Quantum Mechanics Primer
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Anyone know of a good primer or beginners book? Not looking for something totally basic but just a good place to start. Been curious for a while about the field and would like to learn more in spare time.
I liked Where does all the Weirdness go?[^] Why Quantum Mechanics Is Strange, But Not As Strange As You Think by David Lindley. It's from '97 so probably out of date. And check out a different Lindley [^]while you're reading.
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Anyone know of a good primer or beginners book? Not looking for something totally basic but just a good place to start. Been curious for a while about the field and would like to learn more in spare time.
See "Quantum Mechanics for Dummies".
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Speaking of Feynman: You can watch all lectures online here: http://research.microsoft.com/apps/tools/tuva/index.html[^]
Rama Krishna Vavilala wrote:
You can watch all lectures online here:
Wow, very cool. Thanks for posting that link! It's really neat to see Feynman in action and hear is voice! Marc
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Rama Krishna Vavilala wrote:
Mmmhh ... Quantum Mechanics and Microsoft ? Not sure I want to know what this link points at. :rolleyes:
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Anyone know of a good primer or beginners book? Not looking for something totally basic but just a good place to start. Been curious for a while about the field and would like to learn more in spare time.
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Anyone know of a good primer or beginners book? Not looking for something totally basic but just a good place to start. Been curious for a while about the field and would like to learn more in spare time.
Check out Introducing Quantum Theory by J. P. McEvoy. I haven't read this one but have read "Hawking for Beginners" and "Einstein for Beginners" and they are packed with info, descriptions and no maths. Easy to read comic book style. ISBN-10: 1840468505 ISBN-13: 978-1840468502
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Really depends on your knowledge of physical sciences We used Atkins Quantum Mechanics when I did my degree back in the '80s which covered it in detail but may be more advanced than you are after unless you have a background in Physics or Chemistry.
My only background is matric level of Physical science which covered both physics and chemistry, no tertiery, went the elctronics route for that. But I've purchases the "For Dummies" although its rather cliche and have the lecture series queued on my wishlist ( expensive but relative for 3 textbooks ).
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The Feynman Lectures on Physics, volume 3. A thoroughly enjoyable read. It's old (1964), but since you want a primer. You want to get all 3 volumes. (the other ones are not about quantum mechanics, but wonderful reading) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0201021153[^]
While I do agree that the Feynman Lectures series is indeed a very enjoyable read, I don't really think this is the way to go about learning quantum mechanics today. Being a physicist myself, I remember I had quite some trouble following Feynman's flow, when I first tried to read through the third volume, partly because QM was still a very new thing to me then, and partly because he followed a completely different path to the one I was used to until then. If you have a grasp of the math involved (linear differential equations, boundary condition problems, eigenvectors and eigenvalues), I would suggest Greiner's Introduction to Quantum Mechanics[^] or Schaum's outline series[^] as a starter. On the other hand, if you just want to read more text and less equations, Feynman's Lectures on Physics vol 3 is just the book for you.
Φευ! Εδόμεθα υπό ρηννοσχήμων λύκων! (Alas! We're devoured by lamb-guised wolves!)
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Awesome thanx, looks like exactly what I need. It's so hard these days to tell the good books from the bad with the ease of the net.
Richard Feynmann also wrote a very funny autobiography called 'Surely you're joking Mr Feynmann'. He was an unusual character even outside his physics career. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Surely-Youre-Joking-Mr-Feynman-Adventures/dp/009917331X[^]
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While I do agree that the Feynman Lectures series is indeed a very enjoyable read, I don't really think this is the way to go about learning quantum mechanics today. Being a physicist myself, I remember I had quite some trouble following Feynman's flow, when I first tried to read through the third volume, partly because QM was still a very new thing to me then, and partly because he followed a completely different path to the one I was used to until then. If you have a grasp of the math involved (linear differential equations, boundary condition problems, eigenvectors and eigenvalues), I would suggest Greiner's Introduction to Quantum Mechanics[^] or Schaum's outline series[^] as a starter. On the other hand, if you just want to read more text and less equations, Feynman's Lectures on Physics vol 3 is just the book for you.
Φευ! Εδόμεθα υπό ρηννοσχήμων λύκων! (Alas! We're devoured by lamb-guised wolves!)
That's exactly why I pointed to Feynman. He has a knack of explaining this without requiring knowledge of partial differential integration, which to be honest, is usually tucked somewhere in the back of the mind with us IT people. If the audience was maths or physics majors, I agree there are indeed better introductory books. Feynman has the advantage of not being too vulgarising, while still being accessible to a (somewhat) large audience.
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Richard Feynmann also wrote a very funny autobiography called 'Surely you're joking Mr Feynmann'. He was an unusual character even outside his physics career. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Surely-Youre-Joking-Mr-Feynman-Adventures/dp/009917331X[^]
ryannick2001 wrote:
He was an unusual character even outside his physics career.
You can say that again:
At Caltech, he used a nude/topless bar as an office away from his usual office, making sketches or writing physics equations on paper placemats. When the county officials tried to close the place, all visitors except Feynman refused to testify in favor of the bar, fearing that their families or patrons would learn about their visits. Only Feynman accepted, and in court, he affirmed that the bar was a public need, stating that craftsmen, technicians, engineers, common workers "and a physics professor" frequented the establishment. While the bar lost the court case, it was allowed to remain open as a similar case was pending appeal.
(taken from the wikipedia entry about him[^]).
Φευ! Εδόμεθα υπό ρηννοσχήμων λύκων! (Alas! We're devoured by lamb-guised wolves!)
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Anyone know of a good primer or beginners book? Not looking for something totally basic but just a good place to start. Been curious for a while about the field and would like to learn more in spare time.
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ryannick2001 wrote:
He was an unusual character even outside his physics career.
You can say that again:
At Caltech, he used a nude/topless bar as an office away from his usual office, making sketches or writing physics equations on paper placemats. When the county officials tried to close the place, all visitors except Feynman refused to testify in favor of the bar, fearing that their families or patrons would learn about their visits. Only Feynman accepted, and in court, he affirmed that the bar was a public need, stating that craftsmen, technicians, engineers, common workers "and a physics professor" frequented the establishment. While the bar lost the court case, it was allowed to remain open as a similar case was pending appeal.
(taken from the wikipedia entry about him[^]).
Φευ! Εδόμεθα υπό ρηννοσχήμων λύκων! (Alas! We're devoured by lamb-guised wolves!)
I haven't read the wikipedia entry yet, but if memory serves me correctly, he also had a big thing for picking the locks of other people's filing cabinets when he worked at Los Alamos! (I think it was Los Alamos anyways). He'd definitely be on my fantasy dinner party guest list :D
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Anyone know of a good primer or beginners book? Not looking for something totally basic but just a good place to start. Been curious for a while about the field and would like to learn more in spare time.
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Anyone know of a good primer or beginners book? Not looking for something totally basic but just a good place to start. Been curious for a while about the field and would like to learn more in spare time.
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My only background is matric level of Physical science which covered both physics and chemistry, no tertiery, went the elctronics route for that. But I've purchases the "For Dummies" although its rather cliche and have the lecture series queued on my wishlist ( expensive but relative for 3 textbooks ).
If you want to find out more about the ideas and overall concepts behind quantum mechanics without being faced with the detailed math, look for John Gribben's Schrodinger's Kittens. He starts with a review of the double-slit experiment bringing the ideas of Feynman, Bell and Aspect which leads into a review of alternative perspectives to the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics pushed by Niels Bohr, et al.
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Anyone know of a good primer or beginners book? Not looking for something totally basic but just a good place to start. Been curious for a while about the field and would like to learn more in spare time.
Mario Luis wrote:
Been curious for a while about the field and would like to learn more in spare time.
Are you REALLY sure you want to try and understand this stuff? Have a look at this: http://www.upscale.utoronto.ca/GeneralInterest/Harrison/SchrodCat/SchrodCat.html[^] and then see how you feel. I'm not certain the human brain can comprehend quantum mechanics at its fundamental level; but then, according to how QM is supposed to work, the brain can and it can't!
No trees were harmed in the posting of this missive; however, a large number of quantum states were changed.
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Anyone know of a good primer or beginners book? Not looking for something totally basic but just a good place to start. Been curious for a while about the field and would like to learn more in spare time.
Feynman is great, but like Einstein's book on relativity "for the masses", is still not the easiest to read. The most accessible overview of quantum theory I have encountered was in David Darling's book, "Teleportation: The Impossible Leap". I have been studying quantum physics since high school, and this was the first time I understood Schrödinger's cat. I can't blame that on everyone else, but I do recommend this book. My library had it.
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I haven't read the wikipedia entry yet, but if memory serves me correctly, he also had a big thing for picking the locks of other people's filing cabinets when he worked at Los Alamos! (I think it was Los Alamos anyways). He'd definitely be on my fantasy dinner party guest list :D
Another good read is "Genius". Feynman discovered most people, including scientist, don't bother changing the combination to the locks or would write the combination in some obvious place.
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Rama Krishna Vavilala wrote:
Mmmhh ... Quantum Mechanics and Microsoft ? Not sure I want to know what this link points at. :rolleyes:
uncertainty obviously!