Absolute minimum. How quantum theory explains our world
Hi, Habrozhiteli!
We have replenished our New Science series with Michael Fire
Physics is the most complex complex science, it is as complex as it is fascinating. If we drop the mathematical component, physics immediately becomes accessible to anyone with curiosity and imagination. We can easily understand the concept of the theory of gravity, dispensing with complex mathematical equations. Therefore, anyone who thinks about what makes blueberries blue and strawberries red; who doubts that sound propagates in the form of waves; who is interested in why the behavior of light is so different from any other phenomenon in the Universe, it is necessary to understand that the whole thing is in quantum physics.
This book presents (and demystifies) to ordinary people the magic world of quantum science, like no other book. She talks about basic scientific concepts, from light particles to states of matter and the causes of the negative influence of greenhouse gases, revealing each topic without using specific scientific terminology - examples from ordinary everyday life. Of course, a book on quantum physics cannot do without a minimum set of formulas and equations, but this is a necessary minimum, understandable to most readers. According to the author, a book that popularizes science should be accessible, but not fall to the reader’s level, but raise and develop its intellect and general cultural level. Written in the best traditions of Stephen Hawking and Lewis Thomas, the book popularizes fascinating discoveries from the field of quantum physics and chemistry, combining the views and judgments of modern scientists with vivid and illustrative examples from everyday life.
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If you are reading this book, then you probably belong to one of two categories of people. Or you are one of my colleagues who are devoted to the secrets of quantum theory, and you want to see how someone could write a serious book on quantum mechanics without mathematics. Or you belong to the majority of people who look at the world around them without a clear understanding of why many everyday things are arranged this way and not otherwise. In this case, it is far from those insignificant aspects of our habitat that could be simply ignored. On the contrary, these are important features of our world, which are never clearly explained, since it seems that they are beyond our comprehension.
What gives objects their color, why copper wire conducts electricity, but glass does not, what is trans fats and why carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, and oxygen and nitrogen — not? These "white spots" in the picture of the arrangement of things arise as a result of the seemingly insurmountable barrier separating us from their understanding .. Usually this barrier is associated with mathematics. To answer the above questions, as well as many others, requires an understanding of quantum theory, but in reality this does not require mathematics.
This book will develop your quantum intuition - and thus radically change your way of perceiving the surrounding reality. You understand the mechanics intuitively, but we call the familiar mechanics classic. When a baseball takes a long blow, you know that the ball will first fly up, and then its trajectory will bend and it will fall to the ground. You know that if you hit the ball harder, it will fly faster and fly further before it falls. Why does the ball behave in this way? Because it is affected by the gravitational pull of the Earth. You look at the moon and know that it is circulating around the earth. Why? Because gravity pulls the moon to Earth. You do not need to sit down and solve the Newtonian equations of motion to calculate what will happen. From an all-day experience, you know that apples fall down, not up, and that a car traveling faster takes a longer way to stop. However, everyday experience does not explain why the cherry is red, and blueberries are blue. Color is inextricably linked with the quantum-mechanical description of molecules. Everyday experience does not prepare us to understand the nature of those surrounding things that depend on quantum phenomena. As mentioned here and described in detail in this book, an understanding of such everyday things as color and electricity requires a quantum-mechanical view of nature.
Why without mathematics? Imagine that in this book the presentation would begin in your own language, then it would switch to Latin, and then return to the original language. Now imagine that this switch would occur whenever detailed explanations begin. Such transitions from language to language, occurring in books on quantum mechanics, differ only in that they are not performed between your language and Latin, but between your language and mathematics. In serious quantum mechanical books, for example, in my own textbook, Elements of Quantum Mechanics (Elements of Quantum Mechanics. Oxford University Press, 2001), you will constantly encounter such phrases: “these interactions are described by the following set of paired differential equations”. After the equations in the text it will be said: “the solutions of these equations are as follows,” and then new formulas will follow. In contrast, in this book, the entire presentation is descriptive. Charts replace many equations; the only exceptions are some simple algebraic formulas that are explained in detail. However, even without the usual oversupply of mathematics, the fundamental philosophical and conceptual foundations of applications of quantum mechanics are fully explained. Thus, everyone can achieve a certain level of penetration into quantum theory and deepen their understanding of the surrounding world. If you know mathematics well, this book will still be useful for you. You will gain the conceptual understanding necessary to go to the mathematical presentation of quantum theory. If you want to get some amount of mental load that is not related to mathematics, this book will introduce you to the basics of quantum theory and its applications to the physics of atoms and molecules.
More information about the book can be found on the publisher's website.
