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86th out of 100 books
—
122 voters
The Age of Entanglement: When Quantum Physics Was Reborn
A brilliantly original and richly illuminating exploration of entanglement, the seemingly telepathic communication between two separated particles—one of the fundamental concepts of quantum physics.
In 1935, in what would become the most cited of all of his papers, Albert Einstein showed that quantum mechanics predicted such a correlation, which he dubbed “spooky action at...more
In 1935, in what would become the most cited of all of his papers, Albert Einstein showed that quantum mechanics predicted such a correlation, which he dubbed “spooky action at...more
Hardcover, 464 pages
Published
November 11th 2008
by Knopf
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In The Age of Entanglement, Louisa Gilder sketches and humanizes one of the most baffling ideas of modern science -- the concept of entanglement in quantum mechanics. Einstein famously called entanglement "spooky action-at-a distance, and battled fruitlessly for the last two decades of his life to rebut it. Entanglement implies that particles, even if separated by large distances, can "communicate" with each other simultaneously. It also implies that photons, electrons, atoms, indeed all matter,...more
Dec 01, 2008
George Gilder
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
anyone interested in science and technology
Early last century, Einstein and Bohr, the two grand masters of quantum theory, debated its meaning. Einstein declared, based on the clear implications of quantum mathematics, that quantum effects were non local, entailing "spooky action at a distance," correlations at faster than the speed of light, and thus he challenged the completeness and coherence of quantum theory. Bohr responded by citing the correspondence principle, which says that at larger scales quantum phenomena assimilate to class...more
"If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't understand it yourself."
- Albert Einstein
Even after reading this book, I don't understand quantum physics - but that wasn't the author's purpose. She focused on the history of the research and the relationships between the scientists. This book isn't for everyone. You don't have to know a lot of math or physics, but I can't imagine you would enjoy this book without a significant math and physics background. In case you aren't going to read i...more
- Albert Einstein
Even after reading this book, I don't understand quantum physics - but that wasn't the author's purpose. She focused on the history of the research and the relationships between the scientists. This book isn't for everyone. You don't have to know a lot of math or physics, but I can't imagine you would enjoy this book without a significant math and physics background. In case you aren't going to read i...more
I really really wanted to like this book a lot. It is copiously, even obcessively referenced. Rather than following each of the giants of quantum thory as independent lines, the author tries to demonstrate the discussions and interdependence of these geniouses, due to training, personality, and creativity. The time covered is from about 1920 to 2006.
This is one of the most exciting periods of physics history, fundamentally forcing scientists to question all previous notions of mechanics, and to...more
This is one of the most exciting periods of physics history, fundamentally forcing scientists to question all previous notions of mechanics, and to...more
In 1989, the year before he died, John Bell gave the "speech of his career" to his fellow physicists, taking issue with the standard interpretation of quantum physics: "It would seem that the theory is exclusively concerned about 'results of measurement' and has nothing to say about anything else. What exactly qualifies some physical systems to play the role of 'measurer'? Was the wavefunction of the world waiting to jump for thousands of millions of years until a single-celled living creature a...more
Un libro complejo, presentado de una manera interesante pero que lo hace un poco lento hasta la mitad del libro.
La historia del "Entanglement" es posiblemente igual de importante que el concepto por si mismo y como los cientificos mas brillantes de nuestra época tuvieron tanto problema aceptando que es un fenómeno que sucede, pero no sabemos por que y lo que es peor, pone en entredicho uno de los conceptos clave de la relatividad ya que se "demuestra" que algo viaja más rápido que la luz.
Los con...more
La historia del "Entanglement" es posiblemente igual de importante que el concepto por si mismo y como los cientificos mas brillantes de nuestra época tuvieron tanto problema aceptando que es un fenómeno que sucede, pero no sabemos por que y lo que es peor, pone en entredicho uno de los conceptos clave de la relatividad ya que se "demuestra" que algo viaja más rápido que la luz.
