Thirty Years that Shook Physics: The Story of Quantum Theory

George Gamow has written a very lucid account of the beginnings oh quantum theory. There is some math but nothing that a bright highs schooler cannot understand. The author, being a noted physicist himself, shares many humorous anecdotes about prominent physicists, some from personal experience. The book may seem a little dated now but it gives a very good account of how quantum theory was born and prospered. A must read for amateur physicists.

Thirty years that shook physics by G. Gamow gives a very good account of the happenings in physics circle from 1900 to 1930. These thirty years are considered very important in the history of Quantum physics. The author, himself a great scientist, gives in detail the part played by other great scientists Max Planck, N. Bohr, W. Pauli , De Broglie, W.Heisenberg, Dirac, Fermi and Yukawa in the development of quantum physics. If you want to learn about quantum physics, this book will help you learn the basics about it, and at times it is is funny too when it describes some of the incidents related to these scientists. I had a good laugh when reading about Pauli's very funny third principle of things breaking down in laboratories in the presence of theoretical physicists. When a scientist's experiment went wrong, he wrote a letter to Pauli. Pauli wrote back that he was in the train at that time and the train had a brief halt at the station in the city where the experiment was being conducted, suggesting the failure of experiment due to his presence in the city station at that time. Really good humor !

George Gamow was one of the scientists in the great era of quantum theory. He is able to bring readers in the road to discovering the quantum theory. The book also provides the views from different great scientists and what they were debating in the road to nurture the theory. It is worth for anyone, who is interested in Physics, to read.

Gamow was not only a brilliant physicist, he also had a rare ability write in a very understandable and emminently entertaining fashion. His great prowess in his field as well as his personal involvement with many of the people featured in this book makes this quite a unique reading experience.

This book boils down quantum mechanics to what changed with respect to classical physics. Gamow states these changes in very simple terms. His description of the problems that lead to quantum mechanics is simple and straightforward. The leading people responsible for the many discoveries that lead to quantum mechanics appear as real people. Niels Bohr in Kopenhagen comes through as the key person that makes many fruitful collaberations possible. I recommend this to any young student of physics going into college, or for that matter to anybody that would like an excellent layman's understanding of quantum physics.

The book offers brief (except the Bohr chapter) introductions to quantum theory principles. It goes from Planck to Dirac with some notes on particle physics. These last chapters are a bit dated though, missing the more recent QED, QCD, electroweak theory, and standard model. Plus misses more recent quantum mechanics like entanglement and the EPR argument which lead to it, plus there is no discussion of alternative interpretations. In Search of Schrödinger's Cat, or Quantum Realities is a better start I think.

Very fun to read, not boring. Has some amazing points and theories. 10/10 recommend.

Well written but not enough math development

Es un libro interesante. Los libros de George Gamow son siempre buenos.

I just received this book. I have begun reading this book and I am enjoying it. Glad I bought this book.

Ai miei tempi (anni 50) la teoria non veniva insegnata a scuola. Sto quindi cercando di comprendere i contenuti della teoria che sta cambiando il mondo della fisica (e poi della tecnologia) . Questo libro è una tappa nella acquisizione delle nozioni iniziali.

Interesting book

Ce petit livre facile à lire n'est pas pour autant un livre simplet. Il est écrit par un des acteurs de la révolution quantique doublé d'un grand vulgarisateur (cf la série des Mr. Tompkins), c'est ce qui lui confère un intérêt tout particulier: Gamow a connu personnellement beaucoup des physiciens célèbres qu'il présente ici: Bohr, Fermi, Pauli, de Broglie, Dirac (bien que la visage d'Einstein apparaisse sur la couverture il n'en est que peu question dans cet ouvrage, on peut imaginer que l'éditeur a pensé que la tête chenue de l'illustre physicien augmenterait les ventes). Le livre n'est-il pas d'ailleurs dédié "aux amis de ma jeunesse » ? Ce livre intéressera particulièrement les étudiants en physique qui s'initient à la mécanique quantique en leur fournissant des analogies pertinentes et un éclairage nouveau et souvent inattendu sur nombre de problèmes souvent présentés de façon abstraite dans les cours. On pense par exemple à "la catastrophe ultraviolette"; l'effet tunnel pour expliquer la radioactivité alpha (contribution originale de Gamow); les relations d'incertitude de Heisenberg, et en particulier (p°115) celle portant sur le temps et l'énergie, toujours délicate et bien illustrée par la « boîte d'Einstein » dessinée avec un certain talent par Gamow lui-même, etc. Le style enfin est séduisant et n'est pas sans rappeler celui de Feynman : décontracté, provocant, mais toujours précis cependant. La parodie de Faust jouée à Copenhague à l'Institut de physique avec Ehrenfest dans le rôle de Faust et Pauli dans celui de Méphistophélès est donnée en version intégrale (traduite en anglais car initialement en allemand) à la fin du livre et nous plonge vraiment dans l'atmosphère joyeuse de ces années de découvertes incessantes. Les anecdotes sur Bohr et son fer à cheval, Pauli et son effet, Fermi et sa petite Fiat sont de première main et réjouiront tous les lecteurs pour qui la physique bien loin d'être une matière austère et ennuyeuse est une fête !