The quantum story

Jim Baggott

Why I looked at this book

Quantum theory is central to modern science, but when trying to understand it better, it's all to common to get the response that it's just too weird. I hope that this book will give a more sensible description of the topic. I'm also interested in how different topics in quantum theory link together - particle physics sometimes seems unconnected to the musings about quantum interpretations.

First impressions

After a prologue describing the problems in physics at the start of the 20th century, the first two moments concern Planck's formula for black body radiation and Einstein's miracle year - in particular his paper on the photoelectric effect. The book seems to give a reasonably deep coverage of the topics without getting into technicalities, so I'm looking forward to the rest of the book.