Los con...more
(This is a cross-post of my review at http://thebartbooks.blogspot.com/2009...)
“This quantum question is so uncommonly important and difficult that it should concern everyone.”
-- Albert Einstein, 1908.
The concepts of quantum mechanics have fascinated me for a great many years. I’ve read dozens of books on the subject but am no closer to grasping the concepts underlying a mystery that perplexed Einstein himself until the day he died.
Einstein spent his entire life wrestling with the issues raised...more
“This quantum question is so uncommonly important and difficult that it should concern everyone.”
-- Albert Einstein, 1908.
The concepts of quantum mechanics have fascinated me for a great many years. I’ve read dozens of books on the subject but am no closer to grasping the concepts underlying a mystery that perplexed Einstein himself until the day he died.
Einstein spent his entire life wrestling with the issues raised...more
Told through recreation history where quotes from different scientists are put together and composed as artificial conversations when they historically met. Interesting from that perspective, but can be a little distracting at times. The main concepts in the book are the Bohr and Einstien camps of quantum theory during development and how each side framed their argument and how entanglement and action at a distance have further carried that argument. The discussions are technical and at times re...more
I've gone on a cosmology bender in recent months, trying to get beyond my OMG mentality about the subject, and this kind, generous, humane book was a gift. It wasn't easy for me to keep all the personalities separate, but I came to see these famous physicists as a big, happy, quarreling family that I only wish I could be a part of. I'm up for adoption, guys! --And Einstein...well, that's next, a really good biography of The Man.
PS: When a cousin visited earlier this summer, I waxed eloquent on...more
PS: When a cousin visited earlier this summer, I waxed eloquent on...more
I loved this book. I am a science enthusiast, and history of science fascinates me. This book is an absolute gem for people like me, you get such an amazing introduction into the lives of the best scientists, and so many of them are covered. From Heisenberg cycling through Bavaria hillsides to Schrödinger's mistresses, the story weaves across decades and still maintains the central theme, the progress of quantum theory. The ending with John Bell and Alain Aspect is very apt, as they are the fore...more
Gilder manages to weave the science (and its evolution), personalities, and the histories of the day together to present the most extensive (and engrossing) history of quantum physics that I could imagine. Notably, she goes much deeper into the controversies and interplay between the greats, and their intellectual heirs. I particularly liked that she took the work well beyond Einstein, Bohr, Heisenberg, and Schroedinger - all the way to the present day discussions about quantum computing and enc...more
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I'm sorry to say I abandoned this book for something as ridiculous as the way it was written. I'm sorry, because the subject is fascinating; and sorry because Louise Gilder is obviously an intelligent scholar. But for some reason she decided to write this history as a series of conversations – and it's this determined quirk that put my teeth on edge from the start. Here's an example from p. 103:
"We have always said so glibly," Heisenberg told his frustration, or the trees, or Bohr, or Einstein,...more
"We have always said so glibly," Heisenberg told his frustration, or the trees, or Bohr, or Einstein,...more
An excellently written treatise on the evolution of quantum mechanics. Compelling for its imaginative reconstruction of historical dialogues between some of modern science's great minds. Conveys some of the depths of characters many would recognize solely through theories in textbooks (Heisenberg, Einstein, Bohr). I expect it would be enjoyable for even the casual admirer of science-writing while not shying from engaging some very complex problems of modern quantum mechanics.
Jul 29, 2011
Catherine Woodman
added it
I really loved this book about quantum mechanics--juxtaposed with the emergence of relativity, the collaborative nature of physics before WWII, and so much more. The story gets even better in the second half of the book than the first (some things in the first half have been well chronicled, whereas I know next to nothing about the experimental aspect of what goes on at CERN, and the shift from theoretical to experimental physics).
Really interesting book about the history of the development of quantum theory. Author draws on letters and other historical documents to recreate conversations between famous physicists throughout the book. The book does a wonderful job of showing the intellectual work (and play) involved in the development of the theory and showcases the role that social interactions played in moving it forward. Really fascinating book.
