The Amazing Story of Quantum Mechanics: A Math-Free Exploration of the Science that Made Our World

by James Kakalios

Most of us are unaware of how much we depend on quantum mechanics on a day-to-day basis. Using illustrations and examples from science fiction pulp magazines and comic books, The Amazing Story of Quantum Mechanics explains the fundamental principles of quantum mechanics that underlie the world we live in.

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Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Physics, History, Audiobook, Quantum Mechanics, Chemistry

336 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2010

About the author

James Kakalios is a physics professor at the University of Minnesota. Known within the scientific community for his work with amorphous semiconductors, granular materials, and 1/f noise, he is known to the general public as the author of the book The Physics of Superheroes, which considers comic book superheroes from the standpoint of fundamental physics.
Kakalios, who earned PhD from the University of Chicago in 1985, began his comic book collection as a graduate student as a way to relieve stress. At Minnesota, he taught a freshman seminar that focused on the physics of superheroes as a way to motivate students to think about physics. This course gained great popularity as an enticing alternative to the typical inclined planes and pulleys of physics.
The seminar was a great success, leading to articles in popular magazines including People, lectures on the subject, and publication of The Physics of Superheroes. In his talks, favorite examples are the death of Gwen Stacy (Spider-Man's girlfriend), "can Superman jump over tall buildings and what does this tell us about Krypton?", the high-velocity actions of The Flash, and the shrinking problem of the Atom. His analysis of Gwen Stacy's death eventually became integral to the plot of a new Spider-Man comic.
Kakalios is of the opinion that the most unrealistic aspect of the comic-book universe is often the sociology. He notes that pedestrians don't usually provide running monologues describing everything around them. There is one aspect of the story of the Atom that he does not question, however. The Atom begins as a physics professor, who encounters a chunk of white dwarf star and picks it up. "By a conservative estimate, he is lifting about 5000 metric tons. This is not unreasonable," Kakalios will say at the end of his talk, taking off his glasses before walking offstage. "We physics professors are just that strong."
He provides content on the DVD of the film Watchmen. Under extras, he is filmed discussing the physics of superheroes.
Dr. Kakalios has been nominated by the University of Minnesota to be one of the USA Science and Engineering Festival's Nifty Fifty Speakers who will speak about his work and career to middle and high school students in October 2010.

Reviews

[Gordon · Rating 5 out of 5]

In my undergraduate thesis, I hypothesized that students who focused on understanding the concepts of quantum mechanics would learn more than students who instead focused on mathematical formalisms. In the "Amazing Story," Kakalios demonstrates just how interesting and engaging the ideas of quantum mechanics can be.

Without any mind-numbing equations, he introduces theories from statistical mechanics, solid-state physics, and modern atomic/nuclear physics, and shows how they form the basis for many of today's new technologies (e.g., semiconductors and laser disc readers, to start). The science is also grounded in stories about quantum's discoverers (Schrodinger receives noteworthy treatment) and pulp science fiction from the 1950s (i.e., Buck Rogers). The purpose, I think, is two-fold: first, to emphasize the ongoing importance of imagination (Where would we be without speculative fiction? Practical applications aside, life is surely more interesting when we can see the Watchmen and think about controlling our own wavefunctions); and second, to contrast what we got to what we expected -- an increased ability to store information rather than an increased ability to store energy.

In short, the book is approachable and loaded with applications. If you are interested in any of these topics, I encourage you to check it out.

[Ebster Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this exerpt from chapter five with me.

"In 1958, Jonathan Osterman (Ph.D in atomic physicts, Princeton University) began his postdoctoral research position at the Gila Flats Research Facility in the Arazona desert. There he participated in experiments probing the nature of the "intrinsic field."

The author of this book, Mr. James Kakalios goes on to explain that "Without the electromagnetic, strong, or weak forces, there is nothing to hold atoms or nuclei together, and all mater would rapidly and violently be torn apart. Unfortunately for Dr. Osterman, just such a fate befell him"

At this point I, as a reader, got really exited.

