Totally Random: Why Nobody Understands Quantum Mechanics

by Tanya Bub, Jeffrey Bub

An eccentric comic about the central mystery of quantum mechanicsTotally Random is a comic for the serious reader who wants to really understand the central mystery of quantum what it is, what it means, and what you can do with it.Measure two entangled particles separately, and the outcomes are totally random. But compare the outcomes, and the particles seem as if they are instantaneously influencing each other at a distance—even if they are light-years apart. This, in a nutshell, is entanglement, and if it seems weird, then this book is for you. Totally Random is a graphic experiential narrative that unpacks the deep and insidious significance of the curious correlation between entangled particles to deliver a gut-feel glimpse of a world that is not what it seems. See for yourself how entanglement has led some of the greatest thinkers of our time to talk about crazy-sounding stuff like faster-than-light signaling, many worlds, and cats that are both dead and alive. Find out why it remains one of science's most paradigm-shaking discoveries. Join Niels Bohr's therapy session with the likes of Einstein, Schrödinger, and other luminaries and let go of your commonsense notion of how the world works. Use your new understanding of entanglement to do the seemingly impossible, like beat the odds in the quantum casino, or quantum encrypt a message to evade the Sphinx's all-seeing eye. But look out, or you might just get teleported back to the beginning of the book!A fresh and subversive look at our quantum world with some seriously funny stuff, Totally Random delivers a real understanding of entanglement that will completely change the way you think about the nature of physical reality.

Genres: Science, Graphic Novels, Nonfiction, Physics, Comics, Mathematics, Education

272 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 20, 2018

Reviews

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

The fact that I didn't understand most of what was happening in this book probably means that it was a success.

I did gain (a bit) more insight on quantum mechanics, as well as learned about the key physicists who worked in this field over the last 100 years. The graphic novel format in such a complex theme is hard to pull off, but it worked pretty well. The humor and the strange illustrations helped it all along.

[Ed Erwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quantum entanglement described in comic-book medium, with no equations. Sounds difficult, but they pull it off pretty well.

Unlike many books on QM, they make little or no attempt to explain electron spin, the two-slit experiment, the uncertainty principle and the other stuff you might expect. The focus is kept squarely on entanglement and how that leads to non-locality, or instantaneous action at a distance. And really, that is enough! Entanglement is one of the weirdest things in QM, and non-locality is a really big deal. (The stupid cat does make an appearance, but it is done humorously.)

There are three sections. Section 1 describes a hypothetical device called a "Super-Quantum Entangler" which looks like a toaster but acts on coins to cause subsequent coin flips to obey certain rules. If coins (or anything else) did obey those rules you would be forced to conclude that they are sharing some connection even when separated: you'd be forced to accept that non-local interactions (of a certain sort) are happening. Section 2 describes various interpretations that have been proposed for QM over the years, but doesn't favor any particular one. Section 3 which talks about implications of the super-quantum entanglement. If you had some coins that behaved the way they do in section 1, you could instantly transmit an arbitrary amount of information by transmitting only one single bit of information across a classical channel.

I appreciate the fact that they skip the details of electron spin or photon polarization and replace it with a simpler system with simpler rules. But what is not made sufficiently clear, in my opinion, is that the super-quantum entanglement that their imaginary device produces is a simplified abstraction. That is why they call it super-quantum rather than quantum. As far as we know, no real physical system shows super-quantum entanglement. The fact that they simplified the probability calculations in no way invalidates the conclusion that real QM systems show non-locality. It is simply easier to demonstrate with the simplified probability rules. But it is not clear to me whether the conclusions reached in section 3 follow from real quantum entanglement or only from super-entanglement. Someday, I'd like to dig into that question by going to the published articles, or maybe someone will write a clearer popular account of this newer area of "superquantum nonlocality" and "PR-boxes". (There is a website associated with the book which links to much of the relevant literature. Some discussion of this topic is also on wikipedia.)

I enjoyed this. That said, I'm not sure exactly who the target audience is. I already have a degree in physics and have studied QM quite a lot.

