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The Biggest Ideas in the Universe: Quanta and Fields
In the second book of this already internationally acclaimed series, Sean Carroll, the most trusted explainer of the most mind-boggling concepts, digs deep into matter itself. What is the universe made of?
In his quest to redefine the “popular” treatment of the biggest ideas in the universe, Sean Carroll is creating a profoundly new approach to physics and math as reviewer after reviewer has attested. Adventuring in the math of fields, he now intrepidly guides readers into the fantastic depths of The Standard Model of particle physics illuminating the mysteries of quantum reality. The universe is made of atoms and Sean Carroll explains exactly what that means and how we know it.
In his quest to redefine the “popular” treatment of the biggest ideas in the universe, Sean Carroll is creating a profoundly new approach to physics and math as reviewer after reviewer has attested. Adventuring in the math of fields, he now intrepidly guides readers into the fantastic depths of The Standard Model of particle physics illuminating the mysteries of quantum reality. The universe is made of atoms and Sean Carroll explains exactly what that means and how we know it.
304 pages, Hardcover
Published May 14, 2024
About the author
Sean Carroll
28 books2,450 followersSean Carroll is a physicist and philosopher at Johns Hopkins University. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1993. His research focuses on spacetime, quantum mechanics, complexity, and emergence. His book The Particle at the End of the Universe won the prestigious Winton Prize for Science Books in 2013. Carroll lives in Baltimore with his wife, writer Jennifer Ouellette.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
May 14, 2024
The First Law of Quantum Communication
The First Law of Quantum Communication is that all explanations of Quantum Mechanics for general audiences are really, really bad*. Sean Carroll's Quanta and Fields: The Biggest Ideas in the Universe is very different from every previous pop quantum mechanics explanation I have ever read. The question before us is whether it is an exception to the First Law, or a uniquely creative new example.
Where I'm coming from: I am a retired neuroscientist and mathematician. I am familiar with and comfortable with quantum mechanics. I have also, to my sorrow, read dozens of pop physics explanations of quantum mechanics, because every pop physics book begins with the same tiresome six chapters intended to bring the presumed ignorant reader up to speed on relativity and quantum mechanics. And they are almost uniformly TERRIBLE. They are terrible for multiple reasons, but most of these come down to a determination on the part of the explainers to make quantum mechanics as confusing to a modern reader as it was to Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg when they first began to work it out. Physicists explaining quantum mechanics seem to feel a duty to make it as confusing as possible. If they have to ignore a century of progress and get crucial points wrong to do so, well, yeah, they're up for that.
I said "almost uniformly", because Carroll is the honorable exception. Unfortunately, I'm afraid quantum mechanics is not suited for the approach of The Biggest Ideas in the Universe. The general idea was explained in the first Biggest Ideas book, Space, Time, and Motion
I enjoyed this. I learned quite a bit -- it contains a particularly lucid explanation of renormalization.
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for an advance reader copy of Quanta and Fields: The Biggest Ideas in the Universe.
*There is no "First Law of Quantum Communication", and if there were, it wouldn't be this.
Blog review.
The First Law of Quantum Communication is that all explanations of Quantum Mechanics for general audiences are really, really bad*. Sean Carroll's Quanta and Fields: The Biggest Ideas in the Universe is very different from every previous pop quantum mechanics explanation I have ever read. The question before us is whether it is an exception to the First Law, or a uniquely creative new example.
Where I'm coming from: I am a retired neuroscientist and mathematician. I am familiar with and comfortable with quantum mechanics. I have also, to my sorrow, read dozens of pop physics explanations of quantum mechanics, because every pop physics book begins with the same tiresome six chapters intended to bring the presumed ignorant reader up to speed on relativity and quantum mechanics. And they are almost uniformly TERRIBLE. They are terrible for multiple reasons, but most of these come down to a determination on the part of the explainers to make quantum mechanics as confusing to a modern reader as it was to Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg when they first began to work it out. Physicists explaining quantum mechanics seem to feel a duty to make it as confusing as possible. If they have to ignore a century of progress and get crucial points wrong to do so, well, yeah, they're up for that.
