Who's Afraid of Schrodinger's Cat?: All the New Science Ideas You Need to Keep Up with the New Thinking

by Danah Zohar and Ian Marshall

Book Overview

Quantum theorist Erwin Schrvdinger invented his now-famous cat to illustrate the apparently impossible conundrums associated with quantum physics. The cat lives in an opaque box with a fiendish device... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0688118658
• ISBN13: 9780688118655
• Release Date: February 1997
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

A good, fun, one-of-a-kind book, when used cautiously

--This book gives a brief topic-by-topic discussion of several dozen subjects in what may loosely be called "New Physics" or "New Consciousness." --Superb books on quantum physics and neuroscience already exist, but I know of no other book arranged topically. The authors briefly discuss topics ranging from pedestrian things like DNA to more exotic ones like Quantum Consciousness, and based on topics I am familiar with, the authors appear reasonably accurate (I have a doctorate, keep up with the literature, and am reasonably comfortable with science). The authors have a bias towards the holistic relational (or synchronic) interpretation of quantum theory, which gives a new age-y feel, but this book nevertheless seems pretty good and it's a lot of fun to read a few paragraphs on an interesting topic (in my biased opinion, few things are more interesting than science). --Problems? There's no bibliography or footnotes for further research and it generally only gives one view, which is often stated as fact even though most "cutting edge" topics are controversial ("the greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance but an inaccurate belief that we know something"). --In short, this is (as far as I know) a unique book because of its topic-by-topic organization. It makes a delightful "soft" read although it only gives an introductory view and much of what the authors assert as factual may actually be controversial. Hope this review helps.

Terrific layman's guide to the latest scientific theories

This is a great science book for the non-scientific type. It makes very obtuse theories and concepts crystal clear for the lay reader, and brings science to the masses *without dumbing it down.* It reminds me a lot of Charles Osgood's marvelous series "A Science Odyssey" that aired on PBS a few years back, and worth tracking down on VHS. (See my separate review on that for even more raves about science for the layperson without dumbing it down.) Entries are brief, and sometimes I wish there were more detail. As another reviewer points out, references for further reading would be nice as well. However, if you're puzzled but intrigued by such topics as "String Theory," "Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle" and "Chaos Theory," and all you know about this stuff comes from Star Trek-type shows, this is a great book for you. It also demonstrates, as the late Carl Sagan used to say, that science is far stranger, far more mysterious and far more subtle than science fiction. So much of the material covered simply seems unbelievable, but it has been tested. The quantum world in particular is a strange place, where Lewis Carroll would have been right at home. The triumph of this book is that it explains so many obtuse theories so clearly, without resorting to silly graphics or baby analogies. You *can* make this stuff accessible to the lay public without dumbing it down. It just takes work. Highly recommended, for us non-science types especially.

Could not put it down!

I recieved this book on a Tuesday. I couldn't stop picking it up until Friday. Even now I still have it out on my desk. This isn't the type of book that you'll want to read from front to back at one sitting. Its a good reference book and an outstanding introductory book to not only the new style of physics, but physics in general. The meat of the book does exactly what it says, it introduces the reader to the most advanced scientific principles of today. However, what I became even more interested in, (although I was plenty interested in the new ideas) was the epistimological difference between newtonian physics and quantum physics. In sparked in me an interest into the philosophy of science. The length of the definitions of the ideas range from a half a page to three and a half pages. There is somewhere around 200 different "new ideas" of science that it introduces. All the definitions are written well with exceptional clarity, (which I was glad to see because I would of been lost otherwise.)

I'm not Afraid of Schrodinger's Cat.

This is a clear, consise, encyclopedia which exibits simple, yet accurate dipictions of the main theories and factors of Quantum Physics. I have found this volume invaluable in my occupation as your average junior high school genius and, I assume that any intelligent and curious readers will find this book enlightening and informative.

Easy read...piqued my interest to want to know more!

I highly recommend it for anyone who wants to understand concepts without having a scientific background or vocabulary. And, for those of us that do, it's a great review of areas of science outside our sphere.