Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Big Hopes for the Very Tiny

The Quantum Age by Brian Clegg
London : Icon, 2015.
vi, 282 p. : ill. ; 20 cm.

I'm not sure why Clegg's Quantum Age just didn't hit the sweet spot for me.  I like science and I like trying to wrap my mind around quantum concepts. I guess that there were several concepts that I never felt were covered well enough, and therefore when they'd get referred to later - I'd find myself still somewhat confused.  Some of these important concepts were tunneling, superposition, decoherence, entanglement, and Cooper's pairs (electrons).

I still muddled through the book and found parts of it interesting enough. The book does help the reader see not only how quantum physics underlies many day to day processes - for example anything involving light - but how modern science has applied it's knowledge of quantum physics to create computing as we know it, and such medical technologies as MRIs. He also points toward the many potential breakthroughs that seem to be on the horizon - practical superconductivity, quantum computing, and advanced encryption to name just some.

I'm glad I read the book, but I can't say it is one that I'll be highly recommending.  I wouldn't discourage a student from checking it out, but I'll definitely be on the lookout for something that I find even better.    

No comments:

Post a Comment