"when he was accidentally locked in the intrinsic field chamber during one such test run in 1959. Osterman, along with concrete block no. 15, which was the intended target of the day's intrinsic field removal experiment, was completely dematerialized"

No, freaking way!!!!!

"Through a process that remains poorly understood to this day, Osterman was able to re-create himself, atom by atom"

Wait, what??!!

"to become the superpowered being known as Dr. Manhattan."

HE'S A COMIC BOOK CHARACTER!??! YOU MORON I HATE YOU!!

Yup, that was the most exiting part of the book for me.

The title is misleading, perhaps there is no way to explain quantum mechanics without math but it is stupid to make a claim and then reveal it as false in the first chapter. There IS math in this book. And it's pretty importiant to understand math if you want to know what the author is talking about. In the beginning of chapter 5, as well as the rest of the book, the author just kind of assumes you understand what he's talking about. And that makes this book difficult to understand.

The book kind of assumes your not ignorant about the world of comic book heroes...or physics.

Because I am a curious person, I have looked up information about things like the Schrodinger equation before. I was able to scrape by...but barely! I still don't have it all figured out.

I'd say this book was entertaining, but unless you have some previous knowledge of physics don't even bother.

[Grace · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was a little disappointed with this one. I'm fairly comfortable with math, but I found the sub-title here of a "Math-free exploration" to immediately misleading, and I really just didn't think this was the best example I've read of Quantum Mechanics for a lay-person. I found the style slightly off-putting, maybe slightly because the author relies heavily on dated examples of comic-book/sci-fi stuff from the 1940s, which felt like it kind of infused the whole book with a kind of conservative white-man vibe that just is never my bag. Can't say I'd recommend this one.

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book promised "a math free exploration of the science that made our world," but it failed to deliver. I was expecting one of two approaches to the story of quantum mechanics and physics. Specifically, a beginner's guide to quantum mechanics and physics demonstrating all the wonder and absurdity of the field OR a collection of industrial thrillers regarding the race to develop various products (such as the race to develop a working laser, or a smaller supercomputer or LEDs.

Instead, the book takes physics theories of the 20's and 30's, follows it up with comic book stories who expounded on the subject and found a practical use for the theory (sometimes drawing the ire of military scientists who were working to realize such a use for the product) and where such technology could head in the future (such as jet packs and a100 mile x 100 miles solar panel to power the electical needs of the US.

He borrows heavily from comic books, especially Doctor Manhattan from Watchmen to describe quantum theory. But his unique approach falters from his use of overly dense language and his failure to provide stories of human conflict when recent practical applications to the technology are being developed.

[Fred · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good narrative explanation of quantum as it pertains to solid state physics and other modern applications. Misses some interesting details by oversimplification. Slightly out of date at this point.

[Blog on Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

James Kakalios is one funny guy. Sure, he is a “distinguished professor in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Minnesota,” but he makes no bones about the fact that he is a science-fiction nut whose mission (at least in this book) is to teach the layman how to understand the sometimes dense principles of quantum mechanics using real-life examples mixed with a hefty dollop of humor and Buck Rogers atmospherics.

Kakalios begins his journey by simultaneously seducing and yet steering us away from notions of that Jetson’s style, sci-fi future we were supposed to be living by now – complete with flying cars, personal jet-packs and robotic assistants – and shifts our thinking to appreciate the more complex real world developments of iPhones, laptop computers and the place you are now reading this article, the World Wide Web itself.

Kakalios mission is to fuse his knowledge of sci-fi history (the original Sci-Fi pulper, Hugo Gernsback’s “Amazing Stories,” serves as the basis for many of his examples) with the evolution of the theories, formulas and forces that emerged out of such fictional thinking and landed in the labs of the last 50 years. Like the ‘fun’ professor in college, he explains meaningful theories but infuses them with colorful (to say the least) stories of how these discoveries came about (like how the Schrodinger equation was filled with plenty of suspense… and sex!) Using examples from Dr. Manhattan to the Manhattan Project, (as well as his own ’superheroes’ like Niels Bohr, Einstein, Max Planck and others) the professor creates scenario after scenario where seemingly complex theories are explained in a “oh-I-see-how-that-works” style using story lines, diagrams and historical connections to make the light go off in your head. (DVD, glow-in-the-dark, photon, laser-light, that is.)