Final quibbles:
1) At one point they talk about making some concepts easy enough that even a comics reader can understand it. (When I find the exact quote, I'll edit this.) Why say that? If you are aiming a book at comics readers, why insult us? Comics is a medium that is capable of being as sophisticated as any other medium. Ninety percent of what is produced in any medium is garbage, probably, but comics are no different from any other in that regard and there are some very sophisticated comics.
2) They use the head/tails state of a coin to represent one bit of information. Fine. But the coin they use is a US quarter, which is worth 2 bits of a dollar if you remember that one dollar equals 8 bits. (I may be the only person on Earth annoyed by this detail!)

[Brian Clegg · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's difficult to decide just where the problems start with Totally Random. It's an attempt to communicate the oddities of quantum entanglement using a comic book format. There has already been an attempt to do this for quantum theory in general - Mysteries of the Quantum Universe, which managed to both have a bit of a storyline and get in a fair amount of quantum physics. Unfortunately the format also got in the way - so much space was taken up by the pictures that the words simply didn't manage to get the message across. Doubly unfortunately, this is also true of Totally Random, with the added negatives that it has no discernible storyline and it's rarely even visually interesting.

The attempt to explain entanglement suffers hugely because Tanya and Jeffrey Bub decided to use a set of analogies for quantum entanglement ('quoins', a kind of magic toaster device that entangles them, various strange devices to undertake other quantum operations) that don't so much help understand what's going on, as totally obscure what's supposed to be put across. It's a bit like trying to explain the rules of football using a box of kittens. It's far clearer if you get rid of the kittens and just explain the rules.

Visually, the cartoon style varies considerably. There are quite a few pages that contain nothing more than a shaded background with a series of frames each having a line of text in it. It's just a dialogue where each character's words sit in a different frame - the comic format adds nothing to what is, often, a series of mutual insults, providing particularly 'you had to have been there' humour. My favourite parts of the visuals by a long way are the odd pages introducing a section where actual papers, such as the EPR paper are portrayed in realistic form. Those do look rather cool.

Most of the key characters of the quantum story turn up in cartoon format. We meet Schrödinger, Heisenberg, Bohr, Pauli, Bohm, Einstein - plus one or two more tangential individuals such as Everett. There are a lot of 'insider jokes' in these sections, where, for example, Einstein produces in conversation many of his better lines on quantum theory from his letters to Max Born. Unfortunately, unless you know the topic already, these in-jokes will mean very little and produce strangely stilted dialogue.

I think that summarises the real issue with Totally Random. It's very much an in-joke for insiders. It doesn't explain entanglement: to the general reader, it obscures it with a pile of baggage that you have to have been there to understand. And even then it can be hard work. I'm fairly confident in my understanding of entanglement - I have a physics degree and I've read lots about it - but there were pages here I struggled to follow.

Sadly, the main feeling while reading Totally Random was tedium. With other graphic novel/comic presentations of non-fiction I've read, it has all been over far too quickly. Here I was thinking 'When will it end?' I was not inspired, but, rather, bored (or to sink to the level of the humour here, Bohred). It's a clever notion, but unfortunately the authors seem to be entirely the wrong people to make it work successfully.

[Joel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book uses a novel approach to provide an excellent overview of quantum entanglement. YOU, the reader, get to figure out what's so weird about quantum mechanics by tossing a couple of entangled quarters (those hands on the cover are supposed to be yours as the reader is a central character in the book). If you're willing to go along for the ride, this book will twist your brain into knots, challenge your ideas about what constitutes a scientific explanation and give you real insights into why quantum entanglement remains one of the great mysteries of science to this day. There's no math in the book but it is a CHALLENGING read nonetheless as you have to follow the line of reasoning step by step in order to understand what's going on. If you are able and willing to do this you will be rewarded with insights into why Einstein thought quantum mechanics was incomplete, you will see how uncrackable codes can be created by exploiting quantum entanglement, learn what quantum teleportation ACTUALLY teleports and other such geeky delights that self identified science nerds live for.

