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The Quantum Moment
- How Planck, Bohr, Einstein, and Heisenberg Taught Us to Love Uncertainty
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
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Summary
The fascinating story of how quantum mechanics went mainstream.
The discovery of the quantum - the idea, born in the early 1900s in a remote corner of physics, that energy comes in finite packets instead of infinitely divisible quantities - planted a rich set of metaphors in the popular imagination.
Quantum imagery and language now bombard us like an endless stream of photons. Phrases such as multiverse, quantum leap, alternate universe, the uncertainty principle, and Schrödinger's cat get reinvented continually in cartoons and movies, coffee mugs and T-shirts, and fiction and philosophy - phrases reinterpreted by each new generation of artists and writers.
Is a quantum leap big or small? How uncertain is the uncertainty principle? Is this barrage of quantum vocabulary pretentious and wacky or a fundamental shift in the way we think?
All of the above, say Robert P. Crease and Alfred Scharff Goldhaber in this groundbreaking book. The authors - one a philosopher, the other a physicist - draw on their training and six years of co-teaching to dramatize the quantum's rocky path from scientific theory to public understanding. Together, they and their students explored missteps, mistranslations, jokes, and gibberish in public discussions of the quantum. Their book explores the quantum's manifestations in everything from art and sculpture to the prose of John Updike and David Foster Wallace. The authors reveal the quantum's implications for knowledge, metaphor, intellectual exchange, and the contemporary world. Understanding and appreciating quantum language and imagery, and recognizing its misuse, is part of what it means to be an educated person today.
The result is acelebration of language at the interface of physics and culture, perfect for anyone drawn to the infinite variety of ideas.
What listeners say about The Quantum Moment
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- mohammed khan
- 04-02-22
Good read
Book full of concepts and theories explained in simple language.
Must listen, multiple times to truly digest its content.
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- Anonymous User
- 07-08-21
Absolutely brilliant!!
I’m a layman to the world of Quantum Mechanics, and have been avidly reading everything I can on the subject. This audiobook is extremely well written and exquisitely read. The historical details and the individual insights have helped my understanding tremendously. I’m sure I will reread this audiobook again and again! Thanks for making it available. Laurie.
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- Philip
- 19-08-22
Fascinating but heavy!
Really comprehensive overview of the twists and turns of the discoveries in quantum physics... which made my poor little brain ache!
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- Anonymous User
- 25-05-23
Excellent listen
It was a really good review throughout the couple of centuries since the Quantum was discovered. Very thorough and easy to listen to.
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- Amazon Customer
- 25-03-24
Very interesting
Great book. Exceeded my expectations!
Good overview on Newtonian and Quant physics, including social and philosophical considerations.
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