Q IS FOR QUANTUM: An Encyclopedia of Particle Physics Summary and Reviews

Q IS FOR QUANTUM: An Encyclopedia of Particle Physics
by John Gribbin

Q IS FOR QUANTUM: An Encyclopedia of Particle Physics
List Price: $49.95
Our Price: $5.74
You Save: $44.21 (89%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $4.25 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


or

Book Summary Information

Author: John Gribbin
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2000-02-22
ISBN: 0684863154
Number of pages: 560
Publisher: Touchstone

Book Reviews of Q IS FOR QUANTUM: An Encyclopedia of Particle Physics

Book Review: A FIVE STAR TOURIST GUIDE TO THE UNIVERSE
Summary: 5 Stars

For all you Douglas Adams fans out there ( The HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy) we have now got definitive, non-fictional guides to the Cosmos and the micro-world of Quantum Phenomena.

John Gribbin's latest book "Q is for Quantum" is the perfect companion to his 1996 masterpiece "Companion to the Cosmos".

Gribbin's presents his work in a well illustrated, encyclopaedic (A to Z) style with nearly all topics having hyperlinks to cross-references elsewhere in the book. He puts great emphasis on the human dimension of science as well as on the purely physical phenomena and theories he describes so well. The mini-biographies of the scientists are fascinating in their own right, particularly when looking at the historical context and the geographic, social and academic connections/parallels that have led to these great advances in human thought.

Gribbin guides us along those amazing scientific paths of the past half millennia , from Galileo and Newton to Einstein and Hawking. He has this reader convinced that we are very close to realizing the ultimate dream of a Grand Unifying Theory (GUT) which ties together all the links between the forces of nature. His work is right up to date and includes the latest ideas on M-branes and superstrings.

The best way to read the book is to open it at random , find a topic of interest and see how far the hyperlinks can take you. Bliss for a net-head! The real strength of Gribbin's writing is to help us cover that great spectrum (in time and space) between the sub-atomic microworld of Quantum phenomena through to the edges of the Cosmos. Somewhere in the middle is the human dimension, dare I say, the "real world".

It was our friend Douglas Adams who posed that trickiest of tri-lemmas ... What is the answer to that ultimate question, that is, the Meaning of Life, the Universe and Everything ? He told us ... it is 42 !

John Gribbin's agrees - look up his section on Planck. What is the smallest unit of time? Answer: zero, decimal point, FOURTY TWO zeros, one second.

Before Planck time nothing much happened ... but then again ...

Professional & Technical Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Cosmologists Paul Davies & John Gribbin
Deep Simplicity: Bringing Order to Chaos and Complexity ImageDeep Simplicity: Bringing Order to Chaos and Complexity
by John Gribbin
Random House; Published: 2005-04-05; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.21
Price in other shops: $24.95
In Search of Schr?dinger's Cat: Quantum Physics and Reality ImageIn Search of Schr?dinger's Cat: Quantum Physics and Reality
by John Gribbin
Bantam Books; Published: 1984-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.99
Price in other shops: $17.00
Hyperspace: The Universe and Its Mysteries ImageHyperspace: The Universe and Its Mysteries
by DK Publishing, John Gribbin
DK ADULT; Published: 2001-09-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $7.20
Price in other shops: $29.95
The Expanding Universe (Essential Science Series) ImageThe Expanding Universe (Essential Science Series)
by Mark Garlick, John Gribbin
DK ADULT; Published: 2002-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.94
Price in other shops: $6.95
The Search For Superstrings, Symmetry, And The Theory Of Everything ImageThe Search For Superstrings, Symmetry, And The Theory Of Everything
by John Gribbin
Little, Brown and Company; Published: 1999-01-05; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.45
Price in other shops: $23.00
Superstrings: A Theory of Everything? (Canto) ImageSuperstrings: A Theory of Everything? (Canto)
Cambridge University Press; Published: 1992-07-31; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.95
Price in other shops: $23.99
Q IS FOR QUANTUM: An Encyclopedia of Particle Physics ImageQ IS FOR QUANTUM: An Encyclopedia of Particle Physics
by John Gribbin
Touchstone; Published: 2000-02-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.50
Price in other shops: $49.95
The Cosmic Blueprint: New Discoveries in Nature's Creative Ability to Order the Universe ImageThe Cosmic Blueprint: New Discoveries in Nature's Creative Ability to Order the Universe
by P. C. W. Davies
Templeton Foundation Press; Published: 2004-06-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.00
Price in other shops: $16.95
The Ghost in the Atom: A Discussion of the Mysteries of Quantum Physics (Canto) ImageThe Ghost in the Atom: A Discussion of the Mysteries of Quantum Physics (Canto)
Cambridge University Press; Published: 1993-07-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.95
Price in other shops: $18.99
Edge of Infinity ImageEdge of Infinity
by Paul davies
Simon & Schuster; Published: 1982-03-30; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $22.95
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
Black Holes and Time Warps: Einstein's Outrageous Legacy (Commonwealth Fund Book Program) ImageBlack Holes and Time Warps: Einstein's Outrageous Legacy (Commonwealth Fund Book Program)
by Kip S. Thorne
W. W. Norton & Company; Published: 1995-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.90
Price in other shops: $18.95
Deep Simplicity: Bringing Order to Chaos and Complexity ImageDeep Simplicity: Bringing Order to Chaos and Complexity
by John Gribbin
Random House; Published: 2005-04-05; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.41
Price in other shops: $24.95
The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality ImageThe Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality
by Brian Greene
Vintage; Published: 2005-02-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.25
Price in other shops: $16.95
The Birth of Time: How Astronomers Measured the Age of the Universe ImageThe Birth of Time: How Astronomers Measured the Age of the Universe
by John Gribbin
Yale University Press; Published: 2001-03-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.85
Price in other shops: $27.00
Facts and Mysteries in Elementary Particle Physics ImageFacts and Mysteries in Elementary Particle Physics
by Martinus Veltman
World Scientific Publishing Company; Published: 2003-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $17.10
Price in other shops: $25.00
The Quantum World: Quantum Physics for Everyone ImageThe Quantum World: Quantum Physics for Everyone
by Kenneth W. Ford
Harvard University Press; Published: 2005-10-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.88
Price in other shops: $19.00
Quantum Physics: A Beginner's Guide ImageQuantum Physics: A Beginner's Guide
by Alastair I. M. Rae
Oneworld Publications; Published: 2006-03-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.86
Price in other shops: $14.95
The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory ImageThe Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory
by Brian Greene
Vintage; Published: 2000-02-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.33
Price in other shops: $15.95
Schrodinger's Kittens and the Search for Reality: Solving the Quantum Mysteries Tag: Author of In Search of Schrod. Cat ImageSchrodinger's Kittens and the Search for Reality: Solving the Quantum Mysteries Tag: Author of In Search of Schrod. Cat
by John Gribbin
Back Bay Books; Published: 1996-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.45
Price in other shops: $14.95
In Search of Schr?dinger's Cat: Quantum Physics and Reality ImageIn Search of Schr?dinger's Cat: Quantum Physics and Reality
by John Gribbin
Bantam Books; Published: 1984-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.12
Price in other shops: $17.00