What Is Real?

The Unfinished Quest for the Meaning of Quantum Physics

By: Adam Becker

Narrated by: Greg Tremblay

The untold story of the heretical thinkers who dared to question the nature of our quantum universe

Every physicist agrees quantum mechanics is among humanity's finest scientific achievements. But ask what it means, and the result will be a brawl. For a century, most physicists have followed Niels Bohr's Copenhagen interpretation and dismissed questions about the reality underlying quantum physics as meaningless. A mishmash of solipsism and poor reasoning, Copenhagen endured, as Bohr's students vigorously protected his legacy, and the physics community favored practical experiments over philosophical arguments. As a result, questioning the status quo long meant professional ruin.

And yet, from the 1920s to today, physicists like John Bell, David Bohm, and Hugh Everett persisted in seeking the true meaning of quantum mechanics. What Is Real? is the gripping story of this battle of ideas and the courageous scientists who dared to stand up for truth.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.©2018 Adam Becker (P)2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Best Science Book This Year!

If this book were a meal, it would be bursting with such flavor that you could not help going back for seconds. Indeed I read it a second time and chose to listen to Sean Carroll's Mysteries of Modern Physics lectures, from The Great Courses series, as the accompanying glass of wine and dessert because it reenforced the ideas presented in Becker's book. Listening to Sean Carroll's lecture series along with reading this book allowed me to think about how all of the discoveries made in the quantum world apply to time. I warn you though, it's a rabbit hole. Since there are no final answers yet, your brain might get caught in an obsessive trap. I have now moved on to re-reading Lisa Ranall's Warped passages, not because I am convinced of other dimensions, but because thinking about pocket dimensions and/or bubble universes seemed extremely important to me after reading Becker and Carroll together. I also can't seem to stop thinking about how all of this relates to gravity, and keep rereading sections of Gravity's Engines by Caleb Scharf. Sometimes I feel so sad when I realize I will die before someone can answer the burning questions in my mind about the way the universe works, but nothing feels better than thinking about what we do know.

While mainly focusing on the measurement problem in quantum physics (does the wave function collapse) , Becker recounts the history of many of the major discoveries and provided an extremely intuitive account of the following aspects of quantum mechanics:

Heisenberg's uncertainty principle
Double slit
Schrödinger's cat
Everett's many worlds
Copenhagen Interpretation (probability / wave function collapse)
The Bohr - Einstein debates
EPR paradox

Becker included in depth and intensely refreshing biographies of John Bell and his inequality and David Bohm's unorthodox ideas. The biography of Bohm was particularly of interest to me because not too long ago I finished a series of books about the discovery of quantum theory and while many of those books covered the other people highlighted in this book, none of them covered Bohm in the manner Becker did.

I really cannot recommend this book highly enough. Rating a book like this always makes me realize how my previous 5 star ratings muddy the waters. I want there to be a 6 star rating you could use once or twice a year, so that you can really set a book apart from others. This book would be worthy of that 6 star rating.
#tagsgiving #sweepstakes #BestScienceBook

Great historical Physics book on Quantum Universe

Great book, lots historical context within the physics community. Surprisingly it’s a very small world in terms of influence and direction of physics. The book is very easy to follow for a non-physics person; but still provides the information needed to really grasp the concepts.

Great Book!

This is one of the best science-focused books I have ever read, marrying science, history, politics philosophy, and human nature into one coherent story. Reading this book is like riding a pilot wave.

A good book, expertly narrated

This was a book about the history of quantum physics, including an attempt to explain it to the layperson. It mostly succeeded. Underneath, it was an argument about the "Copenhagen interpretation" of Quantum physics and why this is inadequate, highlighting the physicists who have come up with alternate and in Becker's view, interpretations closer to the truth. I enjoyed listening to the book in part because the material was interestingly written through the perspective of the various genius physicists, and in part because of the OUTSTANDING NARRATOR. I have read a lot of nonfiction and a lot of lay-oriented science, and Greg Tremblay is one of the best narrators I've heard.
All in all a good and interesting experience. I recommend the book to anyone who had an interest in this fascinating and still largely unexplained world.

Comprehensive

Outstanding explanations on the complexities of various scientific theories, how we got where we are, and what is yet to be solidified. I will listen again. it's worth reiteration.

Just Great

Good mix of biographies, history and science about Quantum Foundations. Copenhagen vs. the world. Great story, great narration. Highly recommended.

Great Narrator & Book

Narrator is easy to understand and entertaining. Subject matter was explained perfectly, easy to follow.

Very informative book

I liked how this book answered some questions I wasn't asking as well as gave me a better overall understanding of not only quantum physics but the social context and personalities through which it must be viewed. Interesting that, despite the deep nature of the subject matter, the same human pride and egos are always there to make things far more difficult than they should be.

Amazing Book!!

This book is a must read for anyone who is watching the journey towards quantum computers but is not a quantum physicist.

A little dense for an audiobook

Too much of the content was hard to understand without seeing the figures, graphs, or formulas.