These General Comments are followed by chapter by chapter links for specific comments.
We wrote Quantum Enigma for a general audience. After all, the profound mysteries of quantum mechanics can be grasped without any previous physics background.
Quantum Enigma has also been an effective addition to physics courses (or certain philosophy or psychology courses). Quantum Enigma has been used both as major reading for a conceptual physics course, as the text for a seminar, and as supplementary reading for advanced quantum physics courses.
“I used Quantum Enigma for the last few weeks of a conceptual physics course. The students’ enthusiasm made it the most exciting class I have ever taught.”
–Carlos Figueroa, Cabrillo College
Quantum Enigma presents completely undisputed quantum physics with a focus on “the measurement problem,” which involves the quantum challenge to nature of physical reality and the EPR-Bell entanglements that Einstein called “spooky actions.” Unlike some popular books–on string theory, or cosmology, for example–our book does not raise the kind of questions that only a physicist specialized in the area can fully address. When questions go beyond elementary physics, they involve mysterious or philosophical issues that nobody can honestly answer with assurance, but we can all ponder and speculate.
We go beyond the undisputed physics to explore some wild ideas proposed by leaders in the foundations of quantum theory (the Many Worlds interpretation is one example). We offer no resolution of the quantum enigma. Recognizing the enigma is mind-blowing enough.
Quantum Enigma treats the nature of reality, using our version of the 2-slit experiment, and entanglement, using our version of Bell’s theorem.
…Rosenblum and Kuttner manage to convey much of the exquisite subtlety of quantum mechanics without ever resorting to an equation. Their treatment of two-slit interference ranks right up there with (but differs interestingly from) Feynman’s famous “comes in lumps” approach, and their nontechnical description of Bell’s theorem is one of the best I’ve seen, and by far the least mathematical.
– N. David Mermin in the American Journal of Physics
You can order an examination copy of the book from Oxford University Press on our WHY BUY THE BOOK? page. But the book is only $11.48, and faster and simpler, from amazon.com on that same page.
Three Goals:
The deeper implications of quantum mechanics challenge our conventional world view. They are controversial among physicists. They’ve been called, “the skeleton in our closet.” We present the undisputed facts, along with the controversial issues, in a way understandable to readers without a physics background.
In the social sciences and humanities, students expressing their own opinions–even in contrast to their instructor’s–is considered a positive aspect of a course. Such stimulating interaction is rarely possible in a physics course. Quantum Enigma enables that engagement.
Physicists have a responsibility to combat today’s proliferating quantum pseudo-science by presenting the real quantum mysteries honestly, and interestingly. With Quantum Enigma, physicists can meet this responsibility. (Click on the link “A Social Responsibility” to see our take on this.)
Contact Us:
We’re happy to discuss our book’s use, or hear comments or questions on the material. We can supply some slightly more advanced material an instructor might wish to present. We can also supply suggested homework and exam questions and answers to instructors.
We’d be happy to mail you a preprint of an article recently submitted to The Physics Teacher: “Bell’s Theorem and Einstein’s ‘Spooky Actions’ from a Simple Thought Experiment.” Ask us for it. (We’ll likely soon have another one: “The Reality Problem from a Simple Thought Experiment.”)
We can be contacted by email at brucero@ucsc.edu or fkuttner@ucsc.edu; or by phone at 831-459-2326, for Bruce; or 831-459-2061 for Fred; or by post: Bruce Rosenblum or Fred Kuttner, Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064
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Chapter by Chapter Comments for Instructors
While our chapter by chapter comments here refer to our conceptual physics course, they can be useful in the use of the book in any course–from conceptual physics to graduate courses. (Graduate students often do not understand this material. We didn’t as grad students. Did you?) Our comments refer to Oxford’s paperback edition–this revised, pedagogically-improved edition is the best to use.
WE’VE COMPLETED COMMENTS ONLY ON CHAPTERS 1 THROUGH 11 . WE’LL BE ADDING MORE ALMOST EVERY DAY. Sorry, but we’ve temporarily stopped updating these comments. Our publisher, Oxford University Press, has asked for a 2nd edition. The deadline for the manuscript is at the end of February, and that is occupying our time. The 2nd edition should be out sometime near the end of 2010. We still answer emails (brucero@ucsc.edu).
Click on the chapter name to reveal that page of comments.
Ch 2: Einstein Called it “Spooky”–and I Wish I Had Known
Ch 3: The Visit to Neg Ahne Poc
Ch 4: Our Newtonian Worldview: A Universal Law of Motion
Ch 5: All the Rest of Classical Physics
Ch 6: How the Quantum Was Forced on Physics
Ch 7: Schrodinger’s Equation: The New Universal Equation of Motion
Ch 8: One-Third of our Economy
Ch 9: Our Skeleton in the Closet
Ch 10: Wonderful, Wonderful Copenhagen
Ch 11: Schrodinger’s Controversial Cat
Ch 12: Seeking a Real World: EPR
Ch 13: Spooky Actions: Bell’s Theorem
Ch 14: What’s Going On? Interpreting the Quantum Enigma
Ch 15: The Mystery of Consciousness
Ch 16: The Mystery Meets the Enigma