Now, we don’t pretend to fully grasp every scientific revelation presented here (though we are a lot clearer on the Second Law of Thermodynamics as well as the future of nanotechnology), we certainly understand much more about movies like Transformers and Watchman (which Kakalios worked on). As far as finding a way to have students understand complicated scientific theories through a connection to pop culture goes, Kakalios has succeeded big-time. The fact that this can even be considered a laymen’s text is proof enough of that.

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

An intro to quantum mechanics with minimal theory, from a compilation of the basic facts. Explained that quantum mechanics basically means light acts like a "photon machine gun" and that energy states, at the atomic level, must occur in discrete "energy lumps" known as quanta.

Early in the book, listed:

"There are three impossible things that we must accept in order to understand quantum mechanics:

Light is an electromagnetic wave that is actually comprised of discrete packets of energy.

Matter is comprised of discrete particles that exhibit a wave-like nature.

Everything -- light and matter -- has an intrinsic "angular momentum," or "spin," that can only have discrete values."

From there, the story of quantum mechanics is explained from Max Planck's original ideas ca. 1900. Includes an excellent and clear explanation of Planck's constant, why it came into being and why it was the critical link between Newton's F= ma and Schrodinger's equations.

Heavy material, to be certain. I liked the explanations except for the author's attempts to be funny. Those were clumsy and pretty stupid. None the less, this is a clearly written book by someone who knows his material well.

Reminded me of when I took the 3rd physics course at the Univ of Illinois (around 1970). It covered quantum mechanics and had the most cool of all possible lab experiments. I could not believe what you could do with some fairly simple lab equipment at a sophomore level in college. Truly awesome! Even though it was hard to understand. One of the experiments had to have a 60 cycle timing base, so we used a 110 VAC outlet for this. I questioned the accuracy of this as a timing base, and the instructors said, "It is quite stable and accurate." I'm still wondering about that.

[Jason Mills · Rating 4 out of 5]

James Kakalios clearly loves comics as much as he loves quantum physics, and pounces on any excuse to lever them into this book. These interjections (often illustrated with frames or covers from comics) take the form of light-hearted nerdiness:

...the amazing superpowers displayed by Dr Manhattan... are a consequence of his having control over his quantum mechanical wave function.

I rolled my eyes, but was happy to indulge these cheerful diversions, even if they're not terribly helpful, as they do leaven the load of a respectably detailed and sometimes challenging overview of the subatomic world.

Whimsy aside, Kakalios adopts a very nuts and bolts approach, with clean diagrams and solid metaphors (energy levels in a semiconductor, for instance, are 'orchestra', 'mezzanine' and 'balcony' seats). This is not a history of the field: instead, the author is concerned with telling us, insofar as is possible in a popular text, how stuff works, from wave functions and uncertainty, up through radiation and fermions, to lasers, transistors and MRI scanners. This is a prosaic and practical book, and if I occasionally had to squint and furrow my brow to understand, nonetheless, understand I did (however briefly!). A sound and engaging account not only of what quantum physics is, but why it matters and how it affects us every day.

[Shockvalue · Rating 3 out of 5]

TLDR; Interesting and entertaining book, but hard to grok while driving.

I hate to admit that a book 'written for laymen' was outside of my comprehension, but there were quite a few times while listening to this book that I had to be content to pick out little nuggets here and there without understanding 'the big picture'.

Perhaps if I wasn't driving and could have actually studied the diagrams and the equations that the author kept referencing instead of keeping my eyes on the road I would have had a better chance at keeping up.