I said "almost uniformly", because Carroll is the honorable exception. Unfortunately, I'm afraid quantum mechanics is not suited for the approach of The Biggest Ideas in the Universe. The general idea was explained in the first Biggest Ideas book, Space, Time, and Motion
The Biggest Ideas in the Universe is dedicated to the idea that it is possible to learn about modern physics for real, equations and all, even if you are more amateur than professional and have every intention of staying that way. It is meant for people who have no more mathematical experience than high school algebra, but are willing to look at an equation and think about what it means. If you’re willing to do that bit of thinking, a new world opens up.How does he propose to do this?
Most popular books assume that you don’t want to make the effort to follow the equations. Textbooks, on the other hand, assume that you don’t want to just understand the equations, you want to solve them. And solving these equations, it turns out, is enormously more work and requires enormously more practice and learning than “merely” understanding them does.So the approach of The Biggest Ideas is to show you the equations, but not to explain how to solve them. I thought this worked well in Space, Time, and Motion. But in quantum mechanics solving the equations is really a critical part of understanding what they mean. Carroll himself writes
The quantumness of quantum mechanics, including quantum field theory, comes from solving the equations, not from the fundamental nature of the ingredients we use to construct the model.Elsewhere, when describing how quantum field theory explains particles, he writes
And then the miracle occurs. Each mode of a quantum field behaves like a simple harmonic oscillator, including the quantized energy levels we previously uncovered. Those energy levels are interpreted as the number of particles we would observe: a mode in its first excited state represents one particle, its second excited state represents two particles, and so on.It is indeed almost miraculous. I remember seeing this in my first quantum field theory class, and it was SO, SO COOL! Unfortunately, if your understanding of the solution is "And then the miracle occurs", well, you don't really experience the miracle. Carroll tries to explain it in more depth than that, but I didn't feel that his explanations really worked, except for those who already understand them.
I enjoyed this. I learned quite a bit -- it contains a particularly lucid explanation of renormalization.
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for an advance reader copy of Quanta and Fields: The Biggest Ideas in the Universe.
*There is no "First Law of Quantum Communication", and if there were, it wouldn't be this.
Blog review.
July 21, 2024
This is the second book of what's supposed to be a trilogy of books trying to explain the mathematical side of the most important ideas in the history of physics to laymen like me. The first book dealt with classical physics while this one focuses on Quantum mechanics. The third book is yet to be published. The series is a great read if you are tired of reading popular physics books which just brush over the concepts and want to dwelve a little bit deeper into the mathematics because language is limited and it is hard to grasp these concepts fully unless you look at the Maths.
The challenge he took up is hard and it can be clearly seen in this book. I am not going to pretend that I understood everything. It was a bit of hard work, not because it wasn't explained well but because quantum mechanics is too complex a topic. But I can confidently say that I understood the basics foundational stuff well enough. The chapters about derivation of forces based on symmetry, I grasped the underlying thought process though the math went a bit over my head.
It's definitely a book I will come back to and read when I feel like challenging myself.
The challenge he took up is hard and it can be clearly seen in this book. I am not going to pretend that I understood everything. It was a bit of hard work, not because it wasn't explained well but because quantum mechanics is too complex a topic. But I can confidently say that I understood the basics foundational stuff well enough. The chapters about derivation of forces based on symmetry, I grasped the underlying thought process though the math went a bit over my head.
It's definitely a book I will come back to and read when I feel like challenging myself.
May 16, 2024
Carroll does for physics what Carl Sagan did for astronomy and planetary science in the early ‘80s and he certainly shares the enthusiasm that so defined Sagan. He bridges the gap between the professional scientist and lay person who is looking for a peek under the tent rather than a PhD.
In this volume the subject is quantum mechanics, where “it is the wave function that represents reality.” As in his prior work, the author’s approach involves augmenting the narrative with all the relevant formulas, but not forcing the reader to actually have the skill and knowledge to solve the equations presented. The result is not exactly “Moby Dick” in terms of reading ease, but with some cognitive effort most of us should be able to get by with a basic knowledge of mathematics and scientific notation, and a good dose of patience.
If you have read anything about quantum mechanics Carroll does address the most obvious questions. One of the most well-known characteristics of quantum systems is that its properties change dramatically when they are measured. “The linchpin of quantum mechanics seems to be this: what exists is not what is seen.” This raises the intuitive question, of course, “Then how do we know?” Well, there is an answer, or at least a rational perspective.
Another popular misconception he challenges is that the quantum world is the world of the small – the sub-atomic. “In fact, quantum mechanics applies to the whole world, big and small alike.” In other words, quantum physics is scalable.
