Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Physics isn't for sensible people

I recently came across an old copy of Bluff your way in the Quantum Universe, a taster/guide that I picked up as a present a few years back and ended up keeping!

Quantum theory is the strangest stuff you've ever heard taken seriously. Its sheer weirdness makes it a favourite part of physics for me, despite the tricky maths that haunted the latter half of my degree.

This very short book serves as a fun introduction. Here's a taster:

"Quantum theory challenges, at the very least, notions of Causality, Predictability, Reversibility, Continuity, Locality, Order, Separateness (sometimes called Isolability), Clear Definition, Accurate and Informative Measurement, Objectivity, Either/or Thinking and, most controversially, Certainty. It threatens notions of solidity and substance, and suggests that there are absolutely no absolutes." (page 28)

It goes on to discuss each of these, but you'll have to borrow the book from me if you want to know what they're all about!

2 comments:

Matt said...

Sometimes (but never ever) called Isolability.

I'm sure some of those words are made up, for example: "either/or thinking"

cfg said...

The book's not meant to be taken entirely seriously.. ;-)