Quantum Physics (Idiot's Guides)

The authors succeed in their stated purpose of providing a rigorous introduction to QM without the math. That is to say, they succeed at which so many others have failed and continue to fail (witness the mounting pile of books about quantum this or the other). Get this one. Especially if you are studying the subject formally and are getting lost in the math (as I was not that long ago.) This book will keep you sane. Even if you don't want or need the math, but you are curious about quantum physics, this is the book to get. And I say that after having tried about 10 different intros, some mathematical but most of them not. By the way, you don't actually need that much math. If you can do integrals of trig and exponential functions, multiply vectors and matrices, and you know basic algebra of complex numbers, go ahead and read this book together with Eisberg and Resnick 's textbook and you will know everything a physics major knows about quantum mechanics. It's really easier than you think if you are willing to accept the (amply proven) fact that the universe does not work the way we expect it to work on the basis of our sensory perception. I guarantee you that the understanding that emerges is worth the effort. Another aside: I actually disagree with Feynman: plenty of people understand quantum mechanics- at least as much as we understand gravity or electricity-; the difference is only that scientists are not comfortable -nor should they ever be- accepting the results of experiments that are extremely difficult to replicate and impossible to relate to through mental pictures alone. On the other hand, where is the experiment that proves that 2+2=4 (without any units.) There is none. However, we all know and "understand" that to be true, even though only relatively few people can legitimately claim to understand it. Sorry for the digression. I just don't think QM is that hard (Quantum Field Theory, or QM near the speed of light, is another story) ,and it should have become part of what every educated person is familiar with. Last (and least) I have seen a negative review of the book based on the fact that the pictures of Pauli and Dirac have been wrongly placed together with the bio of the other one. What can I say, these things happen in the printing world. And I find it almost "appropriate" in a chapter about particle spin (is it up or down? You only know when you look.)

Nearly finished with the book. It breaks down the concepts surprisingly well to a level that a novice can understand. The integration of the history of the key scientists was interesting and broke up the constant presentation of new concepts plus gave perspective on how spooky that "spooky action" actually was at the time. The language used is easy to understand and I'm not going back and forth with Wikipedia to look up words all the time (well, not that often). Provides some math for context, but gives enough verbal perspective to make the concept accessible without a full rigorous mathematical expose. One thing that bugs me is that the authors will sometimes present variables that aren't explained until later...the figures need numbers, too. An example was showing some plots of quantum numbers l & n with no clue of what they are and then provide definitions a few pages later. Glad I bought it.

One thing I really liked about the author was he really understood his subject well enough and successfully put them on a level of high school science class not on the pedestal of mystery which the authors of ‘Quantum Enigma’ did. The author well covered and thoroughly explained most mysterious aspects of the quantum physics such as the double slit experiment, quantum entanglement and quantum computer without mystifying nor seasoning with too much metaphors. I just wish he had covered more thoroughly about not only the hard facts on the double slit experiment and quantum entanglement but also the implication and the possible interpretation which caused the most genius human brains perplexed. For example, the well known double slit experiment itself had a variety of different types of experiments which lead to a question of what is causality and consciousness in physics. Overall, I will give five stars to this book out of five stars.

So far so good. It's easy to understand for a non rocket scientist. I did have one problem, the book was water-stained at the binding for the first 15 pages or so but I could read it just fine so I didn't report it.

I’m always leery of the Idiot’s and Dummies reference books but when I saw this one, I knew I had to have it. Doing research in quantum theory, you run across quantum theory, mechanics, physics; so many ways to say the same thing, yet in the scientific world, each word describes a different subcategory of physics. This book covers all of the subcategories mentioned. I also love that this book truly kept most of the math out of the text. The Dummies guide to Quantum Physics is mostly math, just a heads up in case you are comparison shopping.

If you want a better understanding of the wave function in Quantum Mechanics, this is a great book to learn it from. The book goes into great detail explaining the world of Quantum Physics in such an understandable manner that I was amazed at how much I was able to learn from it. I loved this book!

Books on Quantum are either poetic prose or difficult to follow. This book is superb : it goes into the real stuff , yet in a very very easy way ; exactly what I wanted .

I've read a number of quantum physics books. This one tries to navigate a balanced handling of the subject (ie between descriptive and technical) and does a great job. I also have the Idiot's Guide to Music Theory which is also terrific.

With no background in physics or math, you need to pay careful attention, especially after the first few chapters. But if you do, it is a clear and wonderful book.

Great book to get started on the QM journey. Easy to read and understand and covers all of the major aspects of the theories.

This book is a marvel to me because it explains complex matters of mathematics and science in a very simplified and enjoyable way. It makes the subject accessible and for that am grateful to the author. Thank you!

Love it. Super easy to read and understand. Sit down with a pad of paper and a pencil and start working you way through. Took me four days. Great book.

unfortunately does not work properly on my kindle oasis e-reader