Einstein, according to Carroll, believed that quantum mechanics was somehow incomplete and couldn’t be the final answer. While he admits that future discoveries could prove it all wrong, Carroll suggests that “According to our current best understanding, quantum fields are the bare stuff of reality.” Still, he admits, referring to the Core Theory, “…nobody expects it to be the ultimate beautiful Theory of Everything, if there is such a thing.”
I did find that the formulas were more critical to this book than they were in the previous book of Carroll’s I read. I couldn’t just gloss over them, as I had previously, and come away with any real understanding. And it doesn’t help that the language of quantum mechanics is so jargon-intensive, or the fact that physicists seem to enjoy naming things after each other, which makes a lot of the naming conventions less intuitive than they would be if they were more function-centric.
It is a great book if you just want to understand where the physicists are in their real understanding of reality. My own take is that they have journeyed a very long way but still have a very long way to go, as Carroll is the first to point out. They won’t be hanging up their lab coats any time soon. (Probably not ever.)
I think marine biologist Rachel Carson (1907-1964) said it best in her 1962 book, “Silent Spring”. She wrote, “In nature, nothing exists alone.” And so, I believe, it is with all of reality, giving rise to the apt metaphor known as the butterfly effect. Nothing exists in isolation and figuring out all the inter-relationships and their impact on each other may well be an insurmountable task. (On balance, I think that is a very positive truth. I, for one, am reassured by it.)
I’ve always believed that science and philosophy are two sides of the same coin and each discipline would gain immensely working more closely with the other. Siloes of knowledge, in my mind, are never the best place to find truth. I was a little surprised, therefore, after finishing the book, to learn that Carroll is a professor of natural philosophy. That does explain some of the narrative’s point of view but I would encourage him to go even further in merging the two disciplines in his books. I think there is much to be learned in the overlap.
All told, a very well-written book by a very enthusiastic and lucid author. Just don’t wait until you are falling asleep to pick it up.
In this volume the subject is quantum mechanics, where “it is the wave function that represents reality.” As in his prior work, the author’s approach involves augmenting the narrative with all the relevant formulas, but not forcing the reader to actually have the skill and knowledge to solve the equations presented. The result is not exactly “Moby Dick” in terms of reading ease, but with some cognitive effort most of us should be able to get by with a basic knowledge of mathematics and scientific notation, and a good dose of patience.
If you have read anything about quantum mechanics Carroll does address the most obvious questions. One of the most well-known characteristics of quantum systems is that its properties change dramatically when they are measured. “The linchpin of quantum mechanics seems to be this: what exists is not what is seen.” This raises the intuitive question, of course, “Then how do we know?” Well, there is an answer, or at least a rational perspective.
Another popular misconception he challenges is that the quantum world is the world of the small – the sub-atomic. “In fact, quantum mechanics applies to the whole world, big and small alike.” In other words, quantum physics is scalable.
Einstein, according to Carroll, believed that quantum mechanics was somehow incomplete and couldn’t be the final answer. While he admits that future discoveries could prove it all wrong, Carroll suggests that “According to our current best understanding, quantum fields are the bare stuff of reality.” Still, he admits, referring to the Core Theory, “…nobody expects it to be the ultimate beautiful Theory of Everything, if there is such a thing.”
I did find that the formulas were more critical to this book than they were in the previous book of Carroll’s I read. I couldn’t just gloss over them, as I had previously, and come away with any real understanding. And it doesn’t help that the language of quantum mechanics is so jargon-intensive, or the fact that physicists seem to enjoy naming things after each other, which makes a lot of the naming conventions less intuitive than they would be if they were more function-centric.
It is a great book if you just want to understand where the physicists are in their real understanding of reality. My own take is that they have journeyed a very long way but still have a very long way to go, as Carroll is the first to point out. They won’t be hanging up their lab coats any time soon. (Probably not ever.)
I think marine biologist Rachel Carson (1907-1964) said it best in her 1962 book, “Silent Spring”. She wrote, “In nature, nothing exists alone.” And so, I believe, it is with all of reality, giving rise to the apt metaphor known as the butterfly effect. Nothing exists in isolation and figuring out all the inter-relationships and their impact on each other may well be an insurmountable task. (On balance, I think that is a very positive truth. I, for one, am reassured by it.)
