I’m reading “In Search of Schrodinger’s Cat” By John Gribbens. It’s something I gravitated to after finishing “The God Delusion” by Richard Dawkins.
Anyway, on the train to work this morning (not the tube, the train) a lady sitting opposite me tapped the fromnt of the book and said something. I unplugged myself from Solipsistic Nation (Biotron episode, excellent podcast) and said “Pardon?” “Do they find it?” she asked, “The cat I mean?” She said, as I looked at her uncertainly. “Well… yes and no”, I said.
Honestly, I did.
We had a quick chat about the book. I recommended it to her so I thought I’d recommend it to you.
I packed in physics after O’level, but this book guides you through quantum mechanics with a sure hand, dealing from a low level understanding of classical physics, bringing in the history of the various contributors with facts and anecdotes. At times it had me laughing out loud, at others taking gasps of amazement as some thread came together and another vista of understanding and wonder opened before me. At one point I was cursing my physics teachers, saying “why didn’t you tell me?” over and over. Really. And I’m not even an actor. It was written in 1984, which dates it a little, but for my level it gives me a great base to be able to understand some friendly summaries of developments since then.
I unreservably apologise for every bad gag in this post.
Loved your response to the lady on the train when she asked if they found Schrodinger’s cat. I howled! I’m going to have to incorporate that into one of my stories because it’s just too funny not to use.
By the way, thanks for listening to Solipsistic Nation. Glad I’m part of your commute 🙂
Ciao,
Bazooka Joe