However - this is purely my situation. The book itself was fascinating. The attempts to keep it interesting by framing a difficult subject in the context of super hero/villian powers was mostly successful. The title outright lies when they say "Math-Free", but it did manage to keep the math to a fairly rudimentary level.

[Samuel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is written by someone who grew up with pulp scifi and comic books, for people who grew up with pulps and comics. His explanations of quantum mechanics are littered with geeky references from before a time when geeky references were a thing. Many of them are before my time, so I didn’t appreciate them. Also, his style at times confuses fact and fantasy; the way he describes Doctor Manhattan’s origin story (from Watchmen ), for instance, seems for too long like he’s discussing actual scientists running an actual experiment.

(Note: I forgot to mark it when I finished the book, and I forget when that was. So the date’s wrong.)

[Peggy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's no secret what drew me to this book: the subtitle is A Math-Free Exploration of the Science That Made Our World. Math-free? That's for me. Sadly, as Kakalios admits in his introduction, it's not really math-free, merely math-simple (as defined by a physicist). Still and all, it's an enjoyable read. Kakalios is a self-admitted nerd and geek, and he draws his examples and illustrations from comic books. He's got a very accessible, conversational style, and he's not above a bad pun or two. Do I understand quantum mechanics now? No. Am I closer to understanding quantum mechanics? Definitely.

[Nathan Henrion · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is definitely an art for making advanced science palatable for the masses, unfortunately this book lacked that. Some interesting facts, but you need some per-ordained knowledge on the subject to even get going.

[Abhilesh Dhawanjewar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scientists and writers of ‘scientifiction’ use our current understandings of the working of the universe to conjure up imaginative descriptions and refining our model of the universe, as in the case of scientists, or speculating about the future course of human societies and extraterrestrial worlds. The 20th century was a period of exciting scientific discoveries that radically altered our understanding of physics and at the same time saw the birth of the science fiction genres with its astonishing worlds and humans with superpowers. With the ‘Amazing Story of Quantum Mechanics’, James Kakalios attempts to explain the fundamental principles of quantum mechanics and how their applications led to the conveniences of the modern world. A self-proclaimed nerd as well as a geek, Kakalios, a physics professor at the University of Minnesota loves quantum mechanics but also pulp science fiction making him a great candidate to provide a somewhat historical account of how scientific theories and sci-fi plots influenced each other over the course of the century.
The design of the book cover pays homage to Hugo Gernsbeck’s ‘Amazing Stories’, the original Sci-Fi pulper published in 1926 which also serves as the basis for several of Kakalios’ examples throughout the book. He brilliantly uses the futuristic devices and superhuman characters imagined by sci-fi writers such as the death ray gun or the all-powerful Dr. Manhattan from Watchmen as springboards to elucidate complex concepts like LASER and the Schrödinger’s wave equation and how a better understanding of these principles led to modern innovations such as MRI possible. He even attempts to encapsulate all of quantum mechanics to three deceptively simple rules, which he alludes to several times throughout the book, making sure the concepts stick. The science presented is dense and despite its claims of offering a math-free exploration of the world of quantum mechanics, Kakalios drops the time-independent Schrödinger’s wave equation in it’s most raw form. Nonetheless, the equations presented in the book are there more for the sake of completeness than to intimidate the reader. Kakalios goes the full stretch and does not shy away from explaining unintuitive and seemingly difficult concepts such as hyperfine quantisation and quantum tunnelling but rather does so through the use of clever metaphors that make the concepts much more accessible. All of this discussion is presented in a lighthearted, humorous manner sprinkled with puns all delivered in an innocent, nerdy fashion.
Noting the lack of jetpacks and flying cars, the book provides a great perspective on the influence of science on pop culture tracing the collisions between the science fiction and modern physics over the years. Kakalios provides examples of how science fiction comics of the past would weave their narratives around the latest discoveries in the world of modern physics informing the layperson of the important scientific developments of the time. He notes how before the advent of superheroes with super-natural powers, Earth’s or human societies saviours were scientists. It speaks of a society enthused and even energised by science, a trait that’s increasingly diminishing in today’s society with increased public distrust in science. Kakalios emphasises the important of curiosity-driven fundamental research and splendidly portrays how the discoveries of few handful physicists has had such a profound impact on all spheres of human life. Here’s a quote that drives that point home -