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Totally Random was recommended to me by a professor who is planning to use it for a course on quantum entanglement. It covers some pretty challenging material but it does give you an idea or what entanglement actually is, what famous physicists like Einstein and Schrodinger thought about it and how it can be used in new technologies like quantum encryption, quantum computing and quantum teleportation. I enjoyed the all the integrated quotes from the physics greats and even ended up downloading the famous Schrodinger cat paper as a result. Totally Random will give you a thorough overview of a difficult subject in an entertaining format.

[Will · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I'm very stupid

[Beauregard Bottomley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This graphic novel makes a surprisingly difficult read at times and I would read some sections multiple times before I understood what it was getting at.

It’s well worth the trouble for those who give it the patience and who can follow the logic presented.

Our understanding of the world breaks down at the very small and our current explanations for explaining the phenomena are just-so-stories we tell ourselves.

The violation of Bell’s Theorem was not supposed to happen while it does, and this graphic novel shows why that is a problem for how we understand the world and what that violation means. The graphic novel does it in such a way that it makes sense. I’ve read Bell’s paper before and understood the math (it is at a simple level), but the way the authors present the tables I understand the problem better. Also, the utility for quantum strangeness for cryptology and why it works and its being full proof was nicely presented.

The graphic novel is not an easy read and it is not for everyone, my wife only made it to page five. I’m glad I took the time to attack this novel and took the time to read it fully because now I have the violation of Bell’s Theorem ingrained within me.

[Peter Cipriano · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a physics major that attends a private liberal art's college, Tanya and Jeffrey Bub's "Totally Random: Why Nobody Understands Quantum Mechanics" has given me a much stronger conceptual understanding of quantum entanglement. Through stories and pictures, they present key quantum concepts that are much clearer than what is often presented in college textbooks on quantum mechanics. Furthermore, Totally Random has given me the opportunity to fully internalize the concepts at a much easier pace than one of my past college course.

I do wish, however, that Totally Random was a little more comprehensive in explaining quantum mechanics. In one of my past courses, much more attention was given to electron spin and Stern-Gerlach Devices. A considerable of my attention was also brought to the idea that particles can also propagate like waves.

Nevertheless, I suppose these ideas were pushed aside in writing this comic book because this book would have been made less accessible to people from non-physics backgrounds. It may also have taken away time to create their story.

Overall, I am glad to have read this book before I take my intro to Quantom Theory Course next semester.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cons:

* You never know who's speaking

* Often quite hard to understand

* Not exactly about quantum mechanics (it's about PR boxes, which are more entangled, in a sense, than quantum mechanics allows for)

Pros:

* Pretty fun / funny

* Gives a nice overview of the basic positions of major players in the quantum interpretations

* Nice depiction of Einstein vs. Bohr vs. Everett (and more!)

All in all, a pretty good read, if you're willing to skim through the unclear explanations and not worry about who's saying what. Educational value: Unclear. Definitely shouldn't be your last book on quantum mechanics.

[Chris Esposo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m not the kind of person that dismisses comic books as an inferior or “less mature” medium than the pure written word (novels, literature, regular text etc.). However, it’s clear that certain kinds of information are best suited for the usual formats. For technical material, one must leverage mathematical syntax because of the ability to compress information more efficiently than natural language. However, this compression comes at the cost of comprehensibility, and necessarily constricts the set of readers that could profit from the text. LIkewise, intricate storylines that leverages multiple fictional actors, multiple threads, and deep internal dialogue are best suited towards the novel. Although in principle these kinds of stories could also be put into a comic format, it would be at least doubly the labor intensity (and probably many times more) because of the added necessity of art, and the coordination between artist[s] and writer.

In recent years, comics have started to breach some of these other fields. First within the domains of the traditional characters, like “Dark Knight Returns” in the mid-80s, which included a more intricate plot, as well as an overarching theme, a philosophical question, by which the two main characters, Batman and Superman, took diametrically opposite sides on. Slowly, the medium began to adapt more mature storylines. At first these mature titles ended up either being mature on account of their grotesque violence and/or sexual themes, but in recent years, the mature titles have begun to adapt tales from history, from current events, and for a very tiny, but growing subset of titles, a combination of history, science (and math), and philosophy.

