The Quantum Revolution

Quantum mechanics is one of the great success stories of modern physics making sense of the very small just as Einstein''s theory of relativity made sense of the very large. But for most students the ideas that make quantum mechanics powerful can be confusing and counterintuitive. This volume in the Greenwood Guides to Great Ideas in Science series provides a history of quantum mechanics from the early breakthroughs of Planck and Einstein at the beginning of the 20th century to the present frontiers of quantum computing and quantum gravity. The approach is entirely non-technical and is aimed at the general reader who may not have much mathematical background but who has a strong curiosity about some of the most important developments in modern science.Quantum Mechanics: A Historical Perspective traces the history of this powerful theory including: ; The early discoveries by Max Planck and Albert Einstein regarding the quantization of radiation ; The early quantum theory including Neils Bohr''s theory of the atom ; The birth of modern quantum mechanics through the work of Heisenberg Schrodinger Born Dirac and others ; Applications of quantum mechanics in chemistry nuclear physics electronics and many other areas ; Recent work in quantum computation and quantum information theoryThe book emphasizes the fact that despite the great success of quantum mechanics many exciting intellectual frontiers remain open for further researchers to explore. It includes a glossary a timeline and a bibliography of accessible resources for further research.