Quantum Enigma: Physics Encounters Consciousness 2nd Edition, Kindle Edition

This book is a superb introduction to the subject of the interaction of mind and matter, as essentially supported by the well-established laws of quantum mechanics. While the book ultimately explores how human consciousness (by the mere act of human observation and choice) can potentially affect the physical world that we experience, the bulk of the text is directed to laying the scientific groundwork so that the proposition does not come across as sounding like some new-age mysticism.I was first introduced to this concept by Jim Tucker in his book “Return to Life” (Ch. 8). Tucker’s referenced sources on this subject were mostly to books by Dr. Henry Stapp – and in particular, “Mind, Matter and Quantum Mechanics”. Having waded through about a fourth of Stapp’s book (which is written for the PhD level physicist) without gaining any real knowledge (for me, it was like reading Greek), I decided to look for something that better suited my mechanical engineering background. Lo and behold, I came across “Quantum Enigma”. What a great book! It was ostensibly developed as a course book for non-science-majoring college students (presumably so that they could fulfill their science class requirements). This book is much more than just the “mind-and-matter” topic – it’s also a good introduction to quantum physics for persons who do not have a science background. The authors are legitimate quantum physicists, and hold true to their scientific training, but are not afraid to ask “what’s going on here?” (To their credit, the authors are not afraid to address the possibility of “God” – see e.g. pg. 228.)While approachable to the non-physicist, this book is definitely NOT a “for dummies” book, as it requires a good deal of attention on the part of the reader to wade through the “Copenhagen” interpretation of quantum mechanics, Bell’s theorem, “EPR”, and other weighty topics, all of which are pretty much essential in order to enable the reader to understand the issues, and perhaps draw their own conclusions. The authors do not ask the reader to grasp the mathematics, but the concepts alone are difficult enough for most of us mere mortals (well, at least for me).Ch. 17 (“The Mystery Meets the Enigma”) generates my own enigma – i.e., is the “quantum enigma” the result of: (i) choosing which experiment to perform; (ii) the physical act of opening only one box, or both boxes at the same time; or (iii) my observation of the result of the experiment? It seems to me that the authors do not distinguish “consciousness in selecting the experiment to be performed” from “consciousness in observing the results” – which to me are two different things. Perhaps I need to read the book again.While this book has some shortcomings (as noted above), I still give it 5-stars as being the best (if not perhaps the only) introductory book on the topic. It is much more approachable for the non-physicist than is Stapp’s book, and provides much more information than the somewhat conclusory position presented by Tucker.Having now read this book, hopefully I can go back and finish Stapp’s book and maybe get something out of it. We’ll see. Stay tuned for my Amazon review of Stapp’s “Mind, Matter and Quantum Mechanics”.

Unfortunately marred by their recounting of a fictional history of science where Galileo is the superhero who overthrows the Church's stifling of inquiry - a badly outdated fairy tale debunked by historians since 1911 ... See Hannam, et al who have done the hard work of correcting this myth. But generally a good introduction to the mysteries of QM.Starts off with a great parable to illustrate quantum weirdness of the double slit experiments. After that, the abovementioned twaddle, sadly, which compelled me to break off and write this. Having corrected this grotesque myth perpetrated by, incredibly, two militant atheist pranksters in the 18th (?) century who had not much regard for actual facts, I now resume reading ...This book provides a comprehensive introduction to the mysteries and history of quantum theory, namely, trying to understand or explain particle wave duality. Sadly, it also gives us a glimpse into how the world of science is often hobbled by the close-mindedness and politicking of scientists. Thus it was almost 2 decades before Einstein's explanation of the photon was accepted. As another example, it took 40 years for Piltdown Man to be recognized as a fake. And just now it's being admitted that cholesterol warnings on food were a huge blunder ... how many decades have some poor souls been avoiding lobster based on poor science?As yet another example, the book points out that many physicists are loathe to consider the implications of what quantum observations are saying about the apparent relationship of consciousness to reality, because it makes them "uncomfortable". Of course, many were worried that QM would be used to push crackpot mysticism, but others were just opposed to addressing the elephant of consciousness at all. Why? Perhaps as Sir Rudolf Peierls Peierls explained, "The quantum mechanical description is in terms of knowledge, and knowledge requires somebody who knows." So who is this "somebody"? So strong was this fear of this "somebody" that physicists who did consider the problem did it at the risk of professional ostracism. However, it is becoming more acceptable to do so in the current era.Another corollary which may make one squirm is summed up by Eugene Wigner, Nobel Prize-winning physicist: "[While a number of philosophical ideas] may be logically consistent with present quantum mechanics, ... materialism is not."The author's helpfully point out somewhat technical paragraphs that you can skim without sacrificing comprehension of the quantum mysteries.All in all, apart from the badly outdated (yet popular) fable about Galileo, this is a great explanation of the quantum mysteries for the lay person. The authors welcome the reader to consider different theories and explanations.

(El producto llego en buen estado)El libro busca de abordar la relación de los enigmas del mundo cuántico con la filosofía. Una lectura ligera y entretenida sin muchos tecnicismos.

Book was extremely interesting. Product arrived on time and is reasonably priced

I love the book, it is all explained for beginners in nice very readable way!

A very nice book for a novice. Covered all concepts attached to quantum physics. The concept related to connectedness is not much. One would need a new book for that.

If you want to know what actually happened across the timeline, how quantum mechanics developed, how physicists reacted when developments or comments were made etc, then this is a book for you. Filled with some humourous instances and experimental evidences, this book gives you the feel of quantum mechanics. At some places I felt that some mathematical description was required but it is already described as a no-math book, but without it also it was a good-read. Happy Reading