The latest update on physicists' painful efforts to make sense of quantum mechanics.So far they've failed, but Smolin (Time Reborn: From the Crisis in Physics to the Future of the Universe, 2013, etc.), a founding faculty member of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, believes they're on the right track, and readers who pay close attention may understand what he is attempting to explain. Einstein's theory of relativity delivered an accurate explanation of space, time, and matter for most of the universe, but it breaks down at the level of atoms: the quantum world. Quantum mechanics works beautifully but only by postulating paradoxes and nonsensical behavior such as an electron being both a particle and a wave depending on the experiment. Einstein insisted that this didn't make sense, but most colleagues had no objection. Smolin reminds readers that this is an argument between realists and nonrealists. Realists ask, "does the natural world exist independently of our minds?" and "can we understand enough about the laws of nature to explain the history of our universe and predict its future?" Current quantum theory says no. Nobel Prize winner Louis de Broglie proposed a "realistic" explanation in his 1927 pilot wave theory. Unlike the already dominant anti-realist view of Bohr and Heisenberg, his electron remains a particle, and an electron-wave flows through space, directing the particle where to go. The concept of pilot waves did not catch on, but after 1950, some mainstream physicists began looking seriously into realistic theories through concepts such as hidden variables, the many-worlds view, and nonlocality. None of these men are household names, and their studies poke a few holes in traditional theory without simplifying matters. Since quantum mechanics continues to work well, most physicists pay little attention.This is a philosophical debate that has disturbed thoughtful scientists for a century. Its ideas are fundamental, but the details are complex. Smolin works hard and with mixed success to explain these to a lay readership. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

In this deep dive into quantum theory, Smolin (The Trouble with Physics), a Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics faculty member, explains what's missing from the field and what's needed to unify physics as a whole. Aiming to show that "conceptual problems and raging disagreements that have bedeviled quantum physics since its inception are unsolved and unsolvable, for the simple reason that the theory is wrong," Smolin discusses the "puzzles at the heart of quantum mechanics." He breaks down alternative interpretations, testing how well they express a realist theory of the universe, where reality does not depend on observers being present. From pilot wave theory and its eerie concept of how paths not taken in life "are traced by an empty wave function, ready to guide [one's] atoms, which, however, are elsewhere," the many worlds interpretation, and wave-function collapse, Smolin elucidates complex science without equations. Readers end with Smolin's own work on the "causal theory of views," which posits a universe consisting "of nothing but views of itself, each from an event in its history," where scientific laws act to make views as diverse as possible-a potential way forward. Occasionally, necessarily, textbook-dry, Smolin's work nonetheless demonstrates there isn't a thing in nature whose "contemplation cannot be a route to a wordless sense of wonder and gratitude just to be a part of it all." Agent: John Brockman, Edge. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

In a notebook found beside Einstein's deathbed, Smolin sees evidence that the great scientist struggled to the very end to move beyond the quantum physics he helped create but regarded as misleadingly incomplete. As he limns quantum theory, Smolin explains how its most influential architects have dismissed objective reality as unknowable while opening the door to empirically untestable fantasies, such as the Many Worlds interpretation of the cosmos. Hardly alone in seeking a science that transcends quantum mechanics by connecting with both reality and relativity, Einstein has had theoretical allies. Readers learn, for instance, about Louis de Broglie, whose pilot-wave theory offered a link to reality prematurely dismissed by the mandarins of quantum orthodoxy. Even more impressive as a challenger to quantum antirealism, Roger Penrose has defined spin networks generating a theory of loop quantum gravity and setting the stage for experimental tests on collapsing quantum waves. Still, Smolin candidly admits that so far all of the challengers to antirealist quantum thought have, like Einstein himself, come up short. Determined to press on, Smolin hazards an outline of the principles he and his realist colleagues must rely on as they look for a breakthrough. A tantalizing glimpse of the theoretical possibilities beyond Einstein's grasp.--Bryce Christensen Copyright 2010 Booklist

Founding member of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Smolin (Time Reborn) uses his incredible capacity to discuss complex scientific theory in easy-to-understand examples and language in this terrific entry. Smolin spends this latest work discussing Einstein's theory of Quantum physics, arguing that the reason it's so difficult to comprehend is that other scientists have not yet completed the theory. Smolin organizes the book appropriately by covering what exactly is Quantum physics, what the problems associated with this theory are, and how to attempt to solve them. He also incorporates unifying Quantum theory with common-sense realism as a way of completing the theory. While there are some equations throughout, they are explained fully and should be easy for a novice to understand. Readers will see familiar names such as Albert Einstein and Erwin Schrödinger as well as other luminaries incorporated into the history, including Hugh Everett's Many Worlds Interpretation and Nobel Prize winner Niels Bohr's contributions to Quantum theory. VERDICT Fans of popular physics books and authors will find this an accessible and informative read. [See Prepub Alert, 10/29/18.]-Jason L. Steagall, formerly with Gateway Technical Coll. Lib., Elkhorn, WI © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.