Quantum Physics: (Idiot's Guides)

Quantum physics explores the behavior of matter and energy at the molecular, atomic, nuclear, and even smaller levels. Idiot's Guides: Quantum Physics makes this very complex topic easy to understand. It skips the complicated math and dives right into all the concepts, paradoxes, thought experiments, and implications that make quantum mechacs so fascinating to armchair science buffs. Topics covered include: - Quantum vs. classical physics - A look at the smallest known particles - How the tiniest particles behave both as particles and waves - The famous double-slit experiment - Quantum wave function - The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle - How particles can be in multiple places at once - Quantum entanglement - The Schrodinger's cat thought experiment - Competing interpretations of quantum physics - The Copenhagen interpretation and need for an observer - The role of consciousness in quantum theory - The Many Worlds interpretation and parallel universes - Building a quantum computer - Quantum gravity and the search for a theory of everything

About the Author :
Marc Humphrey earned his BS in physics and applied mathematics at Western Michigan University, where he was recognized with a Goldwater fellowship, and his PhD in atomic physics at Harvard University. While at Harvard he was awarded the Harold White Prize for Outstanding Teaching and the Certificate for Distinction in Teaching. Over the past ten years, he has focused on explaining science to nonscientists during his day jobs at the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the International Atomic Energy Agency. He also served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mali. Paul Pancella has been a physics professor at Western Michigan University since 1990. He received his BA in physics with honors (summa cum laude) from St. Louis University. He earned a PhD in nuclear physics from Rice University in Houston. Paul works in a variety of ways to promote science literacy in the general public. Nora Berrah earned her Diplôme d'Etude Supérieure (DES) in theoretical physics from the Faculté des Sciences, USTHB, d'Alger, Algeria, and her PhD in atomic physics from the University of Virginia. She is presently a professor and head of the Physics Department at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, and was a distinguished faculty scholar at Western Michigan University. She specializes in the study of the interaction of photons with atoms, molecules, and nano-systems. She promotes diversity nationally and internationally to increase the number of women and all minorities in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. She is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the recipient of the 2014 Davisson-Germer Prize.