Customer Reviews
The unexplainable, unexplained. - By: Mr. I. B. Mott, 13 Aug 2008 
I was glad to see some other commentators unhappy with this book. The strange & wonderful behaviour of our universe (on very small scales) can be described mathematically. At these scales however, our macromolecular philosphies fall far short of a common sense description. The really odd thing is why these seeming contradictory mathematical equations yeild such accurate results!
It may well be that no short introduction would ever be capable of doing any justice to the subject, or maybe I'm missing the elegance of the writing through too much ignorance on my part. (I'm not yet fully competent with the maths of the Quantum world, but I'm getting there.)
There are many fine texts on this subject. The Oxford publication Great Physicists gives wonderful inshights into the thinking that led to Quantum physics (and most other aspects of physics) as well as giving explanations of the mathematical logic (illogic?)in a way accessable to all.
Physics is for all & is a lot of fun. There is no way to simplify the maths for Quantum physics & it doesn't make any sensein the conventional way, but don't let that put you off trying some. Good luck.
An excellent introduction to quantum theory - By: Loo Meng Tiong, 25 May 2007 
There seems to be some mixed reviews regarding J.C. book. Well, personally I feel that it offers a very broad & clear description to the overall structure of quantum physics. The book attempts to arouse the reader's interest through a 'storytelling' of historical facts & explains some of the fundamental problemsin quantum theory.
Even as a physicist, I find some aspects of the book quite difficult to comprehend, especially the last part which discusses the philosophical aspects of quantum theory. To non-physicists, this book may seem all the more difficult. But from all the books I have read, this book gives the most simplified description of quantum theory. Highly recommended for readers who want to know what quantum theory is all about & what every physics student has to go through to earn their degree!
Brilliant - and I've read a few books on this subject... - By: Guy Beauchamp, 19 Jan 2005 
I have read a quite few 'pop science' books on this subject & this is the most lucid & enjoyable I have read. It encapsulates the main ideas so clearly & for once I understood the central mystery of quantum behaviour.
I don't care about the error that another reviewer got excited about as it doesn't make any material difference to the level of understanding I wanted to get to. And, unlike another reviewer, I find Mr Tomkins both dull & patronising. This book,in contrast, is extremely well written & never patronising.
I was extremely impressed & awed by the mastery of the subject the author has & that was demonstrated by the fact that he could explain the subject to a mathematical cretin like me...
A Misleading Introduction to Quantum Theory - By: , 20 May 2004 Having previously read the Mathematics bookin this series (which I highly recommended), I was looking forward to reading this.
First the good points:
This volume is fine for the non-technical reader, but as an added extra for the brave, does contain some nice appendixes giving extra mathematical detail. It is ok as a general introduction to the history of early quantum theory & its main creators, thoughin part looks like a fanzine for Paul Dirac (a former tutor of the author).
Now the bad:
Any lack of real technical depth is forgivable for a book aimed at the general reader. What is NOT forgiveable is that the author's explanation of the nature of Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle is plain wrong. He falls for the classic mistake of thinking this arises from momentum transfer between interacting particles during measurement. Heisenberg himself originally thought this, but later corrected himself. I can't believe the author would repeat this error - although this is a book for the non-technical reader, I still expect it to be technically accurate.
Very short, but not all that lucid - By: , 05 Dec 2002 This is a short book, & that is its only advantage, unfortunately.
Granted, that the author is eminentin this field & was himself a student of the great Paul Dirac. However, this book does not sit easilyin a series designed to make a subject approachable to the novice. It has far too much esoteric maths than is good for a book of this genre. An ever stronger criticism is the fact that instead of keeping to basic physics ideas such as the double slit experiment (which this book does well!) & then developing the ideas of atomic structure, & the uncertainty principle, it dwells on things like operators & such like.
If you want a good introduction to Quantum Theory, look no further than the books by George Gamow's "The New World of Mr Tompkins" or "Mr Tomkinsin paperback", or, "Uncle Albert & the Quantum Quest".
