Very interesting book, but surprisingly difficult. Feynmann's QED was actually a somewhat easier read. And I'm glad I read QED first as that made reading this book more understandable. As a former astrophysics student (from 30 years ago), I always find this information fascinating. ( )

First, a disclaimer. I have a degree in Physics so have studied Quantum Mechanics (QM) at degree level. Therefore I didn't read this as a lay person (it's intended target audience), so YMMV.

I was hoping that if anyone could make QM accessible to the layman it would be Prof. Brain Cox. Sadly, in my opinion, this isn't the case.

The book starts with a brief history of the beginning of the subject (which I found interesting), but when the author starts to describe the actual theory things start to unravel. In what I assume is an attempt to reduce the amount of maths in the book, he uses a 'clock system' to try and explain the theory. To my mind trying to explain it this way made no sense - if you don't have a solid understanding of the basics of the subject then you stand no chance of understanding the harder stuff once you reach it, and to truly understand the basics you need to understand the maths.

Approximately half way through the clock system is retired and maths starts to assert itself. I could almost hear the author think 'hmmm, this clock thing isn't really working, I'm going to have to start using maths'. However by then I think it's too little too late.

It wasn't all bad though; I enjoyed the last chapter on the death of stars. However overall this book reinforced my opinion that it's not possible to understand QM without a suitable high level understanding of maths (despite how elitist that may sound!).

( )

An interesting premise, and bearing in mind it was written in 2911, there are some still pertinent discussions about particles, their motion and their interactions as well as the state of matter. Interesting, but you must read it with the PDF open and available for the diagrams. I found some of the maths quite hard going. ( )

This isn't the science book seeking to explain big ideas so anyone can understand. It tries to be but as Feynman jokes: "I think I can safely say that nobody understands quantum mechanics."

With that said, this book does require math despite Brian Cox's claim near the beginning that you can skip over it.

I can't say to have understood it in its entirety (to do so, would bear many re-readings, a renewal of calculus, some of Feynman's books, and a class), but Cox is able to explain many ideas about quantum theories that even I can comprehend, gave me a better understanding of transistors, and threw in a couple of historical oddities that had me giggling. ( )

So glad I spotted this at the charity shop. It's been a great read. I notice a lot of complaints by some reviewers here but the book suited me really well and boosted my understanding. Shall keep it and read it through again some time. ( )