science

3 Books For Non-Physicists Who Want To Understand Quantum Physics

Expand the boundaries of your mind with these reading recommendations.

Anangsha Alammyan

Feb 29, 2024 • 6 min read

Photo by FlyD on Unsplash

Expand the boundaries of your mind with these reading recommendations.

You must have wondered about the origin of the universe.

Or maybe you questioned about your existence in the world and its underlying mysteries.

Maybe you’re more into philosophies and science, and you’ve heard terms like quantum entanglement, observer effect, and the role of consciousness in physical reality.

Understanding such complex topics is not easy. As a non-physicist, if you want to understand quantum physics and its mysteries, worry not. I have prepared a list of three interesting books on quantum physics that anyone can read and understand. Here we go.

QED by Richard Feynman

Before diving into the vast concept of quantum physics, you need to understand the basics of Quantum Electrodynamics first. When I started reading about quantum mechanics, someone suggested Richard Feynmans’s QED. It turned out to be the most interesting book I read so far.

The best thing about the book is that the explanations are in layman’s terms, which even the non-physicists can easily comprehend.

Quantum Electrodynamics or QED is the theory that describes the behavior of light and matter at the quantum level. It focuses on the interactions of light particles (photons) and electrically charged particles (electrons).

The book starts with laying the foundation for the fundamental concepts of quantum mechanics and electrodynamics. It explains the dual nature of light, which behaves like both particles and waves in different phenomena, in later chapters. From here, quantum theory starts as the book explores how particles interact with each other and electromagnetic fields.

The book beautifully explains natural phenomena such as reflection and refraction of light using the principles of QED. We all know that like charges repel while unlike charges attract each other. But why does that happen? QED explains that the exchange of virtual photons between charged particles results in electromagnetic interactions between the particles. Isn’t it interesting?

Feynman’s QED is also famous for simple diagrams, analogies, and layman’s language for understanding the complexities of quantum physics. Light and matter are the two main components in the universe and QED provides a deeper understanding of their interactions through concepts like interference, polarization, and diffraction. Overall this book is a good start for understanding quantum physics and its abstract ideas.

My favorite quotes from QED by Richard Feynman

“With quantum physics, who needs drugs?”

“Atoms in the air scatter light from the sun and make the sky blue”

“Mysteries like these repeating cycles make it very interesting to be a theoretical physicist: Nature gives us such wonderful puzzles! Why does She repeat the electron at 206 times and 3,640 times its mass?”

Quantum Enigma by Bruce Rosenblum and Fred Kuttner

There’s a long debate about whether consciousness affects physical reality or not. Some believe that physical reality can change or be created by observation. Even in some scriptures, it’s mentioned that our consciousness creates the reality we live in. Other scientists believe that this concept has no solid proof and it is a fanciful story.

These contradictions led me to read the book Quantum Enigma. The authors explore the quantum mystery and whether the speculations about consciousness and physics are true or not.

As I’m always fascinated by the relation of science, consciousness, and spirituality, I started reading Quantum Enigma which tries to explain all those paradoxes and mysteries in quantum theory. The book begins by explaining the basic concepts of quantum mechanics, such as

wave-particle duality,
superposition, and
entanglement.

It shows how these concepts have been experimentally verified through famous experiments like the double-slit experiment and the EPR (Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen) paradox. The observer effect mentioned in the book suggests that the act of observation itself can influence the behavior of quantum systems. After reading this, I bet you’ll get curious about the role of consciousness in shaping reality.

The book also discusses quantum entanglement, which suggests every particle is correlated in such a way that their properties are connected, even if we separate the particles by vast distances.

Quantum Enigma will help you understand the nature of consciousness and the philosophical implications of quantum theory. It led me to rethink my understanding of the universe and my place within it.

My favorite quotes from Quantum Enigma by Bruce Rosenblum and Fred Kuttner

“The opposite of a correct statement is an incorrect statement, but the opposite of a great truth may be another great truth.”

“There is no quantum world. There is only an abstract quantum description. It is wrong to think that the task of physics is to find out how nature is. Physics concerns what we can say about nature.”

Trespassing on Einstein’s Lawn by Amanda Gefter

It all started with a conversation between a 15-year-old daughter and her dad over a simple question “How would you define nothing?”

Just like you and I, she wondered about her existence and was curious about the nature of reality. This question changed the girl’s life trajectory and turned her into one of the greatest science journalists. This little girl is Amanda Gefter, the author of Trespassing on Einstein’s Lawn.

This interesting read combines elements like humor, storytelling, and the concepts of physics perfectly. The author writes about her encounters with physics wizards like John Archibald Wheeler, renowned for popularizing the concept of black holes, and David Deutsch, a pioneer in the field of quantum computing. She’s fascinated by the strange nature of quantum reality, where particles can exist in multiple states simultaneously and become entangled in ways that defy classical concepts of space and time.

The author shares her deepening interest in modern physics as she meets unique personalities like Leonard Susskind, a former Bronx plumber who later invented string theory, Stephen Hawking, a renowned scientist, and Ed Witten, who gave M-theory. The author realizes the more she ponders about the origin of the universe and tries to find answers, it always leads back to the conversation with her father in the Chinese restaurant, about nothingness.

Trespassing on Einstein’s Lawn explores the deepest secrets of the cosmos, quantum theory, Einstein’s theory of relativity, and future possibilities in quantum mechanics. This book makes me think about the greatness of human curiosity and intellectual exploration which leads to all the greatest discoveries. I highly recommend reading this memoir of the author’s personal development and her curiosity about the universe that led her to become a science journalist.

My favorite quotes from Trespassing on Einstein’s Lawn by Amanda Gefter

“Scientific progress isn’t a parade of miraculously wrong theories — it’s an optimistic snowball, gathering the structure of reality as it rolls.”

“Einstein said, “This huge world stands before us like a great eternal riddle.” Why couldn’t any of my teachers have told me that? “Listen,” they could have said, “no one has any idea what the hell is going on. We wake up in this world and we don’t know why we’re here or how anything works. I mean, look around. Look how bizarre it all is! What the hell is all this stuff? Reality is a huge mystery, and you have a choice to make. You can run from it, you can placate yourself with fairy tales, you can just pretend everything’s normal, or you can stare that mystery in the eye and try to solve it. If you are one of the brave ones to choose the latter, welcome to science. Science is the quest to solve the eternal riddle. We haven’t done it yet, but we’ve uncovered some pretty cool clues. The purpose of this class is for you to learn what clues we’ve already got, so that you can take those and head out into the world to find more. And who knows? Maybe you’ll be the one who finally solves the riddle.” If just one of my teachers had said that, I wouldn’t have taken meteorology.”

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