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Quantum Physics for Beginners: An Easy Guide for Discovering the Hidden Side of Reality One Speck at a Time
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Want to learn about the basics of quantum physics and impress your friends at cocktail parties with some "big brain" trivia about some of history's greatest scientific minds?
Think you could be a theoretical physicist, but you need to brush up on your knowledge of relativity first? Want to carry a book on the subway that will make your fellow passengers think you're totally sophisticated? Great! Then Quantum Physics for Beginners is the book for you.
Explore the field of quantum physics from its infancy through its bright future with topics like:
Special and general relativity
The nature of classical physics v. quantum physics
What the heck is a quantum, anyway?
Discovery of the atom and development of atomic models
Early experiments and research that changed the face of science forever
The photoelectric effect
Wave-particle duality
Schr�dinger's contributions to physics (and his famous cats!)
The life and works of Albert Einstein, including his 1905 'Miracle Year'
The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle
The Einstein-Bohr debates
Practical applications of quantum physics through the decades
Electromagnetic and gravitational waves
Unified field theory
and much more!
Lastly, you'll take a journey through today's practical applications of quantum mechanics, chemistry, and physics to look at the future of clean energy, space travel, and medicine. You'll also be given a peek at the theoretical side of modern quantum physics and learn about the work that scientists are doing to make the impossible possible. Quantum Physics for Beginners will whet your appetite for studying how the world works and jog your brain into thinking about everything around you in a whole new way!
Want to learn about the basics of quantum physics and impress your friends at cocktail parties with some "big brain" trivia about some of history's greatest scientific minds?
Think you could be a theoretical physicist, but you need to brush up on your knowledge of relativity first? Want to carry a book on the subway that will make your fellow passengers think you're totally sophisticated? Great! Then Quantum Physics for Beginners is the book for you.
Explore the field of quantum physics from its infancy through its bright future with topics like:
Special and general relativity
The nature of classical physics v. quantum physics
What the heck is a quantum, anyway?
Discovery of the atom and development of atomic models
Early experiments and research that changed the face of science forever
The photoelectric effect
Wave-particle duality
Schr�dinger's contributions to physics (and his famous cats!)
The life and works of Albert Einstein, including his 1905 'Miracle Year'
The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle
The Einstein-Bohr debates
Practical applications of quantum physics through the decades
Electromagnetic and gravitational waves
Unified field theory
and much more!
Lastly, you'll take a journey through today's practical applications of quantum mechanics, chemistry, and physics to look at the future of clean energy, space travel, and medicine. You'll also be given a peek at the theoretical side of modern quantum physics and learn about the work that scientists are doing to make the impossible possible. Quantum Physics for Beginners will whet your appetite for studying how the world works and jog your brain into thinking about everything around you in a whole new way!
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Published April 15, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 14, 2021
Great introduction and summary to a complex topic
Easy to read and engaging - takes a very cool and complex topic and distills it to a digestible undertaking that people who are not physicis experts can appreciate. As someone who did his college thesis in physics, this was still very useful and fun to read for me. Puts the complex topic that can be so dry to read about in typical textbooks, into a very interesting historical summary form that is a great review for people well aware of the topic--as it is also a good intro for someone who has never heard of quantum mechanics.
Easy to read and engaging - takes a very cool and complex topic and distills it to a digestible undertaking that people who are not physicis experts can appreciate. As someone who did his college thesis in physics, this was still very useful and fun to read for me. Puts the complex topic that can be so dry to read about in typical textbooks, into a very interesting historical summary form that is a great review for people well aware of the topic--as it is also a good intro for someone who has never heard of quantum mechanics.
March 19, 2023
I read and reviewed a copy of Quantum Physics for Beginners: An Easy Guide for Discovering the Hidden Side of Reality One Speck at a Time by Darrell Ason in PDF format. While I love the fonts chosen for the titles and text, I’m an editor and found numerous typos and grammatical errors in the introduction and throughout the text. In addition, the lack of paragraph line breaks where they should occur made the book’s interior look sloppy, and the book would have benefitted from some diagrams or graphic images.
