Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: Q Is for Quantum : An Encyclopedia of Particle Physics by John Gribbin, Mary Gribbin, Jonathan Gribbin ISBN: 0684863154 Publisher: Touchstone Books Pub. Date: February, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.8
Rating: 4
Summary: Fundamental Mysteries
Comment: John Gribbin's "Schrödinger's Kittens" was a revelation for
the casual reader with an interest in particle physics. In "Q is
for Quantum" these amazing insights are presented in short,
succinct, manageable 'quanta'. Many of these statements and models
baffle, and read like the pronouncements of a first-century Gnostic on
how the universe and the fabric of reality are ordered. The difference
is that all these statements are buttressed by experiments and
mathematical models. Moreover, they are often ratified to a staggering
degree of accuracy.
How can we believe that reality is radically
altered by our observation of it? Even to the extent that our
observations of distant quasars today affect the way the light
emerged from them 10 billion years ago? How can particles be at two
places at once? How does every charged particle on the other side of
the Andromeda galaxy (2 million light years away) instantaneously
"know" if we poke an electron here on earth (see the entry
on "transactional interpretation")? I would suggest you read
the introduction to this book, and then the entry on "double-slit
experiment" and, as the author suggests, " ...follow your
nose from there." These shed light, albeit it a dim ray, on the
central mysteries of quantum mechanics.
Rating: 5
Summary: A FIVE STAR TOURIST GUIDE TO THE UNIVERSE
Comment: For all you Douglas Adams fans out there ( The HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy) we have now got definitive, non-fictional guides to the Cosmos and the micro-world of Quantum Phenomena.
John Gribbin's latest book "Q is for Quantum" is the perfect companion to his 1996 masterpiece "Companion to the Cosmos".
Gribbin's presents his work in a well illustrated, encyclopaedic (A to Z) style with nearly all topics having hyperlinks to cross-references elsewhere in the book. He puts great emphasis on the human dimension of science as well as on the purely physical phenomena and theories he describes so well. The mini-biographies of the scientists are fascinating in their own right, particularly when looking at the historical context and the geographic, social and academic connections/parallels that have led to these great advances in human thought.
Gribbin guides us along those amazing scientific paths of the past half millennia , from Galileo and Newton to Einstein and Hawking. He has this reader convinced that we are very close to realizing the ultimate dream of a Grand Unifying Theory (GUT) which ties together all the links between the forces of nature. His work is right up to date and includes the latest ideas on M-branes and superstrings.
The best way to read the book is to open it at random , find a topic of interest and see how far the hyperlinks can take you. Bliss for a net-head! The real strength of Gribbin's writing is to help us cover that great spectrum (in time and space) between the sub-atomic microworld of Quantum phenomena through to the edges of the Cosmos. Somewhere in the middle is the human dimension, dare I say, the "real world".
It was our friend Douglas Adams who posed that trickiest of tri-lemmas ... What is the answer to that ultimate question, that is, the Meaning of Life, the Universe and Everything ? He told us ... it is 42 !
John Gribbin's agrees - look up his section on Planck. What is the smallest unit of time? Answer: zero, decimal point, FOURTY TWO zeros, one second.
Before Planck time nothing much happened ... but then again ...
Rating: 5
Summary: Quality quanta.
Comment: If you read physics popularizations you have noticed (and appreciated) the glossaries that appear in the back of many of these books. If you've wanted a more thorough reference resource for quantum physics terminology -- here it is. Reference texts are not generally going to tempt the reader to start at the beginning and read through the entire volume, but this one will. Gribbin, familiar to many readers of physics books, writes clearly and covers all of the significant developments, personalities, and ideas of particle physics over the past century. An excellent resource, from 'Absolute zero' to 'Z particles.'
 |
Title: The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory by Brian Greene ISBN: 0375708111 Publisher: Vintage Books Pub. Date: 29 February, 2000 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
 |
Title: Schrodinger's Kittens and the Search for Reality by John Gribbin ISBN: 0316328197 Publisher: Little Brown & Co (Pap) Pub. Date: May, 1996 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
 |
Title: In Search of Schrodinger's Cat: Quantum Physics and Reality by John Gribbin ISBN: 0553342533 Publisher: Bantam Doubleday Dell Pub (Trd Pap) Pub. Date: November, 1985 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
 |
Title: In Search of the Edge of Time: Black Holes, White Holes, Wormholes by John Gribbin ISBN: 0140248145 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: December, 1999 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
 |
Title: QED by Richard Phillips Feynman ISBN: 0691024170 Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr Pub. Date: 01 October, 1988 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
