Where Can I Find Beginner-Friendly Books on Quantum Physics?

[Eigna]

I am a sophmore in high school and I am really interested in buying a credible book to get me started on the path towards understanding "The Point Zero Field" and basic quantum physics. I don't know where to start, it all seems overwhelming. I want to read everything I get my hands on. Can someone please recommend me some books that I can read with understanding. I'm willing to stretch my mind, but I don't want to be lost. I want to start at the beginning of quantum physics and work my way towards understanding. I also would like someone to discuss the contents on the book with because none of the teachers at my school know a lot of about this. I have tried to get help from them. Thank you in advance.

Angie

 

[The Rev]

Yeah, I could use that list too.

The only books I've read on the subject are by John Gribbin: "In Search of Schrodinger's Cat" and "Schrodinger's Kittens." I think they're both great, since you don't have to be a Post Doc Mathematician or Physicist to understand them.

Hope that helped.

:)

The Rev

 

[chroot]

The two paperbacks recommended by The Rev are a good place to get a non-technical flavor of what quantum mechanics is like.

Another series of books which straddles the fence between the non-technical and the technical are Feynman's Lectures on Physics. Volume III covers quantum mechanics in a rather easy (though very non-standard) way. These books are available in paperback for about $30 each.

To get a deeper (i.e. real) understanding of quantum mechanics, you will need textbooks. The best one for self-study is probably Introduction to Quantum Mechanics by Griffiths.

Keep in mind that a technical understanding of QM will require a good bit of mathematical sophistication (linear algebra and single-variable calculus are a must), so you may have to have a few math books lying around for consultation, too.

- Warren

 

[CarlB]

I am really interested in buying a crediable book to get me started on the path towards understanding "The Point Zero Field" and basic quantum physics. Angie

The problem is that there is so much mathematics needed. The best non mathematical introduction is Feynman's "QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter"
, which is quite inexpensive and available at many better bookstores:


Carl

 

[masudr]

Yes, I would echo what most people have said. I'm not sure what sophomore is, but I learned most about qm when I was 17 (which is a year before starting university in the UK), and I could not understand quantum mechanics until I could get round the maths.

 

[selfAdjoint]

I might also recommend Nick Herbert's "Quantum Reality", which uses analogies of sound to illustrate ideas like superposition. I found it quite useful years ago, and it's still in the stores.

 

[caribou]

There are online overviews and articles like this one below, of course, which might help as well:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mechanics