Quantum Physics in Minutes: The Inner Workings of Our Universe Explained in an Instant

in Minutes

by Gemma Lavender

The fastest way to understanding quantum physics - learn about how our universe works, in minutes. Quantum physics is the most fundamental, but also the most bewildering, of sciences. Allowing for simultaneously dead-and-alive cats, teleportation, antimatter and parallel universes, it also underpins all digital technology and even life itself. But at last it's possible through this clear and compact book, illuminated with 200 simple diagrams for anyone to understand the strange and beautiful subatomic world, and hence the nature of reality itself. Contents inside the atom, the Higgs boson, Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, Schrödinger's cat, relativity, dark energy and matter, black holes, God playing dice, the Theory of Everything, the birth and fate of the Universe, string theory, quantum computing, superconductivity, quantum biology and consciousness, and much more.

Genres: Science, Physics, Nonfiction

416 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 2017

Reviews

[Christy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Who the heck is this written for? The tiny size and “board book” covers make it look like a toddlers’ introduction to Quantum Physics, but the explanations are so technical that you’d need to have studied physics for years to know what the author is talking about. And if you knew that much, there are way more interesting books out there! (I recommend Beyond Weird, Quantum, and In Search of Schrödinger’s Cat.) The reviews on Amazon average 4.8 stars out of 5, but some of them are certainly bogus. One reviewer said, “Grandchild loved this book. She is 12.” I had to laugh. Another said, “ . . . complicated knowledge made easy to understand.” I’ve read a lot of books on the subject, and compared with others, this is definitely not easy to understand. The material is thrown out suddenly, with no introductions or examples, so it could only be helpful as a refresher guide to someone who has already mastered the basic concepts. I’m glad I checked it out from the library instead of buying it, because it would have been a total waste of my money.

[John Hobson · Rating 3 out of 5]

DNF

Not a beginners guide and the format forces the author to be more precise in some areas when they need a bit more depth and examples. Hyperlinks didn't work in my Kindle edition which made cross-referencing a pain. Will give it another go when I feel more confident about the subject.

[Tom · Rating 2 out of 5]

Absolutely unintelligible after 10 pages. Maybe one could get through this in minutes if one already understood quantum physics, but I was perhaps naively hoping for this to be a primer for the layperson. A short explanation is not necessarily an accessible explanation.

[Joe Macko · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a great abbreviated description and discussion of the ideas, terms and theories of Quantum Physics for those without the in depth complicated mathematical background.

[Jared Wong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book introducing a lot of the terms and theories in Quantum Physics. I have no background in quantum physics and wanted to learn more as an introduction to this area. This book was quite a pleasure to read.

To address some complaints that this book is hard to read - I can only speak to what I know. I took some college classes on basic physics and advanced chemistry. So the parts on electromagnetism and atomic quantum states weren't new to me, just explained from a quantum mechanics perspective.

[Selby · Rating 2 out of 5]

Now that I've read other reviews I don't feel so bad. I found this to be the opposite of what I was looking for based on the title. Maybe you can read the individual snippets in minutes, but understanding them is a different story. I bought several other books on this same topic and am going to try those. I do see a very practical use for this book, though. If I come across a topic I remember from this book elsewhere, it would be easy to look it up and use as a sort of textbook or quick reference because of large, clear subject lines at tops of pages.

[Josh Thies · Rating 4 out of 5]

Covers many physics theories to establish the ground work for quantum physics and gives a good overview of things for further research.
The direction changes can be quite jarring and some of the more speculative concepts got more coverage than necessary. Should have spent some more time on quantum logic gates and some of the LA maths behind them instead of some of the other less related topics.

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

While this book can't actually be read in minutes, it is still a very fast, easy and interesting read. It manages to explain key concepts of quantum mechanics in as few and understandable words as possible.

[ang · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved how easily the author made these scary looking terms for a mysterious part of physics look simple, coherent and understandable. helped me a lot to piece abstract things together while i was working on my high school graduation thesis on multiverse.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good little overview for the general reader.

[Hari · Rating 5 out of 5]

200 topics about quantum physics explained shortly in easy language and very good graphical representation for each topic. you can search topics on wikipedia for more information

[Trapsilo · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book honestly leaves me with more questions than answers. It describes concepts in a short sentence but doesn't explain why they are or how it came to be. Disappointed overall.

[Mahyar Osanlouy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great introductory and historical background on the subject of quantum physics. You may still require a little bit of intuition or background knowledge to follow some parts.

[M.Amin Ahmadi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book Says brief and useful explanations of quantum world discoveries and rules From the beginning to now., very informative and amazing. i like it

[Rosy]

It was months ( in the loo), not minutes, but I read all the words.

[Zofrox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely one of my favorite books.

[Matthew]

Good short review of the field as we know it today. Written for a broad audience but with enough detail to keep the more knowledgeable readers from getting bored.

[Lynn Cansler · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's like reading an encyclopedia of physics.

[Bilge · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was like a summary of a summary of a summary but in quantum physics

[Debs · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m still non the wiser! Have started again. The concepts seem straight forward at the start of the book but they become progressively less so. Maybe I will understand more when I have read it again. This is such a vast subject I think it is highly unlikely that a normal person would be able to get it in minutes but as an attempt at bringing this subject to understandable levels it is a great start and if I had read this book as a child it may well have inspired me to look further into physics as a career choice.