Fundamental: How Quantum and Particle Physics Explain Absolutely Everything

by Tim James

At the start of the twentieth century, our knowledge of science appeared complete and it seemed that the laws of nature were almost all discovered, but then we woke a sleeping giant—we discovered quantum mechanics. In the quantum realm, objects can be in two places at once. It’s a place where time travel is not only possible, but necessary.


It’s a place where cause and effect can happen in reverse and observing something changes its state. From parallel universes to antimatter, quantum mechanics has revealed that when you get right down to it, the laws of nature are insane. The scientist J. B. S. Haldane once said, “Reality is not only stranger than we imagine, it’s stranger than we can imagine.” Never is this more true than with quantum mechanics.


This comprehensive beginner’s guide to quantum mechanics explains not only the weirdness of the subject but the experiments that proved it to be true. Using a humorous and light-hearted approach, Fundamental tells the story of how the most brilliant minds in science grappled with seemingly impossible ideas and gave us everything from microchips to particle accelerators.


Fundamental gives clear explanations of all the quantum phenomena known to modern science, without requiring an understanding of complex mathematics; it tells the eccentric stories of the scientists who made these shattering discoveries and what they used them for; it explains how quantum field theory (a topic not covered in detail by any other popular-science book) gave rise to particle physics and why the Higgs boson isn’t the end of the story.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Physics, Audiobook, Popular Science, Quantum Mechanics

240 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2019

About the author

Tim James, the author of Fundamental and Elemental, is a science teacher, YouTuber, blogger, and Instagrammer. Raised by missionaries in Nigeria, he fell in love with science at the age of fifteen. After graduating with a master’s degree in chemistry, specializing in computational quantum mechanics, he decided to get straight into the classroom. He lives in England.

Reviews

[Carlos Martinez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great stuff. Tim James is proving himself to be one of the best popular science writers. He assumes very little prior knowledge, uses metaphors brilliantly, and writes in a fun and engaging way. Having read and loved Elemental: How the Periodic Table Can Now Explain (Nearly) Everything, I got 'Fundamental' as soon as it became available.

Even with a 'for dummies' approach, quantum physics is still pretty difficult, and I won't pretend to have understood 100% of what I read. 'Elemental' was a breeze by comparison, but then chemistry is relatively easy at a conceptual level, because its rules more-or-less correspond to our experience of life. You can dip a piece of zinc oxide in a tub of salt water without accidentally creating an alternative universe (or at least, you don't have to know or care about the alternative universe!). Superposition, antimatter, 'many worlds' etc are just very hard to get your head around. No matter how user-friendly you make it, theoretical physics is still, erm, theoretical.

Anyway, I learned a lot and am looking forward to the author's next book.

[Cj Dufficy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sorry the title promise is not kept. More time is spent on the history of QM than its explanatory power. Nice refresher read, I’d have left out the attempts at humor, they detract as well as distract and disappoint.

[Madeline]

I suppose the most important question here is, "does this book explain how quantum and particle physics explain absolutely everything (except gravity)?" In the long and short: technically. James answers the eponymous question within the last few pages. Everything leading up to those 3 or 4 pages merely explains quantum and particle physics. And "merely" is no simple task. I will give James significant credit for being able to present physics in an interesting and approachable way. As someone with a humanities degree, my background is not in science. But James made me feel like I understood what was going on--and for that, hats off.
Ultimately, James, I think you have an excellent book on your hands--just maybe pick a more accurate title. My writing teaching time also makes me ask: what was your purpose in writing this book, and do you think you achieved this goal effectively?

[Gijs Limonard · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,5 stars; excellent science writing; did not enjoy this as much as ‘Elemental’ by the same author but it was pretty close; at last a book that lays out for you, in palatable form, the fundamentals of physics; recommended reading.

[Han · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘Fundamental’ is an engaging and entertaining introduction to particle and quantum physics. If you already have a solid grounding in the subject, then you are unlikely to learn anything new, but you can certainly still enjoy and appreciate the humorous and engaging writing style. If you are new to the topic, you would find it difficult to find a more engaging and accessible introduction. Overall, ‘Fundamental’ is well worth a read.

[Mack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tim James’ “Fundamental” is often entertaining, but he never lets up on the needed thought.

[अनुष्का · Rating 4 out of 5]

The perfect book for amateur ambitionistas like me! I am a ninth-grader and still I understood most of the concepts detailed in the book (excluding Quantum Chromodynamics... sorry, Gell-Mann). It has a magical blend of science and humour!

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tim James pervades his primer on quantum and particle physics with humor, in some case some real dad jokes, but it helps to set it apart from other similar books. Most importantly, however, he describes these 'fundamentals' really clearly in a way that clicked for me. My predominant thought while reading this was 'I've got to get a copy so that I can reread it,' because I had a feeling like I was getting the material, and that referring back to his descriptions would keep me getting it. Wonderful read.

[Sam Bright · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the way this book was written, it kept me engaged until the last few chapters where everything just kind of went over my head. The book also didn't really end on a note that explains how particle physics explains "everything" as much as it attempted to explain particle physics. Loved the conversations about the two-slit experiments, it finally made sense to me why these experiments are so important and HOW they worked (the pictures really help) and the conversation about the multiple universes theory to try to explain how the superpositions of waves can "solve" Schrodinger's Cat thought experiment. I probably need to read this book twice to really get all that it tries to explain but I don't really see myself doing that any time soon.