“Totally Random” is one of these titles, and it has accomplished its goal of delivering valuable technical information via an alternative medium magnificently. Specifically, outlining the phenomena of entanglement and its applications. In fact, having spent the previous year and half reading various layman text on both quantum mechanics (QM) and quantum computation, including Zeillinger’s “Dance of the Photons”, LIndley’s “Uncertainty”, Rosenblum’s “Quantum Enigma” most recently, and having also successfully completed 3 different MOOCs on the topic of quantum information (and hoping to try my luck at a true university course in the not-too-distant future), I can confidently say this reading on the topic is the cleanest, and most enjoyable explanation of proof of Bell’s Inequality, and elementary applications of entanglement towards secure-exchange on information channels via the standard Alice/Bob paradigm. It is also a memorable reading/artistic experience. One that I will definitely re-visit in the future.

“Totally Random” covers a lot of ground for a comic, including the basic concepts of QM, Einstein’s philosophy of “physical realism”, the challenge of the Copenhagen Interpretation, the Einstein/Bohr debates (which intersects heavily with the initial EPR challenge), Everett’s ‘multiverse’ interpretation, the Bell Inequality, it’s proof, and subsequent applications of entanglement. The most standout sections involve the proof of Bell’s inequality and the challenges. The comic beautifully illustrates the enumerative argumentation that shows the impossibility of achieving a observed probabilities by a-priori deterministic-rules/mappings (and also does a good job what those rules are), and then illustrates (literally) the motivations for Zeillinger’s experimentation on teleportation, as the final step to show that conventional-signalling through the medium of real-space could not be a determining mechanism that informs the entanglement mechanism.
Yet, this isn’t even the best part of the book, because a book like Zeillinger’s “Dance of the Photons” does all the above and goes into much more intricate detail on both the science of the experiments, and the nature of the Alice/Bob examples as well as games on interferometers (which is not covered at all in this comic). No, the real standout for this title is the artwork, which is both hauntingly surreal, yet also strangely appropriate to the subject matter. Parts of the art remind me of a modern rendition of the original Lewis Carroll prints for “Through the Looking Glass” with strange humanoid animals, doing abstract or absurd things, but here, those things are a stand-in for the technical material, which is quite surreal when one thinks about it.

The illustrations that go over the Alice/Bob/Eve sections are especially standout. I suspect because so much of QM and it’s information theoretic extension can be reduced to a sort of dialogue between two beings, and QM itself has the construct of “the measurement” which has often been understood through the lens of an “observer” paradigm, that personification of these mechanism via the characters in the comic, including historical characteractures in the comic (Einstein, Schroddinger, Bohr, etc.) is dead-pan obvious and natural. I really hope they produce a sequel to this text that goes over other parts of QM or QFT, or maybe just goes deeper into this phenomenon. I’d get them all without hesitation.

It must be a marvel to work on a project like this, as a reader, I don’t get giddy about books (let alone comic books) that often, but this one is singular. It made the time reading it very special. My one caveat with the material is this, I suspect it may be challenging for a reader who has never seen this material before at all. I don't know how much of it I would have caught had I not had the prerequisite exposure to the subject matter. Therefore, I recommend this not be your first treatment into entanglement. Although Zeillinger is somewhat challenging to read, it really is the best book out there that covers these topics in the layman publication market. Another book that covers similar topics that are also good include the above mentioned texts, as well as Ananthaswamy’s, “Through Two Doors at Once”.

If you have any background or interests in this subject at all, hands down get it. Maybe not your first book, but this will be a definite trip after reading something like Zeillinger. Highly recommended.

[Jason Schmidt · Rating 4 out of 5]

So…I may not be the optimal audience for this. Well, at least not this me, but an alternative me, existing in a a split universe/quantum reality is. I enjoyed the artistic aspect of this graphic novel, but the focus on a hypothetical super quantum entangler (i.e. a toaster) and “entangled Quoins (sic)” throughout the majority of the frames of this graphic novel just didn’t quite work for me: it felt repetitive, feeling as if quite a bit could have been excised without the meaning being lost. I also just don’t feel like I really understand quantum mechanics much more than I did when I began reading, and that is an issue. If the purpose of this text was to simplify quantum mechanics and entanglement for a layman, and I was a willing and engaged audience, it just didn’t succeed. But, I absolutely can and do appreciate me the amount of work that went into producing this text.