I’ve always believed that science and philosophy are two sides of the same coin and each discipline would gain immensely working more closely with the other. Siloes of knowledge, in my mind, are never the best place to find truth. I was a little surprised, therefore, after finishing the book, to learn that Carroll is a professor of natural philosophy. That does explain some of the narrative’s point of view but I would encourage him to go even further in merging the two disciplines in his books. I think there is much to be learned in the overlap.
All told, a very well-written book by a very enthusiastic and lucid author. Just don’t wait until you are falling asleep to pick it up.
June 28, 2024
Excellent. And unlike the first book in the The Biggest Ideas, this one has an obvious audience: physics majors and professional physicists who didn't go into theory and end up working with QFT. For example, I took only a single quarter of QFT in grad school, and I remember second quantization, creation and annihilation operators, and some Feynman diagram stuff, but I never got a good sense of what the theory actually was. This book was very helpful in that regard, emphasizing that our wavefunction is over possible field states.
Also there are some interesting ways of looking at things, like noting that binding energy is negative for an electron and a proton because their electric fields mostly cancel and thus result in a lower-energy state than the free particles (p. 159). Or Carroll's explanation of why the deuteron is stable (p. 263).
A few minor typos. Eqn. 7.7 is a weird one - he's missing a factor of 1/2, and he doesn't need it because he later neglects factors of order 1, but he's not (or shouldn't be) in that equation.
Also there are some interesting ways of looking at things, like noting that binding energy is negative for an electron and a proton because their electric fields mostly cancel and thus result in a lower-energy state than the free particles (p. 159). Or Carroll's explanation of why the deuteron is stable (p. 263).
A few minor typos. Eqn. 7.7 is a weird one - he's missing a factor of 1/2, and he doesn't need it because he later neglects factors of order 1, but he's not (or shouldn't be) in that equation.
July 20, 2024
Difficult read due to the math involved. As written at the outset, best to read other work first for a novice like me.
August 11, 2024
Little tougher but more rewarding than the first
June 22, 2024
this was a hard read for me
I’ve read all of Sean Carroll’s books. I found this book to be particularly difficult. Not because of his presentation, but because of the subject matter. every time I delve into quantum physics, it seems that the authors assume that I have a background knowledge, that I don’t have. They make leaps that I very often can’t follow. For example, This book spent a lot of time on symmetries and gauge theory. I never did figure out why they were important. I’m not giving up. I’m jumping into Griffiths book on quantum mechanics. I also recommend the on-line quantum physics 804 that MIT has provided .
I’ve read all of Sean Carroll’s books. I found this book to be particularly difficult. Not because of his presentation, but because of the subject matter. every time I delve into quantum physics, it seems that the authors assume that I have a background knowledge, that I don’t have. They make leaps that I very often can’t follow. For example, This book spent a lot of time on symmetries and gauge theory. I never did figure out why they were important. I’m not giving up. I’m jumping into Griffiths book on quantum mechanics. I also recommend the on-line quantum physics 804 that MIT has provided .
June 4, 2024
Most popular physics books I love because that is an ideal format for pushing edgy philosophies into the world (e.g. Carlo Rovelli). Rarely do I like physics books that "simply" restate textbook material. This book is the exception. This is a masterful retelling of ideas that have existed in academia for decades, and one that is decades overdue.
For me, the three most powerful concepts in this book are encountered in its appendix (to be clear, this is not the only place in the book you will encounter them). The appendix is called "Fourier Transforms", and if you're not ready to circle this drain then you're not ready for wonderland. That is to say, Dr. Carroll pulls the plug for you and does the work to help you get there, but you at least have to want it and not fight the flow of jargon.
Fourier Transforms take equations from the 'time domain' into the 'frequency domain', or as Dr. Carroll himself says (powerful concept #1), "A Fourier Transform is just a change of basis, but in an infinite-dimensional vector space." Wait! Don't struggle against this riptide; ride this out. This leads directly into powerful concept #2, "That is the heart of the uncertainty principle; you can't be simultaneously localized in terms of two different bases that are rotated with respect to each other... the momentum wave function is not independent of the position wave function, but rather is the Fourier Transform of it." This is a point made by Carroll in "Something Deeply Hidden" although, there, without invoking Fourier Transforms. That is, position and momentum are just aspects of the same underlying reality; they are components of the same space.