I enjoyed the author’s sense of humour, but he comes off as an intelligent teenager who knows a fair bit about quantum physics but nothing about publishing a book. He tried too hard to be funny and allowed himself to get off track several times. So we know right off the bat that this is the easy guide that it professes to be, and it may be good enough for water cooler discussions and “big brain trivia at a cocktail party,” but it’s not good enough for anyone who seriously wants to know about quantum physics. It also appears the author did not use an outline to create this book, nor did he use references or resources. He could have written this book simply by reading Wikipedia entries. His summary is incredibly brief. Because of that, you have to take this book with a grain of salt. Although it is entertaining reading, Ason doesn’t know much about writing a nonfiction book and what is required to take his work seriously.
He begins with Greek philosopher Democritus’ so-called theory of the universe circa 400 BCE. Next, he covers John Dalton’s atomic theory (1808), which introduced atomic weights to determine one substance from another, and from there, he reviews British physicist JJ Thomson, widely credited with discovering the electron, otherwise known as the “Plum Pudding Model.” Next, physicist Ernest Rutherford—the grandfather of nuclear physics—found that the atom was made up of a nucleus of positively-charged protons, held closely together to not be able to pass through another substance, and orbits of negatively charged electrons. Rutherford’s theory didn’t last long, and soon after, Danish physicist Niels Bohr introduced his model showing electrons in layered orbits around the nucleus. Finally, we get to the widely accepted atomic model created by Erwin Schrödinger in 1926. Schrödinger designed the atomic cloud, showing electrons moving, not in set orbits like the Bohr model, but in waves fluctuating in and out from the nucleus. His model was based on the theory of wave-particle duality.
The Double-Slit Experiment proved that light does not behave as a wave or a particle but acts as both. This is wave-particle duality at its most basic. This became an essential foundational principle of quantum theory.
The first three chapters are not bad and cover the early history of quantum physics. The author addresses Albert Einstein in detail and paints a portrait of the scientist as a young man, reviewing his “Miracle Year” in 1905 when he unlocked the secrets of the photoelectric effect. In conjunction with Max Planck’s Constant ideas, Einstein proved that the wavelength was responsible for the magnitude of the photoelectric effect, which also proved wave-particle duality in a practical setting.
Einstein won a Nobel prize for his work on the subject, and Einstein developed the theory of special relativity, a way to explain the movement of photons and other electromagnetic quanta as they travel in a straight line through a vacuum. Einstein’s theory of general relativity focuses on two simple promises: that gravity is just as relative a force as any other and that objects with a large gravitational mass can bend spacetime, which is the term used for the three dimensions plus time, the fourth dimension.
While Albert Einstein‘s personal life is interesting, the length at which the author describes it is unmerited in this book about introductory quantum physics. He gets off track here.
Next, he relates how Paul Dirac contributed to the marriage of relativity in quantum mechanics to describe the behaviour of the electron, and the Dirac equation, which explains quantum field theory based on gravitational fields.
The author then gets into major sub-atomic particles, their classifications, and their relationships. By the time he discussed fermions, leptons, quarks, hadrons, and neutrinos, I was getting bored (and I am a beginner with quantum physics), and it felt like the author was, too, as he spewed the information so quickly. However, I understand how important it is to know about subatomic particles so that we know how they work together to create matter and energy.
By the time scientists determined how to split the atom and create a new process called nuclear fission, using uranium to split the atom’s nucleus, our planet was essentially doomed.
Hungarian physicist Leo Szilard proved that a uranium atom, if correctly split, would be met by the correct number of electrons to continue a chain reaction of atomic breakdown, releasing energy at every fission. Once Einstein signed off on that project, it became the basis of The Manhattan Project, the American program that developed the atomic bomb.
However, on a positive note, quantum physics at work in healthcare has greatly benefitted humanity through x-rays, CT and PET scans, lasers, and radiation therapy, proving that the ability to control beams of condensed electromagnetic energy safely has dramatically and positively altered many healthcare procedures.
In Chapter 7, the author describes some equipment used in the study of quantum physics, including the electron microscope, mass spectrometer, radio telescopes, particle accelerators, and CERN’s Large Hadron Collider, but doesn’t go into anything in detail.