Well, I just changed my rating from a three to a four. My wife just asked me what this was about, and I found myself actually able to explain quite a bit of it to her; well, actually, I am assuming that I understood it…a real Schrödinger's cat conundrum, if you will. I still feel utterly uneducated and confused, but perhaps this is more effective than I thought. I will have to revisit this again in the future. Well, at least some version of me will. I might just have to flip a coin to decide. But not two at the same time…hmmm…I may actually be starting to really appreciate this graphic novel.

[Steven H · Rating 2 out of 5]

AN INTRODUCTION TO QUANTUM THEORY FOR SOME, BUT NOT ALL

The graphics of this 2018 book are entertaining, and the descriptions of Quantum Mechanics (and particularly the topic of Quantum Entanglement) are generally quite good.

But it must be pointed out that this is a ‘Serious COMIC’ presentation; that is, the serious discussion is interspersed with cartoons, photographs, and comic dialogue. For those who enjoy series such as Larry Gonick’s ‘Cartoon History of the Universe,’ or the ‘For Beginners’ Documentary Comic Books by Pantheon, this will be right up their alley.

Personally, I found the rather large proportion of the text that was taken up by the ‘comic’ dialogue to be rather ‘off-putting’ and a distraction. I was more interested in the actual quotations from quantum physicists that were included (and the ‘Notes’ section at the end of the book gives the sources of the quotations).

Some will love the book as a user-friendly intro to Quantum Mechanics and Entanglement; others will seek a more “conventional” introduction.

[William Holm]

I've been guessing that the Nobel prize in physics will be rewarded to discoveries concerning quantum entanglement for a few years now. This book makes a fair attempt to approach the subject. As the sub title suggests this is far fro intuitive. I'm not sure that this book is ideal as an introduction for anyone. For those with some interest in physics it's quite entertaining. I especially appreciated the reproductions of some of the original papers.
Einstein, Bohr, and the other giants get to present their takes on the phenomenon. The overall message is that this is more or less incomprehensible. The most compelling argument is made by Everett although the consequence is incessant creation of parallel universes. We may not have a good understanding of entanglement but we will most likely make use of it in engineering applications. This book may provide a starting point for thinking about this.

[K De · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tanya and Jeffrey Bub's "Totally Random" graphic work on quantum entanglement is a brief romp into one of the most perplexing aspects of quantum physics. The book has the major players in the development of quantum mechanics, including Einstein, Schrodinger, Planck, Heisenberg, etc. The graphics show the concept of entanglement through the analogy of coins and coin tossing with the "mechanically box". The concept of non locality is introduced. Non locality is explored with the analogy of Spock, from Star Trek, being "teleported" from point A to point B. There are many examples used to illustrate quantum entanglement in the book.

This quote from the book sums it up best:
"I would not call [entanglement] One but rather The characteristic trait of quantum mechanics, the one that enforces its entire departure from classical lines of thought." - Erwin Shrodinger

Well worth bending your mind over to awaken it from its dogmatic slumber of conventionality.

[Alma · Rating 3 out of 5]

The best part I got out of this comic was a better understanding of Bells inequality - this alone made it a worthy read.

Still...I think I wouldn't have understood the different viewpoints of all the scientist in the comic if I hadn't read Adam Beckers book "What is real" at the same time, so I'd read this comic alongside another quantum themed introductury book.

Comicwise: I liked the humor but disliked many of the visual and artistic choices. The style was very dark and grainy and it seemed like the artist had to rely a lot on assembling existing pictures or Images drawn from them, limiting the scale of expression compared to a completely self drawn comic. This sometimes affected the clarity of the comic and made characters look unnaturally stiff or stylistically misplaced compared to their body and surroundings.