Powerful concept #3 - the highlight of the entire book imho - is restated in the book's very last sentence, "Fourier Transforms explain where the quanta come from in quantum field theory." Or, from earlier in the book, "quantum fields are the bare stuff of reality... it's not just semantics - this is what particles really are, quantized excitations of fields." And what are fields? Well there is a whole chapter to answer just that question. But if you've ever had a good music theory class and seen a smooth saxophone note (complex wave) Fourier Transformed into a series of (quantized) frequencies, this will be immediately intuitive to you.
If you want to learn about quanta (and fields) - about what the world is really made of - do not settle for anything less than this book. You owe that much to yourself. Trying to get this information from other popular sources may seem easier, but any simpler retelling introduces errors and incorrect ideas. This is an amazing digestion of material by Dr. Carroll. Let him pull the plug, and follow the flow to wonderland. Anything less is just soaking your mind in dirty bathwater.
For me, the three most powerful concepts in this book are encountered in its appendix (to be clear, this is not the only place in the book you will encounter them). The appendix is called "Fourier Transforms", and if you're not ready to circle this drain then you're not ready for wonderland. That is to say, Dr. Carroll pulls the plug for you and does the work to help you get there, but you at least have to want it and not fight the flow of jargon.
Fourier Transforms take equations from the 'time domain' into the 'frequency domain', or as Dr. Carroll himself says (powerful concept #1), "A Fourier Transform is just a change of basis, but in an infinite-dimensional vector space." Wait! Don't struggle against this riptide; ride this out. This leads directly into powerful concept #2, "That is the heart of the uncertainty principle; you can't be simultaneously localized in terms of two different bases that are rotated with respect to each other... the momentum wave function is not independent of the position wave function, but rather is the Fourier Transform of it." This is a point made by Carroll in "Something Deeply Hidden" although, there, without invoking Fourier Transforms. That is, position and momentum are just aspects of the same underlying reality; they are components of the same space.
Powerful concept #3 - the highlight of the entire book imho - is restated in the book's very last sentence, "Fourier Transforms explain where the quanta come from in quantum field theory." Or, from earlier in the book, "quantum fields are the bare stuff of reality... it's not just semantics - this is what particles really are, quantized excitations of fields." And what are fields? Well there is a whole chapter to answer just that question. But if you've ever had a good music theory class and seen a smooth saxophone note (complex wave) Fourier Transformed into a series of (quantized) frequencies, this will be immediately intuitive to you.
If you want to learn about quanta (and fields) - about what the world is really made of - do not settle for anything less than this book. You owe that much to yourself. Trying to get this information from other popular sources may seem easier, but any simpler retelling introduces errors and incorrect ideas. This is an amazing digestion of material by Dr. Carroll. Let him pull the plug, and follow the flow to wonderland. Anything less is just soaking your mind in dirty bathwater.
May 30, 2024
The Biggest Ideas in the Universe by Sean Carroll is a colossal letdown for anyone seeking an accessible exploration of the profound concepts it promises to unveil. Marketed as a gateway to comprehending the deepest mysteries of the cosmos, the book is instead a dense, impenetrable thicket of esoteric jargon and mathematical formalism, utterly impervious to the uninitiated.
Right from the start, the book’s style is a jarring departure from the engaging, clear exposition one anticipates from the author (who is a personal favorite of this reviewer). The chapters resemble a collection of advanced physics lectures, filled with complex equations and their explanations. It's almost as if the book is addressing a seminar of doctoral candidates rather than the inquisitive lay reader.
Take, for example, the discussions of quantum field theories (QED and QCD). Instead of shedding light on the fundamental concepts through relatable analogies and thought experiments, the book primarily presents sets of differential equations and tensor calculus. While these formalisms may be essential for the practicing physicist, they are not the material a book like this should be presenting to its readers.
The audio format, in particular, is a disaster. Navigating dense equations in audio form is a frustrating experience, and the publisher should have never allowed it. Even without the audio, the book is a textbook only suitable for students or experts who can decipher complex math and dedicate significant time and effort to deciphering the material. Multiple readings, cross-referencing, and outside resources are required to grasp the intricacies. This reviewer is incapable of rating the book if it were course material.
Right from the start, the book’s style is a jarring departure from the engaging, clear exposition one anticipates from the author (who is a personal favorite of this reviewer). The chapters resemble a collection of advanced physics lectures, filled with complex equations and their explanations. It's almost as if the book is addressing a seminar of doctoral candidates rather than the inquisitive lay reader.
