Berrah PhD Norah - Idiot’s Guides : Quantum Physics

No one likes a know-it-all. Most of us realize theres no such thinghow could there be? The world is far too complicated for someone to understand everything there is to know. So when you come across a know-it-all, you smile to yourself as they ramble on because you know better.

You understand that the quest for knowledge is a never-ending one, and youre okay with that. You have no desire to know everything, just the next thing. You know what you dont know, youre confident enough to admit it, and youre motivated to do something about it.

At Idiots Guides, we, too, know what we dont know, and we make it our business to find out. We find really smart people who are experts in their fields and then we roll up our sleeves and get to work, asking lots of questions and thinking long and hard about how best to pass along their knowledge to you in the easiest, most-accessible way possible.

After all, thats our promiseto make whatever you want to learn As Easy as It Gets. That means giving you a well-organized design that seamlessly and effortlessly guides you from page to page, topic to topic. It means controlling the pace youre asked to absorb new informationnot too much at once but just what you need to know right now. It means giving you a clear progression from easy to more difficult. It means giving you more instructional steps wherever necessary to really explain the details. And it means giving you fewer words and more illustrations wherever its better to show rather than tell.

So here you are, at the start of something new. The next chapter in your quest. It can be an intimidating place to be, but youve been here before and so have we. Clear your mind and turn the page. By the end of this book, you wont be a know-it-all, but your world will be a little less complicated than it was before. And well be sure your journey is as easy as it gets.

Mike Sanders
Publisher, Idiots Guides

ALPHA BOOKS

Published by Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

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IDIOTS GUIDES and Design are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

International Standard Book Number: 978-1-61564-362-2
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2014943325

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Publisher:Mike Sanders

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Introduction

When you come to a fork in the road, take it! This sage advice from Yogi Berra revealed that he was not only a great baseball player and humorist, but also a secret quantum physicist. After all, everyday experience tells us that when you come to a fork in the road, you can go in one direction or the other. Only in the weird world of quantum physics can both paths be taken at the same time.

At least, that is, until someone sees you doing it. At that point youll suddenly find yourself on one side or the other. Either that, or youll end up in a pair of parallel universes simultaneously. (Physicists honestly cant say which for sure.) This is but one of the fabulous mysteries of the universe according to the laws of quantum physics. But it is only one of many. And between here and the end of this book, well introduce you to many more.

Brace yourself, however. While we expect youll learn much along the way, odds are youll finish this book with more questions than answersbut also with a new sense of wonder. For, in the words of Richard Feynman, another quantum giant, I think I can safely say that nobody understands quantum physics.

Why This Book Is Different

This explains why quantum physics is such a popular subject for popular scientists. There are many books out there devoted to its introduction, and many of these are excellent. Nevertheless, the majority of them present the subject either in exclusively conceptual terms that rely on everyday analogies, or by quickly drilling down to the underlying mathematical basis. Most books choose one side of the fork or the other.