October 29, 2018
Orzel (How to Teach Quantum Physics to Your Dog) offers another helpful guide to modern physics, using an especially creative hook. After describing in the introduction a typical morning routine—waking up, making breakfast, checking his computer—Orzel breaks those actions down in order to “show how an ordinary weekday routine depends on some of the weirdest phenomena ever discovered.” For example, his alarm clock allows him to discuss, cogently, how the “modern accounting of time” that the device embodies is “deeply rooted in the quantum physics of atoms.” He concisely summarizes the history of timekeeping, which evolved beyond reliance on physical objects, such as pendulums, susceptible to even small variations, to measuring time by counting light wave oscillations caused by moving electrons. Orzel provides similar explanation for such phenomena as the different colors of light emitted by objects heated to different temperatures, using as an entry point the glowing coils of the burner on his stove top. The science is not intuitive, and readers will need to pay close attention to follow Orzel’s points, but that required effort is unavoidable with such a complex subject. This erudite book will be best read in multiple sittings by curious readers keen on absorbing all the weird science on display all around them.
November 1, 2018
In this tribute to quantum physics, physicist and science blogger Orzel (How to Teach Relativity to Your Dog?, 2012) attempts to dispel the typical trepidation surrounding the field by relating aspects of it to readily recognizable, daily morning activities. Your alarm clock? Thank Neils Bohr and his 1913 proposal about the oscillation of light produced by electrons as they jump between atomic quantum states. Your tea kettle? Just apply the Plank formula as you look for the red glow that tells you you've turned on the right stove burner. Each chapter considers a different venture and addresses related aspects of quantum physics, providing technical background, the history and individuals associated with initial studies and developing theories, and how the principles actually work, whether in the home or in larger contexts, such as neutron stars and white dwarfs. It's interesting to note how often Einstein's name comes up, despite his disdain for quantum theory. Non-techies may find some of the going a little tough, but fans of quantum physics will be informed and entertained.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)