Quantum Fuzz: The Strange True Makeup of Everything Around Us

by Michael S. Walker

Quantum physics has turned our commonsense notion of reality on its head. This accessible book describes in layperson's terms the strange phenomena that exist at the quantum level--a world of tiny dimensions where nothing is absolutely predictable, where we rethink causality, and information seemingly travels faster than light. The author, a veteran physicist, uses illuminating analogies and jargon-free language to illustrate the basic principles of the subatomic world and show how they explain everything from the chemistry around us to the formation of galaxies. He also explains how scientists and engineers interact with this nebulous reality and, despite its mysteries, achieve results of great precision.Up front is a brief history of the early 20th-century "quantum revolution," focusing on some of the brilliant individuals whose contributions changed our view of the world--Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr, Paul Dirac, Werner Heisenberg, Erwin Schroedinger, and others. The work concludes with a discussion of the many amazing inventions that have resulted from quantum theory, including lasers, semiconductors, and the myriad of electronic devices that use them.Lucidly written, this book conveys the excitement of discovery while expanding the reader's appreciation for a science that explores the basis of everything we know.

Genres: Science, Physics, Nonfiction

448 pages, Hardcover

Published February 14, 2017

Reviews

[Tonstant Weader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quantum Fuzz is a bit of a quantum book, if you ask me. It is definitely in more than one state at a time. It’s a history of the development of quantum physics, rich with the details of the many conferences and debates between the many scientists who first struggled with and eventually developed the basics of quantum mechanics. It is also a wide-ranging overview of this, that, and the other quantum thing, cramming what might be a textbook into two paragraphs, sort of like a quantum computer, but with words. Then it is an engineer’s Disneyland of quantum applications in technology and engineering. All in one book, all at the same time.

The history of conferences and debates is some of the most familiar and most interesting. There’s a curious blend of too much and too little detail. At times it feels like a tick-tock of the events of a day at a conference, then we get the life of Einstein in a couple paragraphs. Still, you get a feeling for the passions and personalities of these scientists who overturned our understanding of the world.

The next part looks at the implications of quantum mechanics, things like quantum computing, decryption, encryption. Part Three is a section on the Big Bang and all this astronomical that is presented a bus tour, but it’s no Hitchhiker’s Guide. Concept after concept is introduce in a paragraph or two. I do like imagining our expanding universe as raisins in bread batter. It is one of the best analogies in the book. The fourth part is how we understand the elements now that we understand atoms differently than we did back when the periodic table was created and what that means in chemistry and materials science.

Much of the book is in the fifth section which covers many of the exciting technologies and applications that derive from quantum mechanics, all about conductivity, superconductors, nanotubes, graphene, and fusion. The possibilities seem as expanding as our universe.

Quantum Fuzz is filled with interesting information but it tries to do too much too quickly. It becomes overwhelming and often confusing. Walker spends more time explaining the basic concepts which are much more commonly and widely understood than on the more obscure and unfamiliar. It seems as though he thinks once we get the basics, the other stuff will be a snap. For me, this was just the opposite of what I needed. I am fascinated by this stuff and have a decent understanding of the basics so I was impatient with the deliberate instruction in the first section, painstaking explanation of all the more widely understood concepts.

But then we get to the chemistry and the elements and explanation becomes more cursory, more reliant on formulae and math. There are fewer analogies, it begins to feel rushed, as though he is packing it all in with no room to spare. The four appendices at the end of the book would have been so much more useful integrated into the text they elucidate. If I had known, I would have read the appendices when I was reading those topics in the book itself instead of at the end.

I am torn with this book. It is about material that fascinates me, that I enjoy reading about. It is full of information about exciting applications of quantum physics. It is also incredibly confusing and seems written more for engineers and scientists, not lay readers. Actually, the beginning feels like it was written for lay readers and then it feels as though Walker got tired of slowing down for us and started writing for his peers when he began writing about the chemistry and the elements. Then he remembered us towards the end, talking about superconductor trains, Bitter magnets (I am so disappointed it was named after a person rather than some anthropocentric emotion of magnetism.), MRIs and all the wonderful things we can do now we better understand our quantum universe.

