It's not a simple subject, but is presented here in as much "plain
English" as possible (no mathematics). Gribbin explains the most
difficult to visualize concepts and the most controversial issues
in quantum physics. Illustrated with sketches.
He writes a survey of the development of the atomic model and
the gradual unification of the wave and particle theories of
light. The section called "What's h?" explains Planck's constant.
Correcting a common misconception, he explains why
E=mc2 isn't the complete form of Einstein's equation
(page 83). Going further, some of the additional topics the book
covers are the "particle zoo" [page 127], Feynman's concept of
quantum electrodynamics [QED] (the quantum theory of
electromagnetism) [163], "paradoxes and possibilities" and the
implications of the Copenhagen interpretation (177...], and the
"many worlds" hypothesis [235], the Schrodinger's cat
(Schrödinger's cat) problem [233], and the concept of
symmetry in physics [262].
Gribbin says the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics
is "fully vindicated" [83]. One complaint -- Unfortunately, in my
opinion, Gribbin sometimes passes into philosophical idealism. He
says, "If we cannot say what a particle does when we are not
looking at it, neither can we say if it exists when we are not
looking at it, and it is reasonable to claim that nuclei and
positrons did not exist prior to the twentieth century." [102]
"Nothing is real unless we look at it, and it ceases to be real as
soon as we stop looking." [173] "Objective reality does not have
any place in our fundamental description of the universe." [183]
He even quotes an expert on the subject, John Lennon, who wrote
the song lyric, "Nothing is real." [Strawberry Fields Forever]
Most modern physicists wouldn't go that far. Fortunately, those
lapses into idealism are few, and I strongly recommend the book
for what it is as a whole.
Quotation from the preface:
"This book owes its genesis to several factors that came
together in the summer of 1982. First, I had just finished
writing a book about relativity, Spacewarps and felt that
it would be appropriate to tackle the demystification of the other
great branch of twentieth-century science. Second, I was at that
time increasingly irritated by the misconceptions trading under
the name quantum theory among some nonscientists,
Fritjof Capra's The Tao of Physics
having spawned imitators who understood
neither the physics nor the Tao but suspecting that there was
money to be made out of linking western science with eastern
philosophy. Finally, in August 1982 the news came from Paris that
a team had successfully carried out a crucial test confirming, for
those who still doubted, the accuracy of the quantum-mechanical
view of the world.
"Don't look here for any 'eastern mysticism,' spoon bending or
ESP. Do look here for the true story of quantum mechanics, a truth
far stranger than fiction. Science is like that -- it doesn't need
dressing up in the hand-me-downs of someone else's philosophy,
because it is full of its own delights, mysteries, and surprises.
The question this book answers is 'What is reality?' The answer(s)
may surprise you; you may not believe them. But you will find out
how contemporary science views the world."
Except for the minor fault I've already cited, that the
assertion that "nothing is real" is not "how contemporary
science views the world" and it is "mysticism", the rest of
the book is the clearest and best written presentation of the
subject available anywhere.