"While the scientist as world-saving hero is a caricature, I hope that I have convinced you that the scientist as world-changing hero is a pretty apt description for the physicists who developed the field of quantum mechanics. In this, these investigators followed a trail blazed hundreds of years ago. For science has always changed the future. Technological innovations, from movable type to steam engines to wireless radio to laptop computers, have time and again profoundly altered interactions among people, communities, and nations”.

Overall, while the book occupies a particular overlapping niche between nerds and geeks, who will find this offering absolutely delightful, it’s got lot to offer for anyone curious about the inner concepts that made possible and drive the workings of modern devices. In my opinion, this is a brilliant example of science communication done right.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well. The subtitle lied. This is NOT a 'math-free' exploration. But that was obvious going in, largely because Math is the language by which we consolidate descriptors of observable and calculable phenomena. Math isn't magic that controls the universe, it simply reduces the description of what's already happening down to its core components. Like taking all the nebulous adjectives out of a sentence, instead of saying 'this thing is moving quickly', it defines both the thing and the speed its moving relative to what it's moving more quickly than.

This book while not genuinely 'math-free' does go to great lengths to elaborate on how math as a concept is really more akin to a very specific, very concrete linguistic construction than it is to a magic number-thingy.

The most fascinating aspect of this book, from my perspective as a tech-savvy Millennial who wasn't born in an era before Quantum Mechanics had already become a mostly-accepted part of Science to the point that certain elements of it had trickled out into commercial markets, was the illuminating comment on what schism of understanding left futurist thinkers of sci-fi tech in the 50's & 60's (and even in the 70's & 80's) swinging so wildly off-base in their projections of 21st century tech... While I am still waiting for the hoverboard Back to the Future promised me, I have a much better understanding why such promises seemed plausible back then and yet so impossible now: our future-tech revolution struck the wrong vein of development.

The problem that scientists and futurists were focused on back then was the efficient production, storage, and transfer of Energy.
The solution that we found to catapult ourselves into a digital age was one of efficient storage, transfer, and reproduction of Information.

The advent of transistors and such made power usage slightly more effective, but it changed everything in terms data movement and processing. I'd known that on a logical level, but I hadn't quite realized how focused the previous generation's gaze was on energy-related tech-developments until Kakalios linked aspects of futurist projections to both the cutting edge of 50's science culture, and to the pop-culture creations that came out of each new 50's science revelation. (I always knew it made sense to them, but this IS the generation who flung 3 people at the moon in a gold-covered toaster with less digital processing power than the watch I had in middle school, soooooo... 'sense' has always been something I took with a few hearty grains of salt).

Kakalios breaks everything down into understandable, bite-sized pieces, relates those pieces to both a pop-culture event and a scientific development, explains the math that describes the concept, and creates a coherent, over-arching narrative about how these concepts have both literally built and conceptually inspired our modern world.

Overall, it's an extremely well done, fantastically well researched, and deeply informative pieces of physics non-fiction that was also delightfully entertaining.

Now, I may be biased towards favoring it because I am the super geek that was glued to the History Channel and the Science Channel, watching Michio Kaku and Brian Greene discuss the physics of the impossible and taking viewers on a tour of the universe instead of watching Spongebob (which I STILL don't understand the appeal of) or whatever else was on Nickelodeon, but that doesn't really mean I had too much of a leg up in the science-understanding aspect, here. The thing about Quantum Mechanics, and about math & modern physics in general, is that it's NOT easily observable, relatable stuff. In the same way as being given a random chapter in a book is not really going to illuminate the story for you, even if its a book you've read before, unless you're VERY familiar with the context, you'll need a little help exploring it.

