saya tetap suka. Tentu saja banyak hal baru yang saya dapatkan dari buku ini. Misal, jarang-jarang buku berbau kuantum menyajikan pembahasan mengenai transistor dan semikonduktor, juga fotosintesis dan mutasi DNA, padahal mereka itu seperti jari tengah dan telunjuk; dekat sekali.
93 reviews
November 15, 2025
I listened to this book on audio and found it surprisingly accessible. Complex ideas were broken down into clear, layman-friendly explanations that made the subject matter easy to follow.

However, things took a noticeably bizarre turn when the discussion shifted to the multiverse. While imaginative and thought-provoking, those sections felt more speculative and outlandish compared to the grounded explanations earlier in the book. Depending on the listener, that might be intriguing—or it might feel like the book drifts into territory that’s a bit hard to take seriously.

Overall, it’s an engaging listen with plenty of interesting insights, especially if you enjoy learning about complex topics in a straightforward way.
Profile Image for Matthew.
Author 3 books4 followers
May 15, 2024
I recently read a fascinating book that delves into the concepts of quantum physics in a way that sparked my imagination. This book should not be mistaken for a scientific journal, but rather as a source of inspiration and ideas. It prompted me to explore peer-reviewed research and even dabble in quantum computing, albeit with limited success. I appreciate books like this because they fuel my imagination and offer a glimpse into a world that could be. In many ways, I see this book as akin to hard science fiction. It's an eye-opening and thought-provoking read that I highly recommend to anyone interested in the possibilities of the quantum world.
Profile Image for Steve Klemz.
262 reviews15 followers
May 12, 2019
Every few years I read something on Quantum Theory. I always end up shaking my head, this stuff cant possible be true. Entanglement, superposition, decoherence and that poor cat of Schrodinger. Is information lost in a black hole. Are there multiple universes? Quantum theory is where science and god really meet. Believing in either takes a leap of faith. I'll keep checking in every few years, but likely it will only get weirder and weirder.
Profile Image for Loz.
145 reviews5 followers
February 5, 2023
Some really great introductions to quantum concepts but if I had no previous knowledge of quantum physics this book would not have been it.

Also a pet peeve of mine is when people talk about morality and ethics in science when it's not related to an actual experiment.

Anyway, good book, just that you should know a little before you pick it up
31 reviews
April 6, 2019
A fun and accessible book on a tricky subject.
I must go back and read this again.
Profile Image for Niladri.
9 reviews1 follower
July 25, 2021
Excellent intro to a world that arguably forms the basis of all physical reality!
Profile Image for Sebastian.
17 reviews1 follower
January 30, 2022
A perfect introduction the world of quantum physics, turns extremely complex concepts into easily digestible lessons.
22 reviews
July 27, 2023
Better than you could imagine. Perfect books on these subjects do exist!
21 reviews
November 26, 2024
Interesting Read

Interesting read. There were bits I understood and (at the same time) bits that I didn't. Pretty much what you'd expect from a quantum primer.
7 reviews
April 8, 2025
lovely book that left me with more questions than answers
Profile Image for Damon Boyle.
7 reviews2 followers
April 12, 2020
Really nice. Went much deeper into the relationship between QM and GR than I expected, pleasant surprise.
934 reviews11 followers
August 13, 2017
THE TROUBLE WITH REALITY: INSIDE THE DISTURBING WORLD OF QUANTUM THEORY by New Scientist magazine, is a book that will move you. Either it will move you to try to understand the concepts surrounding subatomic particles, their interactions and how this is leading to a greater understanding of the world, or it will move you to cuss a blue streak, hurl the book at the wall and storm off to get several strong drinks.
Or both.
I will admit that I didn't understand this book on the first read. I got a little more warm to the concepts after the third or fourth go through, but I still don't understand it all. I suppose I'm too grounded in the reality of family and work and trying to enjoy a summer day than wondering how the universe works in such minute ways.
This is a very good introduction to the field of quantum mechanics, although the part of the book cover that says "Instant Expert" is misleading. Instant expert? Really guys? No one is an instant expert in this field. In fact it feels as if the only experts are those who have given up trying to understand it and have accepted the strange and seemingly arbitrary rules associated with this alien world within.
Take the multiple universe concept. Every action you take causes multiple other universes to form, some in which you have taken the action, others where you did not, other where the situation was avoided, etc., etc., etc.
Do you cut the blue wire or the red? Universes arise.
Did you notice the yellow wire? More universes.
Did you let the drop of sweat drip off your nose, shake your head to free it into space, use the back of your hand to wipe it away, or notice it at all. Multiple, multiple, multiple.
Every decision you make, or don't make, or should have made but didn't think of, leads to multiple pathways in multiple universes. Utopias are created and hells are unleashed, all though your decision.
But it is not just your decisions, it is everyone's decisions.
And with the concept of the multiverse, you never know what you have unleashed in all the rest of the universes.
And you don't know if you are a part of the original or merely some bizarro offshoot from what was meant to be reality. Come to think of it, that might help explain the state of American politics in 2017.
And it is not just humans, but all living things, all contributing to the ongoing creation of trillions and trillions and trillions of other universes. The concept is overwhelming.
Which leads us back to one of the first tools in the logisticians box of tricks. Occam's Razor.
The theory of multiple universes makes us all into gods creating no one knows what out there (or in here or around the dimensional corner) and with or without the rules we come to recognize here.
If there really is a here.
So perhaps we could lay off the multiple realities for a bit and start working on quantum teleportation because that is something I can get behind.
At least I can here in this dimension.
This is not the easiest book I have ever read, but then the thoughts are so contrary to what we and see and sense that it must be extremely difficult to grasp, even for a talented physicist.
Don't feel bad if you don't understand everything, or anything, that is talked about here, because I don't. The authors have done their best is bring a mind-boggling series of thoughts into an everyday world and, to a great extent, they have succeeded. But even Einstein didn't understand this stuff.
I won this book through Goodreads.
Profile Image for Swantje.
36 reviews2 followers
May 31, 2022
Fascinating read!! Still feel like I only got half of it but that’s okay😂the book made me smile at several times but also gasp in disbelief. Especially the part about quantum mechanics in the brain was fascinating for me since I’m planning to follow a research career in cognitive neuroscience and quantum consciousness would be my dream research project!!
73 reviews1 follower
June 21, 2018
'tis what it says it is

standard, beginner's guide to quantum physics. however, it doesn't really start at the most basic elements. i feel to speak about quantum physics with the uninitiated it would help to discuss standard physics beforehand, even briefly.

if you're picking this up because you don't understand physics at all and feel like this might be a nifty place to start, prepare to watch a lot of youtube videos to supplement your thinking.

other than that, the book doesn't pretend to be anything other than it is.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews

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