Take, for example, the discussions of quantum field theories (QED and QCD). Instead of shedding light on the fundamental concepts through relatable analogies and thought experiments, the book primarily presents sets of differential equations and tensor calculus. While these formalisms may be essential for the practicing physicist, they are not the material a book like this should be presenting to its readers.
The audio format, in particular, is a disaster. Navigating dense equations in audio form is a frustrating experience, and the publisher should have never allowed it. Even without the audio, the book is a textbook only suitable for students or experts who can decipher complex math and dedicate significant time and effort to deciphering the material. Multiple readings, cross-referencing, and outside resources are required to grasp the intricacies. This reviewer is incapable of rating the book if it were course material.
July 20, 2024
This is the second volume in Sean Carroll's "Biggest Ideas in the Universe" series. I reported on the first one, Space, Time, and Motion here.
My comments there apply, more or less, to this one: (1) There's a lot of math (and Carroll kind of assumes you've mastered the classical topics, like the Langrangian and Hamiltonian); (2) Like the first book, I got lost at many points, finding myself totally out of my depth. Although (good news) I was often pulled back into more accessible territory.
The basic idea is simple enough to express, even when you don't really understand it, can't visualize it, don't get the math. At bottom, just about everything is a "quantum field" of one sort or another. What we experience as particles, working their way up to atoms, molecules, etc., are excited states of those fields. This is easiest to describe with electromagnetic fields, which (when poked) produce photons.
I liked his description (it's near the end) of why we experience (some) matter as solid. When most of the "space" in an object is taken up by very unmassive electrons, why don't we (for example) just fall through the mattress when we hit the hay at night. Or fall through the floor when we walk to the bedroom. Or fall through the earth's surface and, … well, you get the idea.
The answer is a "force" that's not one of the Big Four Forces you heard about as an undergrad (gravity, electromagnetism, strong and weak nuclear). It's the "Pauli repulsion" force, brought about from the fact you can't have two electrons in the same quantum state. And Carroll explains that, if you'd like.
May 27, 2024
I had high hopes for this book, especially after hearing Sean's enthusiasm on his podcast and enjoying his Biggest Ideas YouTube series, which this book is based on. Unfortunately, it fell short of my expectations. It seems Sean may have rushed the publication, as even the cover contains a sloppy mistake: Carlo Rovelli's review, which is about General Relativity, is mistakenly featured on a book primarily about Quantum Field Theory.
The intended audience for this book is unclear. Some passages are incredibly basic, explaining concepts like imaginary numbers, while others are dense and filled with advanced physics jargon.
Additionally, the book is overly ambitious. Sean tries to condense what would typically be a 300-page book on Quantum Mechanics and a 500-page book on QFT into a single volume, without assuming any prerequisites. This results in a loss of depth, as topics are covered at a rapid pace with frequent tangential remarks that disrupt the narrative.
Furthermore, the attempt to minimize equations detracts from the book's effectiveness. In Quantum Field Theory, the concepts are often more challenging than the mathematics. Equations provide precision and can clarify the English explanations, making the material easier to understand.
That said, the book does have its merits. I particularly enjoyed the discussions on Entanglement, Gauge Fields, Symmetry, and Spin. I also think it's remarkable that a high school student could potentially use this book to get a decent introduction to QFT.
The intended audience for this book is unclear. Some passages are incredibly basic, explaining concepts like imaginary numbers, while others are dense and filled with advanced physics jargon.
Additionally, the book is overly ambitious. Sean tries to condense what would typically be a 300-page book on Quantum Mechanics and a 500-page book on QFT into a single volume, without assuming any prerequisites. This results in a loss of depth, as topics are covered at a rapid pace with frequent tangential remarks that disrupt the narrative.
Furthermore, the attempt to minimize equations detracts from the book's effectiveness. In Quantum Field Theory, the concepts are often more challenging than the mathematics. Equations provide precision and can clarify the English explanations, making the material easier to understand.
That said, the book does have its merits. I particularly enjoyed the discussions on Entanglement, Gauge Fields, Symmetry, and Spin. I also think it's remarkable that a high school student could potentially use this book to get a decent introduction to QFT.
