Book Review: Quantum Theory Cannot Hurt You by Marcus Chown

This is the kind of book that I love reading, even though I can’t tell you a single thing about it when I’m done.

I recently discovered Bill Bryson and his writing a few years ago, and since then I’ve really enjoyed reading books that aim to teach you stuff. I love watching documentaries, and No Such Thing As A Fish—a podcast about random facts —is one of my favorites. So whenever I get the chance, I love sitting down with a non-fiction book to see if I can learn something.

Quantum Theory Cannot Hurt You is—as you might have guessed—about quantum theory. I can’t say that I knew much about the subject before reading this book, or if I did at some point, I had forgotten all about it.

Still, most of the stuff that the book talks about is very familiar. You recognize most of the terms used when they talk about atoms, molecules, nuclei, electrons, gravity, light years, particle mass and black holes. And I felt like I did understand it, in the moment, but I’m not sure I have retained much of the knowledge.

I still found the book fascinating, and I love reading stuff like this. It’s presented in a fun and easily accessible way that makes it a much more fun type of learning, compared to how I remembered things from school, 20 years ago. Even if I don’t remember everything from cover to cover, I’d very happily pick up more books by Marcus Chown, and I might even consider giving this one another whirl.

Quantum theory is surprisingly exciting, after all. I was very surprised to learn that gravity doesn’t actually exist.

Have you read something fun and educational lately? Let me know in the comments!

Oh, and as always, I’d love it if you checked out my books!

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