Common sense tells us that matter doesn't vanish into thin air, a particle and a wave have little in common, and good knowledge leads to good prediction. Yet when we move beyond the range of everyday experience and into the world of quantum physics, things prove to be very different: particles of matter can be annihilated, waves and particles are two faces of matter, and the outcome of some experiments is completely unpredictable.

As Kenneth W. Ford shows us in The Quantum World, the laws governing the very small and the very swift defy common sense and stretch our minds to the limit. Drawing on a deep familiarity with the discoveries of the twentieth century, Ford gives an appealing account of quantum physics that will help the serious reader make sense of a science that, for all its successes, remains mysterious. He tells a good story while depicting both the subatomic world and the world of physics research as lively places populated by highly interesting characters. At the core of this book are the "big ideas" of quantum physics, including granularity (matter and some of its properties, like energy, are "lumpy"), wave-particle duality, the uncertainty principle, the nature of bosons and fermions, and superposition and entanglement (an atom can be in two or more states of motion at once).

With strikingly clear writing, and with engaging illustrations by Paul Hewitt, The Quantum World imparts a sense of wonder and a knowledge of the strange laws governing the atoms, nuclei, and fundamental particles that inhabit the quantum world.

"In this approachable book for the armchair science buff or student struggling through a physics class, Ford, retired director of the American Institute of Physics, offers his services as cicerone through the subatomic world. He explains why quarks are said to have 'flavors,' and why scientists refer to 'strange' and 'charm' quarks and their being red, blue or green...Even scientists never really understand the quantum world, but this book will help readers wrap their minds around the paradoxical concepts of how the building blocks of existence lead a strange, if not charmed, life." Publishers Weekly

"A clear and simple map of the strange world of the quantum by an experienced guide." John D. Barrow, Author of The Constants of Nature

The laws governing the very small and the very swift defy common sense and stretch our minds to the limit. Drawing on a deep familiarity with the discoveries of the twentieth century, Ford gives an appealing account of quantum physics that will help the serious reader make sense of a science that, for all its successes, remains mysterious.

Kenneth W. Ford, retired director of the American Institute of Physics, is coauthor of Geons, Black Holes, and Quantum Foam: A Life in Physics.

1. Beneath the Surface of Things

2. How Small Is Small? How Fast Is Fast?

3. Meet the Leptons

4. The Rest of the Extended Family

5. Quantum Lumps

6. Quantum Jumps

7. Social and Antisocial Particles

8. Clinging to Constancy

9. Waves and Particles

10. Pushing the Limits

Appendix A: Measurements and Magnitudes

Appendix B: The Particles

Appendix C: Going for the Gold

Index