Absolutely Small: How Quantum Theory Explains Our Everyday World

Absolutely Small

How Quantum Theory Explains Our Everyday World

2010 • 383 pages

Ratings1

Average rating5

15

This book was a great introduction to the quantum world and made the connection to what we experience daily (a.k.a. “the classical world”) apparent and understandable. Of special interest was the explanation of why objects have color, and why molecules have the shapes (and therefore the physical properties) that they do, why electricity is conducted (or not) by certain materials, etc. To lift a phrase from the author, after reading this book, I no longer feel like a “quantum toddler”. While the author did not exactly deliver on the “no math” portion of the book, the math itself was rather simple and straight-forward (for those with some background in basic algebra), and did not overly detract from the reading experience, and allowed the reader to dive a little deeper, if interested. If interested at all in the topic of quantum physics, and how it connects to the world around us, this makes for a great read.

October 3, 2017