[Ella Catherall · Rating 5 out of 5]

(I’ll declare my bias now: I know the author.)

Reading Tim James’ books after having been taught by him is a strange experience in a way because it reads like how he teaches, in that it’s engaging, easy to follow and just really interesting.

[Clayton Chase · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pop culture meets quantum mechanics

[Philipda Luangprasert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story-telling but wrong title. It is about "history of quantum and particle physics", not explaining how quantum physics applied to most phenomena.

[Zixuan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love elemental more, fundamental is still very good and interesting to read, but a bit wordly at the begining. elemental is fun to read all the way through

[Karim · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable and informative book that explains the basics and beginnings of Quantum theory, up until our current understanding of its theoretical and practical applications

I am not a physicist nor have I ever studied physics after high school, but I have a modest prior knowledge regarding the book's subject. So, listening to the audiobook, I was following the author fun and enthusiastic narration closely, and I was understanding most of his simplified explanations of the complex ideas., up until the 4 hours mark. However, after that I was honestly lost and could not grasp the complicated concepts about quarks, antielectron, antiproton, etc.

All in all, a very good book that helps you understand a lot about the way our world works on the Quantum level, but I guess I will read another book later on as I did not get a full understanding of the more complex ideas of the Quantum field

[Paavo Pere · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good introduction quantum mechanics and quantum field theory. Of course, things are simplified a lot, but for the most part, without sacrificing accuracy (as far as I understand these things).

Avoids much of the quantum “mysticism” that’s common in pop-sci treatment, and explains Higgs pretty well: the field is much more important than the particle (though the book still says a bit inaccurately that Higgs gives “you” mass — most of your mass comes from strong interaction in protons and neutrons).

Call me boring, but I could’ve done without the humor and anecdotes about the history of science, and focused more on the science itself.

Overall somewhere between 3 and 4 stars, veering closer to 4.

[Sarmad Jabbar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tim James makes quantum physics easy, accessible and most of all, fun. Full of well used analogies, pop culture references and assuming very little prior knowledge, this is a recommended read for those who have always been befuddled by everything "quantum" and have a craving to begin to understand it from the basic tenets put forward by the double slit experiment to physically complex concepts such as time travel, multiverse and quantum internet.

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author does as good a job as anyone can do with this subject.
I remember hating physics in school because the teachers always felt like they had to use really silly examples to explain things and they ended up making everything even more confusing with their convoluted, goofy jokes.
This guy is a bit like that- too many Dad-jokes - but overall I liked the book.

[Vojtěch Tatra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny (including the voice) and understandably written with just the right amount of personal sauce. One of the few books where the narration from the author is really good and I think wouldn't be better with professional actor. People like this should teach in school, because the entertaining narative kind of teaches itself

[Jonathan Teymouri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal explanations provided for one of the most complex topics that exists, avoiding the mathematics where possible and honing in on the core concepts themselves. My only complaint about this book would be the jokes - attempted far too often, and, well, he makes a much better teacher than he ever will comedian.

[Ron Badgerow III · Rating 5 out of 5]

My third Tim James book, and although most of the content was above my head, it was interesting and invigorating nonetheless!
Kudos to another exciting masterpiece by Tim James! Will we ever really know how quantum and particle physics work? Maybe... But, this dove into the history and present of the subject provides an enlightened look into the world of the absurdly small and strange.

[Lin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t know how a book can be too simplified and overly complicated at the same time… but this managed it. The book takes complicated subjects and simplify them, but it simplifies them so much you feel like the narrator think you are stupid. I think I it might have been an attempt at humour but I didn’t find it funny.

[Jessica Bauer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly this was everything I was looking for in a book about quantum physics — simple explanations of complex concepts imbued with humor. He only lost me on the last chapter of QED but it’s not his fault that the theory and number of particles is overwhelming. All things considered I think this is a great, quick, easy read to understand the basics of quantum theory and its history

[Tony Sandoval · Rating 5 out of 5]

First book of the year, awesome read. A very complex topic broken down into small and understandable chunks, told in a historic and not mathematical way for easier understanding. Good foundation to keep learning about quantum physics.

[Sevde Kaskaya · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book explains quantum physics fundamentals with a easy way. There are understandable explanations and examples for complex topics. I think people who interested in quantum physics should definitely read this.

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

James is a master at explaining complex physics concepts in a way that's understandable to an educated layperson. In this book he does for quantum and particle physics what he did for chemistry in "Elemental". This was very good.

[Katie Kania · Rating 5 out of 5]

Didn’t understand 100% once he started getting into all the different types of particles and fields but the first half is super interesting, and the second half left me in awe with all the complexity they’ve discovered. Cool book.

[William · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was interesting at first but then got very boring and hard to read (I'm not a scientist).

[Mik · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 for me

[Daniel Farabaugh · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an interesting book but at times it was hard to follow the science. It was al a bit dry in topic if not in writing style.

[Vishnuram · Rating 5 out of 5]

Its a trip to the quantum strangeness and human interpretation of it