How to Teach Quantum Physics to Your Dog

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Before reading the book, I was a little concerned about it being just another “cutesy” approach to a very difficult topic. I was looking for such explanation (not too high level, no mathematics) and this book really hit the sweet spot. This technique, I think, is supposed to explain quantum physics in such simple words that even a dog could understand. So the idea that an elementary particle is a tiny billiard ball that interacts with others just as its macroscopic counterparts in a game of pool (or snookers) is deeply ingrained, and I cannot shake it. As written, it keeps citing page numbers of previously mentioned theorems and experiments: but they refer to a page number in some particular dead-tree-book edition.

Certain other parts of this book, like explaining quantum Zeno effect and quantum teleportation, I think, could have been done in a better manner. Chad Orzel is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Union College in Schenectady, NY.The author uses the literary devise of explaining physics to his dog to make the topic accessible and interesting. Orzel’s explanations, while admirably complete, also tend towards a level of technical complexity that belies the book’s pop science label. The book alternates between short conversations with Orzel’s dog, an unusually intelligent animal who wants to use quantum mechanics to catch squirrels and rabbits, and Orzel’s straightforward presentation of the science behind the basic concepts. From quarks and gluons to Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, this is a uniquely entertaining way to unlock the secrets of the universe. A dog won't find dropped food on the same block every day, and a photon won't interact with a molecule in the same part of the interferometer every time.

It is less so because the mental image of a 'field' seems less ingrained in the collective psyche than that of a 'particle'. If you don't mind a talking dog, and frequent references to bunnies, then this is an excellent introduction to quantum physics. The particles detected by particle detectors are more like ripples in a field, or "excitations of the sensory material", as German philosopher and physicist Meinard Kuhlmann said in a recent article in Scientific American ("What is Real? I have started to think about particles as a kind of non-local 'fog' that is spread out across the entire universe, with different densities at different, specific, spacetime locations. The book is not an introduction to the ideas, but rather an attempt to explain its core concepts with some depth and specificity (albeit briefly and in lay terms).

We are quite fortunate to live during a renaissance in books about quantum mechanics, so really, you are spoiled for choice. Normally, when she goes on point, I can trust that there really is a squirrel, even if I can't see it, but this time I was certain there was no squirrel. She's not so enthralled with the Copenhagen interpretation: "I don't think I like this interpretation, it's awfully solipsistic, isn't it? The normal state of a particle is "superposition", a state in which it exists in different positions at once. It’s hard for me to approach books like this from the eyes of a first timer, because I’ve read so many—I don’t pretend that means I know a lot about quantum mechanics, but you do start to hear the same stories over and over.

I can totally see there being a sweet spot, though, an audience for this book both dog-happy and math-friendly—but I just don’t belong to that, and I have plenty of other physics books I still need to read. We would be able to recognise the limitations of language, and in so doing re-define somewhat the idea that we and 'reality' are somehow disparate entities. The author uses the old trick that says if you can't explain a subject in such a way that a young child (or dog in this case) can understand it then you don't sufficiently understand it yourself. In a baffling feat, 'particles' exist in all their allowed states simultaneously, like a schizophrenic who manages to act out all his different personalities at once. I really enjoyed the style and narration of this, turning such a complex subject into a fun and educational reading.I must admit that I cannot say I truly understand all the information presented in the book, but I read it with pleasure anyway.

Si desean una pequeña introducción acerca de los misterios del universo y como los físicos están acercándose a entenderlos y resolverlos, este libro es un excelente apoyo, no deja de ser una obra de divulgación, pero es ameno, divertido, y a ratos incluso enternecedor. I am expressing thoughts that were triggered through my reading of his book, and I find these thoughts fascinating. I feel that quantum physics, just as relativity theory, cannot be understood at a satisfactory intellectual level by reference to concepts we know. Bueno, como libro de divulgación científica, se trata de una obra muy entretenida, y sobre todo, sencilla de entender para el más ignorante en el tema.How to Teach Physics to Your Dog is Yet Another Pop Sci look at quantum mechanics, albeit one from a more technical than, say, historical perspective. The thing I really liked about this book is that Orzel actually goes into detail about how the experiments were designed that proved various aspects of quantum theory. Each chapter starts with a conversation between the author and his dog Emmy about a particular topic. I am aware that in my own review, I have done the same, and introduced the metaphors of 'fog' and 'schizophrenic' to capture the behaviour of particles.