Quantum theory is one the most important and successful theories of modern physical science. It has been estimated that its principles form the basis for about 30 per cent of the world's manufacturing economy. This is all the more remarkable because quantum theory is a theory that nobody

understands. The meaning of Quantum Theory introduces science students to the theory's fundamental conceptual and philosophical problems, and the basis of its non-understandability. It does this with the barest minimum of jargon and very little mathematics in the main text. Readers wishing to delve

more deeply into the theory's mathematical subtleties can do so in an extended series of appendices. The book brings the reader up to date with the results of new experimental tests of quantum weirdness and reviews the latest thinking on alternative interpretations, the frontiers of quantum

cosmology, quantum gravity and potential application of this weirdness in computing, cryptography and teleportation.

An introduction to the fundamental conceptual and philosophical problems of quantum theory for undergraduate and graduate students who may have no higher mathematics than a little vector algebra. Baggott has substantially revised the 1993 first edition, The Meaning of Quantum Theory, to incorporate more history and philosophy, and recent developments in science.
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"This lucid account offers an excellent starting point for readers who wish to gain some understanding of the strangeness of quantum mechanics."--Science

Foreword by Peter Atkins

Preface

Part I: Discovery

1. An Act of Desperation

2. Farewell to Certainty

3. An Absolute Wonder

Part II: Formalism

4. Quantum Rules

5. Quantum Measurement

Part III: Meaning

6. The Schism

7. A Bolt from the Blue

8. Bell's Theorem and Local Reality

Part IV: Experiment

9. Quantum Non-locality

10. Complementarity and Entanglement

Part V: Alternatives

11. Pilot Waves, Potentials and Propensities

12. An Irreversible Act

13. I Think, Therefore

14. Many Worlds, One Universe

Closing Remarks

Appendices

Bibliography