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

In black and white, the graphics in Totally Random has a retro look, which I liked. I've read some popular books on quantum mechanics but they don’t really explain, at least to me, why there’s supposed to be spooky action at a distance, many universes, and so on. What I liked about Totally Random is that you get a feel for this by thinking about something concrete like coins. I liked the narration and the somewhat cheesy humor as for me it kept things light and broke up the story and was helpful but not too serious. Definitely worth reading if you are interested in quantum mechanics and aren't satisfied with the usual fare. I feel like I have a much better understanding than I did before I read it.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this in one sitting on a long haul flight - it was the only book I’d brought. I’m an engineer, so I’ve taken classical physics and one semester of ‘quantum lite’ that I barely recall, though none of that seemed necessary to understand the concepts. I’d say that a healthy level of curiosity and interest are the only prerequisites. It was a clever presentation, though at times I wished it got more directly to the point. But it did, and I get it. I think a high schooler with an interest in physical science and how things work would get something out of this book.

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellently done. The authors must be very smart.

Clear explanations that actually let the difficult concepts sink in, all infused with wry humor.

I love the references to actual papers, I found some of them and read parts of them (not the whole papers of course, that is a lot of work).

The characters are cleverly depicted and the story arc is creative. I love the imagery of the various physicists bickering with one another in the surreal world where this all takes place.

[Suman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Left the book mid-way. The subject is definitely too complicated, however, I thought to read a book meant for common people on such a difficult a subject as Quantum Physics - Entanglement.
Either the book is sub standard or myself have less matter in my brain. Either way it is good to move on to another book.

[Chrisman · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is real life? this shit is crazy!

[Tammie Painter · Rating 3 out of 5]

The art in this book is great, but it just felt like they were trying too hard to be clever in trying to get the concept of QM across. It's far too repetitive and ended up getting on my nerves.

[Odo · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5/5.0

[Josie Deryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5!

[Michaela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always fabulous fun to briefly visit the fun house world of QM. Would like to knowore about the 4 variant houses or interpretation of QM.

[Aditya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too many coins

[Willem Jackson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, just not great. An enjoyable read, but not something I could read in one sitting.

[STEPHEN PLETKO!! · Rating 5 out of 5]

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An entanglement page-turner!!

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“A comic can’t show me anything cool about quantum mechanics!!

Stuff like spooky action at a distance! Math that makes you sad just to look at it! Cats that are both alive and dead at the same time!

Puh-leeze!!

But maybe--just maybe--a comic can show you a correlation so totally um, curious [that] it will blow your mind!”

The above quote (in italics) comes from the beginning of this “serious comic [book] on entanglement” by Jeffery & Tanya Bub. Jeffery Bub is Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Philosophy and the Institute for Physical Science and Technology at the University of Maryland, where he is also a fellow of the Joint Center for Quantum Information and Computer Science. Tanya Bub is a founder of a web development company and is responsible for this book’s artwork.

This hilarious comic book (or “graphic novel”) is for the serious reader who wants to really understand the central mystery of quantum mechanics, namely entanglement: exactly what it is, what it means, and what can be done with it.

QUANTUM MECHANICS, QM (also called quantum physics, quantum theory, wave mechanics, or matrix mechanics) is a fundamental theory of physics which describes nature at the atomic and subatomic scale. ENTANGLEMENT (or more precisely quantum entanglement) is a physical phenomenon where pairs (or groups) of particles are generated, interact, or share spatial proximity in ways such that the quantum state of each particle cannot be described independently of the state of the others, even if the particles are separated by large distances (such as light years).

This book deals with entanglement via a succession of thought experiments so it requires some logical thinking from the reader. The funny stuff included in the clever storyline is there to ease the reader’s journey.

What I found especially interesting is that this book uses actual dialogue (slightly altered to coincide with the storyline) taken from key research papers of the scientists involved (such as Einstein and Schrodinger).

Finally, this book DOES NOT present a dumbed down version of a paradigm-shaking scientific theory,

In conclusion, this book will give you a thorough overview of a difficult scientific subject in a very entertaining format. Also, I should warn you as you’re reading to be cautious of Schrodinger’s darn cat!

(2018; dramatis personae: 3 parts or 15 chapters; main narrative 245 pages; notes; acknowledgements; image credits)

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[Micah Horton hallett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still baffled.