Can't get into it!

[Akashic_Librarian]

i have wantd to understand and learn about Quantum phys. for a long time but i can't get it off the ground, anyone got any good sites to start with, or even books will do? thanks for your help.

[mick]

i have wantd to understand and learn about Quantum phys. for a long time but i can't get it off the ground, anyone got any good sites to start with, or even books will do? thanks for your help.
My partner is currently reading Hyperspace by Michio Kaku which sounds interesting as she keeps throwing snippits at me. Can't give an appraisal against other books in the market but it does look to provide a broad picture and covers related research. It was first published in 1994 so more recent developments will be absent. My partner has been pondering what would make a good follow up book to this one. Maybe Chris or another contributor here has some suggestions.
Did get to watch a BBC programme Horizon covering the exploration of the multiple universe theories the other day when it was being recycled on a UK satellite channel. Interesting content which I recorded for a further viewing.

[Dragon's Daughter]

I like Stephen Hawking's books. I'll try to find the one I have around the house, I can't remember the name of it right off the bat. It touches on string theory, alot of different subjects, etc.

[mick]

I like Stephen Hawking's books. I'll try to find the one I have around the house, I can't remember the name of it right off the bat. It touches on string theory, alot of different subjects, etc.
A Brief History of Time is the popular book by him. I have that as an eBook somewhere.
Details at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/ ... 35-5449453 (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0553380168/103-5567735-5449453)
He has become the subject of some controversy regarding some of his theories but science is a testing environment :) His recent presentation in Dublin Ireland left some attendees scratching their heads, will be interesting to see where it goes. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Hawking has a few details.

Wikipedia may also be useful place to read about QM, a search there turns up lots of links.

[Ascendant]

The best book I have read about this is called The Elegant Universe, by Brian Greene. It covers not only quantum physics, but general relativity and superstring theory as well.

[Chris]

The best book I have read about this is called The Elegant Universe, by Brian Greene. It covers not only quantum physics, but general relativity and superstring theory as well.

Thats a good book, I'd also suggest the following of John Gribbins books:

'In Search of Schrodinger's Cat' (primer on quantum physics)
'Schrodinger's Kittens and the Search for Reality: The Quantum Mysteries Solved' (follow on to the first book)

Hawkins books are also interesting.
This site for CERN has a lot of interesting links for the beginner:
http://public.web.cern.ch/public/Content/Chapters/AboutCERN/CERNFuture/LHCExperiments/LHCExperiments-en.html

(the Higgs field theories are especially interesting - well to me at least :p)

A quick google found this aswel:

http://hepweb.rl.ac.uk/ppep/exhibit_list.htm

If your up for watching documentaries, What the bleep is an excellent first primer of quantum physics.

[man68]

Quantum theory requires a strong mathematical background. You wil NOT LKEARN A THING about quantum mechanics reading Stephen Hawkings' "brief
history of time". Sorry. QM is largely misunderstood, even by real scientists. One proof of it is that there are several "interpretations" of QM, that is, the
very meaning of the wave function is still a matter of debate.

I can provide some sources of ionformation on QM but, as I said, you need
to do the math. You simply can't understand QM by reading popular science
books.

[enoch]

I recommended a book in "movies and books, " check it out!

To be honest - apart from the many worlds (dimensions) hypotheses regards qp, I really don't comprehend why this subject is being peddled on a web site such as this. I mean - why no forum for neuroscience?

It doesn't add up?

Quantum mechanics is a fledgling science..and I fear that it's another case of "what is unexplained is fruit for the mystic."

[Matthew]

Ascendant recommended Elegant Universe, but I would recommend The Fabric of the Cosmos by Brian Greene first, since it is the more introductory text (they're both great)....

-Matthew

[CFTraveler]

I recommended a book in "movies and books, " check it out!
To be honest - apart from the many worlds (dimensions) hypotheses regards qp, I really don't comprehend why this subject is being peddled on a web site such as this. I mean - why no forum for neuroscience?
It doesn't add up?
Quantum mechanics is a fledgling science..and I fear that it's another case of "what is unexplained is fruit for the mystic." I would guess that it's because quantum science is the first science that has postulated the possibility of the existence of alternate universes, nonlocality, and such phenomena which can describe some of the experiences reported by people who ob.
Neuroscience, in my opinion, would be also an useful topic because it (obviously- duh) explores the brain, but it's limitation is that it only looks at consciousness and altered states as products of the brain/and/or nervous system)- although I do think that that is fascinating in itself, and should be considered as a topic, maybe you can suggest it in the Forum Feedback?

Added on edit: Come to think of it, the title of this subforum is Q.P., Science and Spiritual Reality. So really, any scientific discipline that dares to encompass subjects that can be compared with spiritual themes are included, no need for a special subforum- there are many threads in this forum which includes neuroscience, and other scientific disciplines, biological or otherwise.