Introducing Quantum Theory: A Graphic Guide in Science and Inquiry

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Introducing Quantum Theory: A Graphic Guide

J.P. McEvoy

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Mar 21, 2025 Mark rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: physics

This book is part of the series graphic guides which are introductions to academic topics mostly in the social sciences. Quantum theory has big implications for the philosophy of the world and relates to a lot of philosophical topics. I enjoyed this overview of a topic that I teach in my courses.

The format of the book is a chronological description of the important events in the development of quantum mechanics. As the title suggests, it is highly illustrated with cartoons representations of th This book is part of the series graphic guides which are introductions to academic topics mostly in the social sciences. Quantum theory has big implications for the philosophy of the world and relates to a lot of philosophical topics. I enjoyed this overview of a topic that I teach in my courses.

The format of the book is a chronological description of the important events in the development of quantum mechanics. As the title suggests, it is highly illustrated with cartoons representations of the scientist involved, the experiments done, the thought experiments, and some cheeky asides thrown. I enjoyed this step by step description of the big discoveries of quantum theory. It gives the background of classical mechanics at the state of physics in 1900 which is where quantum theory started. Physicsts smugly believed that they had discovered everything. I thought some events occurred in a different than I have been teaching the story. This was a good correction for me.

The stage is set by the famous 1927 Solvay conference where Bohr and Einstein began a long conversation about how to interpret quantum mechanics. Bohr championed a probabilistic interpretation which he thought Einstein would embrace. Einstein responded famously by saying, "God does not play dice with the universe." For this conflict point, the author returns to Planck's original introduction of quanta, though Rutherford's discovery of the nucleus, to Bohr planetary atom, continuing with Heisenberg and Schr枚dinger and Dirac's develop of modern quantum theory. The big later developments: the EPR paradox and the Bell inequality which challenger Bohr's ideas end the book.

The book is an easy read. I finished it in a few hours. It has math, but it is not overwhelming. The author does a good job of describing the consequences of the experiments and equations without deriving them or detailing them. I recommend it to someone who has had some study of quantum theory, and wants a compact, comprehensive description of the high points of the important theory. It should not be the first book you read about this topic. If you are a complete beginner, I recommend "Thirty Years that Shook Physics" by George Gamow. ...more

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