Now, I have read the metaphorical 'Quantum Mechanics book' before, but like only once and way back in high school, so I can be pretty confident in saying that anyone totally unfamiliar with the topic will still get a huge boost of in-depth understanding out of this.

I HIGHLY recommend it!

Kakalios truly presents a FANTASTIC in-roads to this entire realm of study!

(And, of course, I also recommend that everyone explore a little of the Quantum Physics realm, simply because of how critically important it is to the making and maintenance of our modern world!)

[Chris Esposo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly an excellent book. Combines two things that should be together more often, the early 50s and 60s sci-fi pulp/comic book culture and a non-dumbed down exposition into quantum mechanics. Goes through Quantum Mechanics through via a series of easy to understand analogies, often times formulated by the original masters, like de Broglie's view of understanding particle/wave duality as a photon gun shooting at pebbles on a beach, to thinking of the Pauli Exclusion Principle for 1/2 spin particle systems as people trying to find seats for a movie in a theater, the closer to the screen one is corresponding to higher energy states.

Most of the comic book/sci-fi references are not from properties many contemporary fans would recognize, mostly from things like The Shadow, Buck Rogers, Amazing Fantasy, etc. One does get a great history of early sci-fi as a consequence, including many of progenitors/inspiration to modern characters like the Fantastic Four, Batman, and Captain Atom. Of the few exceptions to these more obscure references is Alan Moore's The Watchmen. Specifically, the book makes use of Dr Manhattan to help explain multiple things, including Schrodinger's wave mechanics, non-locality, and Cherenov radiation; which by coincidence could provide a scientific explanation to the characters constant blue glow.

The only part of the book that lost me was the last segment, which centred on semiconductor and other applications of QM. This should be interesting, but the book's cohesive dual-sci-fi/science narrative seems to lose some of its cohesion in this portion, as the narrative focuses more on devices, but doesn't hammer in analogous sci-fi devices as much, with only the science coming through strongly to the usual reader. The publisher provides a pdf with a great number of well-executed illustrations to supplement the book. There should be more books like this, both entertaining and functionally informative. Highly recommend

[A room full of books~ :) · Rating 2 out of 5]

..."Math-free" was a whopper of a lie, LOL, as was his statement in the beginning of the book that the little math there was would be 'simple.'

Despite a few unfunny moments and one rather weird section that totally confused fact with fiction for a minute, I was actually mostly enjoying this right up until chapter six... at which point it went full equation and completely lost me. I tried to just power through it, but only being able to grasp bits and pieces of whatever the heck he was talking about was frustrating. And this is coming from someone who finds (the ideas in) quantum theory (that I've seen explained elsewhere perfectly well without resorting to complex equations) fascinating! Not much of a "layman's guide" if even the already-somewhat-informed-going-into-it layman can't understand it, is it? 😅 So, dropped. 🤷‍♀️

[Casey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I do not have strong background in mathematics, but I have always had an interest in various science material. I was able to find physics and astronomy classes in college that were more conceptual than mathematical -- though we did have to do some in our labs. So when a book tells me it is going to talk about quantum mechanics without math I figure it will be a great fit. In it's 300 or so pages there was more discussion of math or the equations of quantum mechanics (and use of mathematical symbols) than in the 2 semesters of aforementioned science classes.

I found myself just tuning out sections because they were far more technical than I was expecting. I also found excuses to put it down and read other things in between. I have read more than 10 other books since I started it.

Not my cup of tea.

[Alberto Lopez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you want to learn quantum mechanics but without all the intimidating number crunching? This book is for you. As for me, I loved it but very much. In a weird way, I too disliked the constant references to comic strips. While I can see that including Buck Rogers or Superman in a high science book is a certain way to lighten its image, I found these passages to be a distraction. In any case, the rest of the book is so rich in great content that I happily lived with the caricatures. But don't be fooled. This is a serious book. If you have a basic understanding of physics and a love for science, you will be able to comprehend quantum physics after finishing the book.

