What Is Real?

The Unfinished Quest for the Meaning of Quantum Physics

By: Adam Becker

Narrated by: Greg Tremblay

Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

A flashback of physics history...

I’m not a physicists but I like to study physics casually. This book did a great job of laying out the history of how the field of physics picked up after Newtonian Physics was well established. The focus starts with the Copenhagen Interpretation and how that ‘idea’ took over the forward movement of physics for over a century and highlights how fixed ideas based on this interpretation have hindered the advancement of certain forward-thinking ideas or even the quest for posing new questions in the realm of the science, specifically quantum physics. It definitely underscores the importance of weaving the study of logic and philosophy into the study of physics so that we can continue to ask the important questions. Loved this book and the narrator kept it engaging.

Quantum physics 101

Slightly subjective explanation of the history of quantum physics as well as the various theories that have arisen to explain the quantum world.

An easy to follow intro without the scientific jargon found in similar books. Easy to follow and understand if you do not have a background in physics, or science for that matter.

I have to say I’m a bit disappointed that academia allows fanaticism, bureaucracy and politics to hinder scientific progress. Scientists with new ideas should be encouraged not chastised for questioning the status quo (Copenhagen interpretation for example.)
That said, I subscribe partially to Everett’s Many Worlds Interpretation though I see those worlds more as probabilities than realities, with consciousness being the true universal wave form entangled throughout all worlds on some level.

A good book to read after this one is “Is there life after death,” by Anthony Peake. I think the books complement each other well.

Great read and I appreciate the author’s passion about physics and his respect for philosophy (unkind so other physicists.)

Very enjoyable

Great, but seems to be set more geared towards philosophy than mathematics or science. Although I would believe any author as passionate about their topic as this one would do a similar job. I very much enjoyed it.

Fantastic book. My modo: Question Everything!

I've been learning about quantum mechanics for almost 10 years, and my first introduction to the field was, as with most, through the copenhagen interpretation. But very early on, I began to feel uncomfortable with some of the answers (or straight up omissions) it provided for the strange behavior encountered during quantum experiments. Copenhagen's answers to these findings felt incomplete or simply too strange for my comfort as they went against known laws of physics. But as they say... Shut up and calculate! This went against everything science stood for me. As I went deeper in to quantum mechanics, I learned I wasn't the only one that felt this way, many scientists including Einstein felt that either copenhagen was at best, incomplete or at worst, incorrect. The more I researched the topic, the more I found out that there were several other interpretations of quantum mechanics put together by scientists who felt that same way about the currently accepted interpretation... Copenhagen. So I began to study these other interpretations and found out that they all explained quantum mechanics to varying degrees. I liked some more than others, but in other words, there's more than one way to skin a cat... I even came up with my own interpretation that connects relativity and quantum mechanics, and maybe one day I can add my theory as another true competitor in the field. After reading this book, I feel much more confident that coming up with my own theory isn't so crazy after all and that I'm not wrong for thinking that there has to be more to it then what is currently accepted; that shutting up and accepting it because it works goes against the very core of science. Just like Tycho Brahe and Isaac Newton were proven wrong, despite their interpretation mathematically explaining and predicting observations of the time; the copenhagen interpretation will one day be modified or replaced by a theory that finally answers the question of how the universe truly works. Just remember, question everything! That's where it all started.

Great book about the measurement problem

You need a basic understanding of the measurement problem before reading this book. YouTube the double split experiment and Bell’s theorem before reading. Very enjoyable and very readable.

Interesting Book; Deceptive Title

A more accurate title would be “What is Real in Quantum Physics? We don’t know.” That basically summarizes the book. But it’s an interesting historical tale that I enjoyed.

An often untold perspective that imbues the reader with a much richer understanding of quantum physics

This book really clears up so much of the confusion around quantum mechanics. Though the problem of how to interpret quantum physics remains today, at least the field is no longer held back by the copenhagen interpretation which primarily dismisses such thinking. As the reader finds out, the copenhagen interpretation isn’t really an interpretation at all. Yet, it is still the preferred choice of physicists around the world.

Pure Gold

A deep and absolutely wonderful! look at Quantum Mechanics covering its science and some math, its history and fascinating creators, and a few guesses put forward as to how it translates into human reality. That issue may be a step too far for Science. The narrator is perfect, I'd like to invite him to dinner:-)
I've listened to a lot of books about Quantum Theory so I know some of the language snd references. Without that understanding, much of the book would have been too difficult for me.

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.