Beyond Measure: Modern Physics, Philosophy, and the Meaning of Quantum Theory

by Jim Baggott, Peter Atkins (Foreword)

Quantum theory is one the most important and successful theories of modern physical science. It has been estimated that its principles form the basis for about 30 per cent of the world's manufacturing economy. This is all the more remarkable because quantum theory is a theory that nobody understands. The meaning of Quantum Theory introduces science students to the theory's fundamental conceptual and philosophical problems, and the basis of its non-understandability. It does this with the barest minimum of jargon and very little mathematics in the main text. Readers wishing to delve more deeply into the theory's mathematical subtleties can do so in an extended series of appendices. The book brings the reader up to date with the results of new experimental tests of quantum weirdness and reviews the latest thinking on alternative interpretations, the frontiers of quantum cosmology, quantum gravity and potential application of this weirdness in computing, cryptography and
teleportation.

Genres: Science, Philosophy, Physics, Nonfiction

379 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2003

About the author

Jim Baggott completed his doctorate in physical chemistry at the University of Oxford and his postgraduate research at Stanford University.

Reviews

[Martina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Perhaps I have a thing for physics books that can be read like novels, but that doesn't change the fact that Baggott did a splendid job.

Quantum mechanics is a very interesting field in physics, but for students who are just starting out, it can be baffling at first. As classical objects, we humans haven't got an inherent understanding of processes happening in the quantum realm. Couple that with all the mathematical formalism that has to be absorbed to follow a standard quantum mechanics textbook like Sakurai (bra-ket notation for starters), and it's not all together surprising that students consider quantum physics a really hard subject to grasp.

This is where "Beyond measure" comes in. It's a wonderful complementary read for anyone who is listening regular lectures on quantum physics. Many such courses focus so much on the math of quantum mechanics (which is doubtlessly essential for solving problems), that students are not even aware of another, much deeper meaning of quantum physics. So this book helps tremendously in filling in gaps regarding the history and development of quantum mechanics.

From the first experiments, over the group efforts of young physicists to make things better and the Einstein-Bohr debates all the way to the work of Bohm and Bell, Baggott tells a historical tale peppered with many philosophical insights. Only after reading the passages on the unsurmountable differences between the philosophical stands of Einstein and Bohr, I was able to fully comprehend the reasons for their clashes on the Solvay conferences and the famous EPR paradox.

For me, it's refreshing to see a book on physics written from the philosophical point of view. "Beyond measure" is excellent for beginners in quantum mechanics and laymen, for it contains no formulas in it's main text. The book contains appendices devoted to mathematical things, but it's not necessary to read them to be able to comprehend the main text. Another big plus of this book is that it contains lots of examples, descriptions and sketches of well known experiments.

A note on Baggott's writing style: it's not as breezy as "The quantum universe", so progressing through the book can get slow at times, but despite that, "Beyond measure" is very well worth reading.