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Title details for Quantum by Manjit Kumar - Wait list

Quantum

Einstein, Bohr, and the Great Debate about the Nature of Reality

by Manjit Kumar
Ray Porter
Audiobook
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Wait time: About 4 weeks
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0 of 2 copies available
Wait time: About 4 weeks

Quantum theory is weird. As Niels Bohr said, if you aren't shocked by quantum theory, you don't really understand it. For most people, quantum theory is synonymous with mysterious, impenetrable science. And in fact for many years it was equally baffling for scientists themselves. In this tour de force of science history, Manjit Kumar gives a dramatic and superbly written account of this fundamental scientific revolution, focusing on the central conflict between Einstein and Bohr over the nature of reality and the soul of science. This revelatory book takes a close look at the golden age of physics, the brilliant young minds at its core, and how an idea ignited the greatest intellectual debate of the twentieth century.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    July 14, 2010

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781483066967
      • File size: 413716 KB
      • Duration: 14:21:54

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Perhaps not to the casual listener's taste, Kumar's history of the development of quantum theory and the weight of work that has been undertaken to explain these difficult phenomena is a wonderful experience for lovers of physics. In this audiobook, complicated scientific theorems and, at times, almost mind-bendingly complex discussions regarding elements, atomic weights, experiments, and chains of formulae are easily dealt with by Ray Porter, who demonstrates a relaxed familiarity with technical matter. Porter re-creates the lives and times of the great scientists Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr, Marie Curie, and Ernest Rutherford, among others, who played their parts in the advancement of this dynamic new physics. QUANTUM offers almost 15 hours of solid science for devotees of the subatomic world. B.D.J. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from March 1, 2010
      With vigor and elegance, Kumar describes the “clash of titans” that took place in the world of physics in the early 20th century, between physicists who did and those who did not believe in the quantum—the strange concept that we now know to be the underpinning of reality. The titans in Kumar's account of the conflict are Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr. In 1900, Max Planck discovered that electromagnetic radiation and the energy of light are transmitted not in a continuous flow but in small packets called “quanta” (singular, quantum). Bohr applied the idea of quantum to electrons, leading to the development of quantum mechanics. Bohr's theory explained experimental results that were inexplicable in classical theory. Einstein rejected Bohr's theory overturning reality in dangerous but also thrilling ways. The clash culminated at the 1927 Solway conference. Kumar, founding editor of Prometheus
      and a consulting science editor for Wired UK
      , recounts this meaty, dense, exciting story, filled with vivid characters and sharp insights. With physics undergoing another revolution today, Kumar reminds us of a time when science turned the universe upside down. 16 pages of photos.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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