June 8, 2024
For me, this book is a very nice balance of not going to deep into the weeds but giving something a little better than a peak behind the curtain for quantum field theory. It isn't a textbook, but it explains the ideas behind the equations and gives some physical models to help us think through the ideas (without committing ourselves to the model being a fully accurate representation). However, because I have taken many physics courses that form the background to understand all of these ideas, it is a very well-aimed book for me. For others with less familiarity with actual quantum mechanics, this seems like it could be a greater struggle. The Newtonian and general relativity for the previous book in the series seems like it would be more familiar to the casual reader because they were probably forced to take a physics course.
Still, Carroll does a good job of breaking things down into straightforward explanations that are understandable prose. I have only a few times where I would quibble with the wording, but I didn't see anything that stood out as being egregious.
I think if you've read the previous book entry, this is worth a try. If you have only done popular science (non-math) levels of quantum mechanics, this will probably be difficult, but I think it does pretty well without actually being a textbook.
Still, Carroll does a good job of breaking things down into straightforward explanations that are understandable prose. I have only a few times where I would quibble with the wording, but I didn't see anything that stood out as being egregious.
I think if you've read the previous book entry, this is worth a try. If you have only done popular science (non-math) levels of quantum mechanics, this will probably be difficult, but I think it does pretty well without actually being a textbook.
June 2, 2024
Extremely difficult book for anyone to read who is not well versed in mathematics and physics. In mathematics I admittedly am a dunce. In physics, I have some better than average popular knowledge of quantum theory. So why this book? Take note: I am hugely curious about what quantum theory can teach us about the basic fundamental reality of the world we live in. I wish to draw a philosophy of reality from this science. So.. I read a book by Matt Strassler Called "Waves in an Impossible Sea" How everyday life emerges from the Cosmic Ocean, as a follow up to all of the books by Carlo Rovelli that I read. Carlo's book were the inspiration. Matt Strassler's book was the grand explanation. (I recommend it highly). This book by Sean Carroll was the next and biggest step up. It was obviously more than I could handle and I knew it, but it was the 'proofing', the confirmation, of Strassler's book, and a chance to challenge myself and advance. The biggest takeaway from many is that particle physics is just an analogy for what is truly fundamental, which is energy, waves of various frequencies, wave functions, fields, interacting with each other. That is what translates in the macro world to brick walls and stars, seas and you and me.
July 2, 2024
This is a proper textbook, probably at a master's level. I've studied electromagnetic fields in both my undergraduate and graduate courses, as well as signals and systems in my undergraduate studies. This book feels like a continuation of those topics, or even more advanced.
I waited for the book to be finished. Did I learn anything new? No. Why did I pick this book? Because it looked interesting, and I was arrogant enough to think that no book was beyond my understanding. I enjoy even the nerdiest of the nerdy books. This book is the nerdiest book I have ever chosen to read.
Pick/Read this book is at your own risk. It's not the author's fault; it's just that I am too dumb to understand and enjoy its essence. Lesson learned: keep your feet on the ground and pick something within your skill level that you enjoy. Don't be arrogant.
I waited for the book to be finished. Did I learn anything new? No. Why did I pick this book? Because it looked interesting, and I was arrogant enough to think that no book was beyond my understanding. I enjoy even the nerdiest of the nerdy books. This book is the nerdiest book I have ever chosen to read.
Pick/Read this book is at your own risk. It's not the author's fault; it's just that I am too dumb to understand and enjoy its essence. Lesson learned: keep your feet on the ground and pick something within your skill level that you enjoy. Don't be arrogant.
June 8, 2024
I've read a few books on this subject. Some provided an easy introduction that gave the average non-physicist an idea of what quantum mechanics is all about. Others were heavy mathematical works impenetrable to anyone without graduate-level mathematics. This book probably isn't for anyone looking for either of those. I did think it was the best book I've found at an intermediate level, however. If you have some mathematical sophistication (not thrown by calculus) and have read one or more of the easy books, but want to understand more, this is for you. I've read the easy ones and struggled through a couple of the hard ones without real enlightenment, but after a careful reading of Quanta and Fields, I do think I have a much better understanding of the subject.
July 9, 2024
Sean Carroll writes another entry in popular science with this book on Quanta and Fields. Carroll covers a lot of topics that I am familiar with. It isn’t his fault, though. I enjoy learning about basic quantum theory and other physics concepts.
Carroll provides an accessible entry into quantum mechanics. What do I mean by that? He includes equations and explains what each variable does. That alone nets the book a positive review. Carroll has a friendly, conversational style in his writing.
