This book works at more than one level, and is for popular science readers and physicists alike. It's about the puzzle of quantum mechanics: is it the mind of the experimenter that causes the change from waves to particles, or could it be something else? For ninety years observations have been thought to do it, but now physicists are starting to think it's something else. In the accompanying 2019 documentary for TV ('The Interactions Avenue'), the author of the book, Jonathan Kerr, talks to two of the world's best known physicists, Carlo Rovelli and Neil Turok.
They both belong to the fast growing minority who take the new approach, known as "interactions, not measurements". To measure something, you have to make light or matter collide with it. Experiment has strongly supported the idea that somehow, interactions are what causes the change from waves to particles. The book looks at the different views on these fascinating questions. (Neil Turok was for ten years Director of the Perimeter Institute in Canada, the main hub of theoretical physics.)
When people realised that interactions could replace measurements in quantum mechanics, they saw what may be the beginnings of the next paradigm. Now we have a way to leave the mind of the experimenter, and consciousness in general, out of the process completely. So it removes what's known as 'the measurement problem' - it also removes what some would see as the unscientific side of quantum mechanics.
Some very good physicists nowadays take the view that measurements were a red herring, and are irrelevant. It's just that until now, no-one has been able to say why interactions should do that. In the later part of the book Jonathan Kerr explains his own theory (which he discusses with Carlo Rovelli and Neil Turok in the film). It's an unexpected, lateral solution to the puzzle, coming out of the interactions approach. It provides a new way of completing what has been, until now, an unfinished picture.

The Unsolved Puzzle, interactions, not measurements

Science & Math

Kerr, Jonathan

Physics

Gordon Publishing

In the comic thriller 'Nothing and Everywhere' John Smith, an unpublished and regrettably named novelist, has his computer stolen and with it the only copy of his latest novel. Despite fear of his guru's disapproval, John mysteriously acquires two handguns, a load of cash and a crack team to reclaim his work. Together with Susie Bellavista, a beautiful and enigmatic maths genius, Biro, a Hungarian ex-RAF Regiment sergeant and March Klossowski, one-time activist and fellow-failed writer, John explores the power and wonder of mathematics in an attempt to solve an imponderable, real life mystery. Where will this whirlwind adventure lead? Back up your files and enjoy the ride!

Nothing and Everywhere

Literature & Fiction

Nigel Lesmoir-Gordon

Humor & Satire

Aerodrum - A Biography

Biographies & Memoirs

Lesmoir-Gordon, Nigel

Travelers & Explorers

Hugger's Favorite Catquotes and Anecdotes : Proverbs, Poems, Limericks, Rrhymes, Quotes, and Anecdotes About Cats

Humor & Entertainment

Humor

28 Days and Still and Addict, Before I Got My Wings

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Mary Laremore

Addiction & Recovery

Beneath: The Trident Series

Science Fiction & Fantasy

Gordon, Cheryl Lynn

Fantasy

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books by the Gordon Publishing publisher. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Gordon Publishing