Review by Choice Review
This work provides the means for a lay reader to gain a basic understanding of much of the technical language and jargon that filters into popular accounts of quantum physics. Broad organizational categories, each consisting of responses to six to ten questions, include atoms, nuclei, particles, conservation laws, and technology (such as semiconductors and lasers). The lucid text is complemented both by photographs with brief personal profiles of important scientists and by cartoon illustrations from Paul Hewitt, author of the popular Conceptual Physics (11th ed., 2009) textbook and related works. Though Ford (former director, American Institute of Physics) does not shy away from using numbers and graphs, there is not much in the way of mathematics aside from the mention of a handful of important equations. One could quibble with the choice of some topics (E = mc2 fits less well in a book on quantum physics than in a book on relativity) or the completeness of some explanations (presenting spin in terms of classical angular momentum with no mention of magnetism). However, most of the questions are informative and answered clearly in ways that help a nonspecialist grasp the basics. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers and lower-division undergraduates in non-science fields. D. B. Moss formerly, Boston University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In this entertaining and comprehensive overview, Ford (coauthor of The Quantum World), former director of the American Institute of Physics, manages to encapsulate modern physics while illuminating rather than befuddling the lay reader. Starting with the introductory "What is the quantum, anyway?" and ending with the amusingly unanswerable "How come the quantum?" (asked by his mentor, who attempted to answer the question by writing a poem that ends, How could we have been so stupid / for so long?) Ford explains the essential concepts of quantum reality, our small-fast world, full of uncertainty and probability, where all matter can exist in more than one state simultaneously. Ford brings interesting and entertaining anecdotal and historical material into his answers, organizing and shaping his book around 15 subjects. By using humor and straight talk to answer questions that often bedevil the non-scientist who attempts to grasp this knotty subject, Ford has created an entertaining read and an excellent companion piece to more detailed popular treatments of modern physics. 104 illustrations, nine tables, two appendices. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Review by Library Journal Review
Ford (former director, American Inst. of Physics; Quantum Foam: A Life in Physics) here sets aside his usual essay approach in favor of a Q&A format. In his able hands, this technique has yielded an extremely coherent and understandable review of quantum and nuclear physics as they developed in the 20th and 21st centuries. The text is further enhanced by illustrated biographical notes about many of the scientific giants who contributed significantly to the development of modern physics. Ford carefully explains all the necessary technical terms while weaving in some marvelous informal explanations of such matters as the physical limit to the size of the periodic table of the elements and of the motion of particles within the atomic nucleus. VERDICT Among the slew of books published in the last several decades aiming to explain modern physics to the public, this work is surely one of the best. Strongly recommended for armchair physicists and academic and public libraries.-Jack W. Weigel, Ann Arbor, MI (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