The author skips over almost every scientific achievement and discovery in quantum physics since the 1960s (perhaps there weren’t any?) except to tackle string theory in the final chapter and briefly mention teleportation. He acknowledges physicist Edward Whitten, the developer of the M-theory version of string theory (although he ultimately hasn’t been able to prove it yet). Ason also mentions Stephen Hawking, almost as an afterthought, except to say that he didn’t buy into string theory but instead centred his work on exploring black holes as potential portals to unknown dimensions. Hawking never managed to reconcile a unified field theory.
The founders of the cell phone, LED, hologram, and laser technology weren’t even mentioned.
Ason apologizes in the Conclusion for this incomplete volume, stating that it would be nearly impossible to fit in all of the developments over the decades since quantum physics was established into one book for beginners. However, the book is 99 pages long, so I vehemently disagree. He was lazy. While Darrell Ason is undoubtedly a clever man, he was not smart about slapping this book together and self-publishing it looking like a cat’s breakfast. Don’t waste your money on this beginner’s guide to quantum physics.
I enjoyed the author’s sense of humour, but he comes off as an intelligent teenager who knows a fair bit about quantum physics but nothing about publishing a book. He tried too hard to be funny and allowed himself to get off track several times. So we know right off the bat that this is the easy guide that it professes to be, and it may be good enough for water cooler discussions and “big brain trivia at a cocktail party,” but it’s not good enough for anyone who seriously wants to know about quantum physics. It also appears the author did not use an outline to create this book, nor did he use references or resources. He could have written this book simply by reading Wikipedia entries. His summary is incredibly brief. Because of that, you have to take this book with a grain of salt. Although it is entertaining reading, Ason doesn’t know much about writing a nonfiction book and what is required to take his work seriously.
He begins with Greek philosopher Democritus’ so-called theory of the universe circa 400 BCE. Next, he covers John Dalton’s atomic theory (1808), which introduced atomic weights to determine one substance from another, and from there, he reviews British physicist JJ Thomson, widely credited with discovering the electron, otherwise known as the “Plum Pudding Model.” Next, physicist Ernest Rutherford—the grandfather of nuclear physics—found that the atom was made up of a nucleus of positively-charged protons, held closely together to not be able to pass through another substance, and orbits of negatively charged electrons. Rutherford’s theory didn’t last long, and soon after, Danish physicist Niels Bohr introduced his model showing electrons in layered orbits around the nucleus. Finally, we get to the widely accepted atomic model created by Erwin Schrödinger in 1926. Schrödinger designed the atomic cloud, showing electrons moving, not in set orbits like the Bohr model, but in waves fluctuating in and out from the nucleus. His model was based on the theory of wave-particle duality.
The Double-Slit Experiment proved that light does not behave as a wave or a particle but acts as both. This is wave-particle duality at its most basic. This became an essential foundational principle of quantum theory.
The first three chapters are not bad and cover the early history of quantum physics. The author addresses Albert Einstein in detail and paints a portrait of the scientist as a young man, reviewing his “Miracle Year” in 1905 when he unlocked the secrets of the photoelectric effect. In conjunction with Max Planck’s Constant ideas, Einstein proved that the wavelength was responsible for the magnitude of the photoelectric effect, which also proved wave-particle duality in a practical setting.
Einstein won a Nobel prize for his work on the subject, and Einstein developed the theory of special relativity, a way to explain the movement of photons and other electromagnetic quanta as they travel in a straight line through a vacuum. Einstein’s theory of general relativity focuses on two simple promises: that gravity is just as relative a force as any other and that objects with a large gravitational mass can bend spacetime, which is the term used for the three dimensions plus time, the fourth dimension.
While Albert Einstein‘s personal life is interesting, the length at which the author describes it is unmerited in this book about introductory quantum physics. He gets off track here.
Next, he relates how Paul Dirac contributed to the marriage of relativity in quantum mechanics to describe the behaviour of the electron, and the Dirac equation, which explains quantum field theory based on gravitational fields.
The author then gets into major sub-atomic particles, their classifications, and their relationships. By the time he discussed fermions, leptons, quarks, hadrons, and neutrinos, I was getting bored (and I am a beginner with quantum physics), and it felt like the author was, too, as he spewed the information so quickly. However, I understand how important it is to know about subatomic particles so that we know how they work together to create matter and energy.