Table of contents
Excerpt
For Habrozhiteley a 25% discount on the coupon - the absolute minimum
We have replenished our New Science series with Michael Fire
Physics is the most complex complex science, it is as complex as it is fascinating. If we drop the mathematical component, physics immediately becomes accessible to anyone with curiosity and imagination. We can easily understand the concept of the theory of gravity, dispensing with complex mathematical equations. Therefore, anyone who thinks about what makes blueberries blue and strawberries red; who doubts that sound propagates in the form of waves; who is interested in why the behavior of light is so different from any other phenomenon in the Universe, it is necessary to understand that the whole thing is in quantum physics.
This book presents (and demystifies) to ordinary people the magic world of quantum science, like no other book. She talks about basic scientific concepts, from light particles to states of matter and the causes of the negative influence of greenhouse gases, revealing each topic without using specific scientific terminology - examples from ordinary everyday life. Of course, a book on quantum physics cannot do without a minimum set of formulas and equations, but this is a necessary minimum, understandable to most readers. According to the author, a book that popularizes science should be accessible, but not fall to the reader’s level, but raise and develop its intellect and general cultural level. Written in the best traditions of Stephen Hawking and Lewis Thomas, the book popularizes fascinating discoveries from the field of quantum physics and chemistry, combining the views and judgments of modern scientists with vivid and illustrative examples from everyday life.
')
If you are reading this book, then you probably belong to one of two categories of people. Or you are one of my colleagues who are devoted to the secrets of quantum theory, and you want to see how someone could write a serious book on quantum mechanics without mathematics. Or you belong to the majority of people who look at the world around them without a clear understanding of why many everyday things are arranged this way and not otherwise. In this case, it is far from those insignificant aspects of our habitat that could be simply ignored. On the contrary, these are important features of our world, which are never clearly explained, since it seems that they are beyond our comprehension.
What gives objects their color, why copper wire conducts electricity, but glass does not, what is trans fats and why carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, and oxygen and nitrogen — not? These "white spots" in the picture of the arrangement of things arise as a result of the seemingly insurmountable barrier separating us from their understanding .. Usually this barrier is associated with mathematics. To answer the above questions, as well as many others, requires an understanding of quantum theory, but in reality this does not require mathematics.
This book will develop your quantum intuition - and thus radically change your way of perceiving the surrounding reality. You understand the mechanics intuitively, but we call the familiar mechanics classic. When a baseball takes a long blow, you know that the ball will first fly up, and then its trajectory will bend and it will fall to the ground. You know that if you hit the ball harder, it will fly faster and fly further before it falls. Why does the ball behave in this way? Because it is affected by the gravitational pull of the Earth. You look at the moon and know that it is circulating around the earth. Why? Because gravity pulls the moon to Earth. You do not need to sit down and solve the Newtonian equations of motion to calculate what will happen. From an all-day experience, you know that apples fall down, not up, and that a car traveling faster takes a longer way to stop. However, everyday experience does not explain why the cherry is red, and blueberries are blue. Color is inextricably linked with the quantum-mechanical description of molecules. Everyday experience does not prepare us to understand the nature of those surrounding things that depend on quantum phenomena. As mentioned here and described in detail in this book, an understanding of such everyday things as color and electricity requires a quantum-mechanical view of nature.
Why without mathematics? Imagine that in this book the presentation would begin in your own language, then it would switch to Latin, and then return to the original language. Now imagine that this switch would occur whenever detailed explanations begin. Such transitions from language to language, occurring in books on quantum mechanics, differ only in that they are not performed between your language and Latin, but between your language and mathematics. In serious quantum mechanical books, for example, in my own textbook, Elements of Quantum Mechanics (Elements of Quantum Mechanics. Oxford University Press, 2001), you will constantly encounter such phrases: “these interactions are described by the following set of paired differential equations”. After the equations in the text it will be said: “the solutions of these equations are as follows,” and then new formulas will follow. In contrast, in this book, the entire presentation is descriptive. Charts replace many equations; the only exceptions are some simple algebraic formulas that are explained in detail. However, even without the usual oversupply of mathematics, the fundamental philosophical and conceptual foundations of applications of quantum mechanics are fully explained. Thus, everyone can achieve a certain level of penetration into quantum theory and deepen their understanding of the surrounding world. If you know mathematics well, this book will still be useful for you. You will gain the conceptual understanding necessary to go to the mathematical presentation of quantum theory. If you want to get some amount of mental load that is not related to mathematics, this book will introduce you to the basics of quantum theory and its applications to the physics of atoms and molecules.
More information about the book can be found on the publisher's website.
Table of contents
Excerpt
For Habrozhiteley a 25% discount on the coupon - the absolute minimum
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/266593/
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