Table of Contents

Preface.

A Mysterious Force of Harmony.

Before the Beginning.

Thomas Young's Experiment.

Planck's Constant.

The Copenhagen School.

De Broglie's Pilot Waves.

Schrödinger and His Equation.

Heisenberg's Microscope.

Wheeler's Cat.

The Hungarian Mathematician.

Enter Einstein.

Bohm and Aharanov.

John Bell's Theorem.

The Dream of Clauser, Horne, and Shimony.

Alain Aspect.

Laser Guns.

Triple Entanglement.

The Ten-Kilometer Experiment.

Teleportation: "Beam Me Up, Scotty".

Quantum Magic: What Does It All Mean?

Acknowledgments.

References.

Index.

About the Author

Amir D. Aczel, PhD, is the author of a number of successful books, including: The Mystery of the Aleph, Fermat's Last Theorem and God's Equation: Einstein, Relativity and the Expanding Universe.

He is Professor of Statistics at Bentley College and lives in Boston. His work has been translated into Turkish, Hebrew, French, German, Italian, Chinese and Spanish.

Reviews

"…I am altogether happy that there is now a book on entanglement, almost 70 years after its discovery, and recommend it to people interested in the historical background and practical implications of quantum mechanics…" (Nature, 21 November 2002) "…a book that’s perhaps the best lay description of the evolution and current state of quantum physics available today…" (Focus, February 2003) "…Amir D. Aczel's short biographies of these quantum pioneers are lively and entertaining..." (The Times Literary Supplement, 11 September 2003)

"Entanglement" is one of the more remarkable aspects of quantum mechanics, a field that has produced a number of counterintuitive phenomena. Entangled particles are created in the same process and retain a connection even if they become far separated physically. If a change is later imposed on one of these particles, then there instantaneously occurs a change with its entangled partner, even if that partner is very far away in another part of the universe. Thus, the news of the change is transmitted with infinite velocity by an unknown means. Einstein aptly referred to this phenomenon as "spooky." In recent decades, researchers have shown entanglement to be a physical fact, thereby vindicating quantum mechanics, spooky though it may be. Aczel (Fermat's Last Theorem) tells most of this story at a pace that is slow enough and understandable for lay readers, but the last few chapters are more technical. Some sections read awkwardly and would have benefited from better editing, but on the whole this is recommended for college and large public libraries.-Jack W. Weigel, Ann Arbor, MI Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

"...I am altogether happy that there is now a book on entanglement, almost 70 years after its discovery, and recommend it to people interested in the historical background and practical implications of quantum mechanics..." (Nature, 21 November 2002)

"...a book that's perhaps the best lay description of the evolution and current state of quantum physics available today..." (Focus, February 2003)

"...Amir D. Aczel's short biographies of these quantum pioneers are lively and entertaining..." (The Times Literary Supplement, 11 September 2003)