By the time scientists determined how to split the atom and create a new process called nuclear fission, using uranium to split the atom’s nucleus, our planet was essentially doomed.
Hungarian physicist Leo Szilard proved that a uranium atom, if correctly split, would be met by the correct number of electrons to continue a chain reaction of atomic breakdown, releasing energy at every fission. Once Einstein signed off on that project, it became the basis of The Manhattan Project, the American program that developed the atomic bomb.
However, on a positive note, quantum physics at work in healthcare has greatly benefitted humanity through x-rays, CT and PET scans, lasers, and radiation therapy, proving that the ability to control beams of condensed electromagnetic energy safely has dramatically and positively altered many healthcare procedures.
In Chapter 7, the author describes some equipment used in the study of quantum physics, including the electron microscope, mass spectrometer, radio telescopes, particle accelerators, and CERN’s Large Hadron Collider, but doesn’t go into anything in detail.
The author skips over almost every scientific achievement and discovery in quantum physics since the 1960s (perhaps there weren’t any?) except to tackle string theory in the final chapter and briefly mention teleportation. He acknowledges physicist Edward Whitten, the developer of the M-theory version of string theory (although he ultimately hasn’t been able to prove it yet). Ason also mentions Stephen Hawking, almost as an afterthought, except to say that he didn’t buy into string theory but instead centred his work on exploring black holes as potential portals to unknown dimensions. Hawking never managed to reconcile a unified field theory.
The founders of the cell phone, LED, hologram, and laser technology weren’t even mentioned.
Ason apologizes in the Conclusion for this incomplete volume, stating that it would be nearly impossible to fit in all of the developments over the decades since quantum physics was established into one book for beginners. However, the book is 99 pages long, so I vehemently disagree. He was lazy. While Darrell Ason is undoubtedly a clever man, he was not smart about slapping this book together and self-publishing it looking like a cat’s breakfast. Don’t waste your money on this beginner’s guide to quantum physics.
May 20, 2022
"Quantum Physics for Beginners" explains the basic concepts and principles of this scientific discipline. The compare and contrast approach relating quantum physics to pure physical science and theoretical physics provides a solid platform from which to view the whole picture. Learn about wave-particle duality, conservation of mass and energy, thermodynamics. Ponder the mystery of gravitons. Intriguing topics such as teleportation, warp speed, time travel, wormholes, and string theory are discussed. Quantum physics has given us the electron microscope, computer chips, cell phones, 5K TVs, and radio telescopes. Electromagnetics is at the heart of it all. Providing a few diagrams and graphs may have helped illustrate some of the more erudite thoughts.
February 13, 2021
Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2021
I'm a fan of physics but I'm not an expert and this book has a way to explain things that most people can understand. The concepts that the book talks about help to understand the quantum physics and well indicates why it is different that classic physics. Let the conclusion mentions, this book makes you want to learn more about our world and its physics around it.
I'm a fan of physics but I'm not an expert and this book has a way to explain things that most people can understand. The concepts that the book talks about help to understand the quantum physics and well indicates why it is different that classic physics. Let the conclusion mentions, this book makes you want to learn more about our world and its physics around it.
March 26, 2021
Finally a book on quantum physics without all the formulas and equations. This is a well-written page-turner, that is interesting and insightful. The author found ways to make it comical yet be informative. I recommend this book to anyone who needed to study quantum physics before they actually take a course
June 25, 2024
This is a short book about Quantum Physics. Why in the world would a man in his 70s be reading a book on Quantum Physics? I do this about every other year. Sort of calisthenics for the brain. This book is fundamental and deals mainly with the men and women who make the discoveries. There are basic explanations, without math, for the concepts of Quantum Physics, and are pretty well done.
March 21, 2022
It has some good information and was easy enough to understand, but it spent a little too much time talking about the personal lives of famous physicists. They could have covered more quantum physics.
March 26, 2021
Good and informative
I like the style of the book the author is presenting information in an intriguing ways that doesn't bore you when it comes to topics as such.
I like the style of the book the author is presenting information in an intriguing ways that doesn't bore you when it comes to topics as such.
April 10, 2022
Fantastic book! It was refreshing to cover these dense topics of Quantum Physics as clear as the author did. Definitely will keep going back to this as reference :)
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews