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Since the publisher generally writes titles and subtitles I will try to ignore this misrepresentation.The first half of the book is concerned with background material covering the Thomas Young double slit experiment, the beginnings of quantum mechanics and Einstein's objection to the standard interpretation of the peculiarities of the double slit experiment performed on individual photons or electrons. It contains a fair amount of detail regarding their work, but it may not be enough for a physicist and perhaps too much for a general reader. The spookiness referred to was not Einstein's idea, and the book is about how he was wrong in his objection to the spookiness inherent in others' interpretation of quantum mechanics, an interpretation that he did not believe in, but one that has stood the test of experimental verification. I found this book to be interesting, but not the easiest book that is devoted to the idea of quantum entanglement. Those with a very limited background may find the book a bit hard going (particularly much of the last half) and those who are just intrigued by the title should read more about this book to see if it is something that they really want to take on. It is quite interesting and shows the interactions between physicists and how they went about designing and performing their experiments.
This book provides a very personal account, gained from interviews with the participants.
This is a general treatment, with no mathematics, but one that I found a little more complex than that in Rosenblum and Kuttner's "The Quantum Enigma", and not as detailed as that given by John Gribben in "In Search of Schroodingers Cat".
Physicists and those interested in this subject may enjoy these details, but it is likely to be way over the head of most general readers.
I also have a problem with the subtitle, which I think is highly misleading.
There are several general treatments of the complex experiments that were needed to verify Bell and show that the universe obeys quantum mechanics, as strange as its predictions are.
Among these books, I prefer the one in Gribbin's book the best, but for someone with no math or physics background at all I would recommend "the Quantum Enigma" for this sort of background material.The last half of Entanglement is concerned with Bell's Inequality, the idea of entangled quantum states and the experimental verification of Bell's ideas.
I would recommend this book for someone who is specifically interested in this material.
The final part of this section focuses on the idea of entanglement and on the results of producing an entangled quantum state.I would recommend this book to someone who is seriously interested in the strange underpinnings of quantum mechanics.
I picked up this book to help me try and understand entanglement from a beginners point of view. A book that is more helpful is "The New Quantum Universe" by Hey and Walters. While I found the writing interesting,(especially about the various histories of those involved) I thought it was not clear enough in explaining the the concept of the two slit experiment, and the more general concepts of quantum theory. This book is better as an accessory book in dealing with the history of quantum mechanics. Still, the writing is good, and I'm glad I picked it up. Once I find a book or books to explain these concepts better to a beginner such as myself, I'll return to this one to savor the history of the people involved.
However, it is by no means an easy read.I picked up this book with a single question in mind: "What is Entanglement.". I feel much more familiar and comfortable with the term, but know that there is much more to learn. Most of it is understandable to the layman, which probably means that a physics professional would find it overly simple. This is my second Acxel book, and I am a fan.The book provides a nice walk through the history of Entanglement and Quantum theory. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I have a firm belief in God, but I really don't care if someone is Jewish, Christian, Muslim or otherwise. And I do understand what is meant by "entanglement". I know the science is controversial and why.
That is good, as such people deserve credit. I don't know what state entanglement is, or what causes it. I am a layman with a deep interest in Physics, and have read many "popular" science books. I have some simple idea of how to proceed, so I'm happy with the book.The book provides a lot of background on the people who were involved with the creation of the science. Now that I've finished the book, I still don't know. But I do understand that the reason I don't have a nice, clear picture is that it does not yet exist. But why do I need to know the religion of every person. I find that their views and biases are much more useful, which was only lightly covered.
This is a terrific popular exposition on a difficult subject. Also, well written and a good read.
I feel completely comfortable in recommending this book to a non-nerd. 'Entanglement' by Amir D. The phenomena of entangled particles has always fascinated me and I happened to stumbled upon this book right as my curiosity in this subject was peaking. Aczel is a very interesting read, I highly recommend it to anyone interested in Physics (more specifically, in the subject of quantum philosophy). The author is quite successful in explaining this very complicated subject in such a manner that it does not limit his audience to just physics-savvy folks. So obviously, I'm biased by my enthusasiam in the subject and of course, I highly recommend it.(I really liked the mini-quantum history lesson too. With QM it's always nice to hear the progression of experiments that have led us to believe what we do).
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