[Jacob Folkman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is actually quite a slog. Despite the popularity, title and cover image, it’s a far less friendly survey of quantum mechanics than many other books on the subject. I recommend Sean Carroll’s work or Carlo Rovelli’s Helgoland. Their writing is much more elegant and understandable. And while I applaud James Kakalios’ attempts to connect with the reader over references from classic American golden age media, followed by explanations of the physics that could make such a thing possible, it was poorly organized and lackluster. For someone looking for a good primer on quantum mechanics, this book is hard to swallow.

[OSCAR GADEA UGARTE · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un acercamiento curioso a la mecánica cuántica. Las referencias a comics y películas pulp no son demasiado numerosas, en todo caso las disfrutará sobre todo el que conozca este mundillo. Las explicaciones sobre mecánica cuántica se hacen a través de metáforas, a veces un poco rebuscadas, pero en general eficaces para explicar una disciplina tan intuitivamente compleja como esta. El estilo del libro es sencillo y asequible a cualquier lector, aunque alguien con conocimientos de ciencia le sacará más jugo. La última parte sobre el futuro introduce muchos de los cambios tecnológicos que estamos viviendo hoy en día.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun book to read. The author weaves together the weird science of quantum mechanics discovered by early 20th century physicists with the fantastic tales of futuristic inventions found in pulp sci-fi and comic books. We may not live in a world of jet-packs and ray-guns, but we do have hand-held computers (cell phones) and MRI machines. The modern world we take for granted may not seem as fantastic as the world of superheros but the author shows how none of it would be possible without our understanding of the bizarre properties of the sub-atomic, quantum world.

[Alias · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to the audiobook, which is delightfully narrated. It is also a little bit harder to follow due to the absence of pictures and view-able math equations (yes, there is still math). Combine with the multitasking one often does while listening to an audiobook, and this equals probably only really understanding about half of what was written. Still quite enjoyable though, although of course I remember more pulp fiction anecdotes than actual science...

[daphreads · Rating 3 out of 5]

I only reviewed this four stars because it was difficult for an ADHD person like me to keep focused. But when I was focused and reading page after page, I learned some really interesting information about Quantum Mechanics. It took me, I believe, four or five weeks to finally finish it, but definitely that ending part was something to cherish and reflect on.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining and some of his explanations were much better than several other "serious" explanations I've read. Spoiler... there is actually some math, but not too crazy (made reasonable sense even though mine is rather rusty...). Really good explanation of the uncertainty principle and several other important concepts.

[Mike · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book and wanted to see the cheeky 'Math-Free' aspect shake out in fun ways. It became clear that it's very difficult to discuss physics and quantum mechanics without math as more and more math got in the way of the narrative, which isn't even a complaint on the math side (since I can follow that fairly well), but more a complaint on the poor writing side.

[Francis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Everything you always wanted to know about electron energy levels but we’re afraid to ask.

“ A transistor modulates the current flowing through a semiconductor by the application of an electric field to an insulating slab on top of the conducting material “

268 pages of sentences like that. Not incomprehensible but incomprehensibly dull. Liberal Arts majors beware!

[Kristyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do have a much clearer understanding of what quantum mechanics actually means and how it is applied in our daily lives. The analogies helped illustrate the concepts in an accessible way. My only criticism is that sometimes there were too many analogies.

[Nando · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some parts are fun, explanation are in good layman terms. If you're a scientist you will be left a bit "hungry" for a more meaningful explanation. I give it 4 stars.
And one star less for the use of imperial units.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, perhaps more so because the author talks about comic books that use a lot of physics and engineering. You will learn how the fictional character Dr. Manhattan is able to have superpowers, a lot of them due to Quantum Mechanics. This is as user friendly as it gets for explaining what Quantum Mechanics does.

[Diane Baima · Rating 3 out of 5]

I gave up, unfortunately. Got stuck after chapter 6.