The book got much, much better towards the latter half.
I didn't like the reconstructed historical conversations of the early players in quantum mechanics (too often it felt like a cut-and-paste substitute for analysis or explanation by the author). Towards the end, when Gilder relied more on her own interviews with scientists, the book became much, much stronger. The second half of the book proves that Gilder can be an excellent science writer.
This book would have been better if the author had c...more
I didn't like the reconstructed historical conversations of the early players in quantum mechanics (too often it felt like a cut-and-paste substitute for analysis or explanation by the author). Towards the end, when Gilder relied more on her own interviews with scientists, the book became much, much stronger. The second half of the book proves that Gilder can be an excellent science writer.
This book would have been better if the author had c...more
The history of the problem of entangled photons in quantum mechanics, traced from the early Einstein-Bohr differences on the nature of quantum mechanics throught the EPR experiment, Bell's inequality And all the experimental attempts to shed light on the problem (no pun intended). My friend, Mike Horne and his work with Shimony, Clauser, Zeitlinger and others is prominently mentioned.
This book, I will blog about. This book I can not sum up quickly and I have no time now. The thought I will share, beyond recommending it highly, is that I found myself thinking regularly that I was in a quantum sort of state where I was entirely understanding it while at the same time the meanings were entirely lost on me.
It was a brain bender, a mind-stretcher, and I really dug how it was about the people involved, though it's misleading to say it makes physics understandable for the lay perso...more
It was a brain bender, a mind-stretcher, and I really dug how it was about the people involved, though it's misleading to say it makes physics understandable for the lay perso...more
A good first half that fails to lift itself to make any distinctive mark in the second. The scientific issues behind Entanglement are quite inadequately explained. That said, the book does bring up the philosophical issues behind various quantum explanations.
I highly recommend the book to anyone seeking a novel account (pun intended) of many of the questions of quantum physics. My published review is here, starting at p. 62.
A great book about the development of quantum physics and the personalities who moved the science along. It's not a light read because it's long, not because it's a heavy read. But I would recommend it if you're interested in the subject.
This really is, uh, fun stuff. ...Really, it is, if you are the type of nut who thinks it's fun to read about impossible-to-understand math equations and way-over-your head scientific concepts. The author takes you on a readable, blow-by-blow account of the development of quantum physics, told mostly through the letters and conversations of the field's not-all-that-luminescent luminaries. The personal connections are revealing and amusing, and it's possible to come away with an understanding of,...more
Perhaps the most succinct review of this book is: I now understand quantum theory a bit more than I did before. Understanding the people behind the theory and the human elements of the scientific process was quite revealing. It's exciting to think that the process of discovery and understanding continues today!
Well told story with lots about the people involved. Louisa Gilder develops the problem of entanglement, and at the end you say, "Dang! Information really can be transmitted faster than the speed of light!"
Gripping. Like Tom Holland's Rubicon for quantum physics. But don't read it until you've introduced yourself to quantum physics, or you'll be lost; she's not an explainer like Douglas Hofstadter of GEB.
I thoroughly enjoyed the audio book edition of Gilder's "The Age of Entanglement." I have heard the great names for any decades, but this book put a face and some flesh on the manikin. Great stuff.
Detailed, nontechnical study of the birth of quantum physics. As humanistic a slant as you're likely to get; sections on the Early Founders especially involving.
Brilliant recounting of the development of quantum mechanics. Gripping at times and confusing at others, anyone who enjoyed their HS Physics class will love this.
This book got good reviews as a history of particle physics. I'm not overly impressed with the writing style and Edge Physics is proving to be a compelling read, so I've kind of drifted off on this one.
A personal look at the scientists who helped to develop quantum theory & the world into which it emerged. One interesting aspect is the effect of misguided political ideology on scientific discovery, both on the part of the Nazis pre-war & the anti-soviet hysteria in the USA after.
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