So, should you read this book? Of course. Just check out those appendices earlier. Forgive yourself when the chemistry gets too complex and roll your eyes at the formulae and just enjoy the magnificent possibilities or mysterious and constantly changing world.

Quantum Fuzz will be released February 14th, 2017. I was provided an advance e-galley by the publisher through Edelweiss.



★★★
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[Mike Hardin · Rating 5 out of 5]

We live in a Quantum universe. We are quantum entities. But the scientific theory that describes what we essentially are appears to most of us as something so arcane and mysterious that it is essentially incomprehensible, except to those with the talent for advanced mathematics. That is not necessarily so. Dr. Walker's discussion of the essentials of quantum reality takes the reader step by step through the essential concepts in a manner accessible to anyone who cares to know. He begins with a survey of the historical background, a fascinating account of how a group of classically trained theorists and experimenters derived a theory that seemed to contradict all their training from the results of their experiments. He then describes the essential concepts and features of the theory in clear and non-mathematical language. Along the way he explains how quantum mechanics crates the chemistry of atoms in a way which makes me wish I had this book to refer to in high school chemistry! And finally he presents a survey of the technology made possible by the applications of quantum theory, which have created our modern world and account for an estimated 1/3 of the country's present economy.

The philosopher said "Know thyself." "Quantum Fuzz" will take you a long way toward that goal.

[Ray Tinney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having a degree in physics made this book easy enough to get through. The history of discovery presented in the first half is really insightful and something that really assists in contextualising the physics presented.
It would have been good to have had a little more depth in the second half of the book around the applications. I found several of the applications fascinating, however they were really just quickly skimmed by.
Great read though to get your head around the change in mindset over the last 100 years towards the physics world.

[Old Man JP · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating! Reality is truly far stranger than fiction!
I love reading this kind of stuff even though I don't really understand much of it. This was a great overview of, basically, all of known physics. The only reason I didn't rate it 5 stars is because some sections were broken up into related sections that made it difficult to read but still a terrific book for anyone interested in this sort of thing.

[Quantum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Covers an awesome amount of concepts and real-world applications. However, too much meta-discourse at the beginnings of sections and chapters telling what would be covered, frequent parenthetical interruptions in the explanations, and sometimes cursory descriptions (and resorting to classical models for expediency) made reading it drudgery. The detailed appendixes, references to other works, and glossary pushed it up a star.

[GONZA · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starting from the beginning of 1900 the greatest physic's discoveries and their real or hypothetical applications, explained with a clear language (when possible) and with pictures. Very interesting.

La storia delle piú recenti scoperte della fisica (a partire dal 1900) spiegate chiaramente (quando possibile) e corredate di immagini. Molto interessante.

THANKS TO EDELWEISS FOR THE PREVIEW!

[Tristan Staschik · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is quite well done. By carefully going through the experiments which lead to the conclusions which now make up QM the author allows the reader to obtain an intuitive understanding of the subject. The book gets a bit too much into the history at times, however the way it is presented prompts the reader to contemplate the subject and be guided to the correct conclusions .

[Allan Pomerantz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reasonable overview but many parts pretty dense

Book attempts to teach the quantum world and its real world applicatio
n but the quantum is too complex for overview. The description of real world applications is much easier. All in all this book takes an effort to read.

[Louis · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's not a thrilling page turner of a book, BUT...it's probably the best introduction to quantum theory that I have ever read. When you finish the book, you actually feel somewhat qualified to talk about quantum physics, even if you have no formal training in it. I plan to read this again.

[Raþ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as accessible as it claims, especially in the appendices. However, it was very informative.

[Tania · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the book I just wasn't' crazy about the chapter format.

[Ephraim Bowling · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book particularly interesting. It provided a complete view of quantum mechanics starting as early as the 20th century. It also gave information about topics such as quantum computing and a bit of astrophysics. It is very readable (I'm speaking ass a ten year old) and i would definitely reccommend it as a review for phisycs students.

[Brendan]

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