The book reminds me of Leonard Susskind’s Theoretical Minimum series. I enjoyed the book. Thanks for reading my review, and see you next time.
Carroll provides an accessible entry into quantum mechanics. What do I mean by that? He includes equations and explains what each variable does. That alone nets the book a positive review. Carroll has a friendly, conversational style in his writing.
The book reminds me of Leonard Susskind’s Theoretical Minimum series. I enjoyed the book. Thanks for reading my review, and see you next time.
August 5, 2024
Dr. Carroll's many appearances on popular podcasts like the Lex Fridman Show made me interested in the topic of quantum physics. Not only well versed in his scientific discipline, Dr. Carroll is a phenomenal communicator and teacher of difficult-to-grasp theories. As this was my first book I've read on quantum physics, or even physics for that matter, I found myself in awe of what is the frontier of our current understanding of the universe. Dr. Carroll's use of history, illustration, and analogy make Quanta and Fields an amazing first encounter with a subatomic world of fields, forces, and elementary particles.
August 27, 2024
The audience will be a bit narrower this time out for Sean Carroll. He is a great communicator as always, but but the focus here is on the physical characteristics and interactions of quantum particles and fields almost exclusively through analysing the formulae and Feynman Diagrams. QFT is always a challenge to relate through analogy and thought exercises, and what effort has been done here is better suited to those already generally familiar with quantum field theory and want to get deeper into how we know and what we know, rather than what the broader implications and opportunities are.
March 20, 2024
I’m not sure who this book is for. A lay audience who likes math, I guess? All the equations bore me to tears. I just want to understand the concepts. So this book is the opposite of what I’m looking for, but maybe others will enjoy it. The writing is good and the subject matter is interesting. Still, the suggestion in the introduction that the math has been pared down to the minimum feels like a painful irony.
Thanks, NetGalley for the ARC.
Thanks, NetGalley for the ARC.
June 4, 2024
I received this book as part of a Goodreads giveaway.
I went into this book expecting an introductory book and by chapter 2 realized this book was not meant for me. I did end up reading the whole thing but it was tough to get through as the topics covered need a higher level understanding of physics than I possess. I do have a minor interest in physics and originally thought this would be an interesting book, but I do not have the mathematical knowledge needed to understand this book.
I went into this book expecting an introductory book and by chapter 2 realized this book was not meant for me. I did end up reading the whole thing but it was tough to get through as the topics covered need a higher level understanding of physics than I possess. I do have a minor interest in physics and originally thought this would be an interesting book, but I do not have the mathematical knowledge needed to understand this book.
August 12, 2024
Huge step up from the first book in the series. This one was a challenging but rewarding read. It's indeed astonishing how humans got the wave functions figured out despite the spontaneous symmetry breaking happening quite some time ago and everything we know today is based of practical experiments at massive energies.
August 29, 2024
7. The best primer on quantum physics I've read. Goes into way more detail than all of the pop physics books I've read or videos I've watched. I gained an appreciation for the math. There are times where I thought some more detail or examples would be helpful but I imagine he was just hitting the limitations of the approach of "understand the equations but don't solve them".
June 7, 2024
Half-way through & may not finish. I have a PhD in computer science, but this book requires one in physics, even quantum physics. The author claims the material is accessible to non-quantum theorists, but I disagree. So much is just pulled out if a hat with no explanation. I had hoped for more.
July 7, 2024
A great follow up staying true to keeping the math in a tangible way. These topics were barely covered in my physics classes and it was really nice to go through and explore the quantum world more in depth as it relates to modern day physics. Highly recommend!
July 15, 2024
Too big for me, but the writing is clear and presented well. Anyone with a slightly advanced knowledge of this level of physics will be entertained and reinforced, but definitely not for the idle shade-tree quantum mechanic.
Shelved as 'dropped'
May 22, 2024The intended audience for this form factor doesn’t really exist. MIT open courseware QM series is imo a better format for the same intended audience.
June 17, 2024
Not fractionally as engaging as its predecessor; a dense jungle of far too much math; one comes out of the first book wanting to know even more, while one comes out of this book simply exhausted
June 17, 2024
Got me to think more about different dimensions and fields/geometry.
June 21, 2024
Super fun, entertaining, makes you appreciate the math behind physics. Understanding up to 20 percent is already an achievement for someone not related to the field (pun intended).
June 24, 2024
This book was hard to follow but my son thought it was an interesting read.
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