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Overview
Entanglement is a Quantum Process Connecting Two Particles, in which changes to one of the particles are reflected-instantly-in the other, even if they're light-years apart. This holds many possibilities for our future: codes that simply cannot be broken unless the laws of physics are overturned, computers that dwarf today's machines in speed and power, teleportation, and more. If entanglement could be harnessed for communication, even the time barrier could be broken. Whether you're a popular science fan, or just someone interested in the wondrous possibilities coming down the quantum road, The God Effect will give you much to marvel at.
Synopsis
"A marvelously clear and engaging account of the people and ideas involved in trying to understand the deepest mysteries of the quantum world and convert them into a useful technology."
—-Gregory Chaitin, author of Meta Math! The Quest for Omega
"If you thought science was a predictable commonsense business—-maybe even a little dull—-you haven't encountered quantum entanglement. A physical phenomenon so strange and all pervasive that this book calls it the 'God Effect,' entanglement leaves common sense shattered."
—-from The God Effect
If you've ever wondered whether mankind might someday communicate across the vast distances between the stars, develop codes that cannot be broken, devise computers that would make finding a needle in a haystack trivial, or even learn to create teleportation, then the amazing science portrayed in Brian Clegg's The God Effect will astound and fascinate with its portrayal of a universe—-our own—-so strange that imagination can scarcely suffice to grasp it.
Publishers Weekly
Science writer Clegg (A Brief History of Infinity), discussing the field of quantum mechanics, asserts that "[e]very experiment takes us a step closer to realizing just how strange the world is at the quantum level." Quantum entanglement is the oddest of them all. As Clegg explains it, entanglement occurs when two particles (photons, atoms, electrons, etc.) become so intensely linked together that for all intents and purposes they become part of one unit. The mystifying thing is that this link continues even if the two particles are in different parts of the universe: "Make a change to one particle, and that change is instantly reflected in the other(s)-however far apart they may be." Clegg does an excellent job of explaining this complex situation in nontechnical terms; he details the many experiments that have consistently suggested that entanglement is real. The implications for future technological advances are huge, and Clegg is at his finest as he embeds potential advances in a broad historical context. Data could be encrypted in unbreakable codes; computers could become thousands of times more powerful than today; objects, and maybe even living organisms, could be instantaneously transported. While highly speculative, these possibilities could change our notion of reality. 27 b&w illus. (July 6) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly
Science writer Clegg (A Brief History of Infinity), discussing the field of quantum mechanics, asserts that "[e]very experiment takes us a step closer to realizing just how strange the world is at the quantum level." Quantum entanglement is the oddest of them all. As Clegg explains it, entanglement occurs when two particles (photons, atoms, electrons, etc.) become so intensely linked together that for all intents and purposes they become part of one unit. The mystifying thing is that this link continues even if the two particles are in different parts of the universe: "Make a change to one particle, and that change is instantly reflected in the other(s)-however far apart they may be." Clegg does an excellent job of explaining this complex situation in nontechnical terms; he details the many experiments that have consistently suggested that entanglement is real. The implications for future technological advances are huge, and Clegg is at his finest as he embeds potential advances in a broad historical context. Data could be encrypted in unbreakable codes; computers could become thousands of times more powerful than today; objects, and maybe even living organisms, could be instantaneously transported. While highly speculative, these possibilities could change our notion of reality. 27 b&w illus. (July 6) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.School Library Journal
Adult/High School-While written in laypersons' terms, this book requires some understanding of physics. The opening chapters set up the discovery of quantum entanglement, which occurred during the professional debate between Max Bohr and Albert Einstein as they discussed the nature of quantum physics. Clegg then provides historical understanding and the potential applications of entanglement to advance current technologies. Those chapters read like a science-fiction novel-an unbreakable secure communications system, teleportation, and supercomputers that think all become possibilities. The author's writing is well organized and succinct. Later chapters can be read independently. While the foundation for quantum entanglement may be difficult for some students to grasp, its potential will fascinate them.-Brigeen Radoicich, Fresno County Office of Education, CA Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information."A masterful account of the phenomenon Einstein thought so crazy it could not possibly be true. (Only it is!)"
—-Dr. Marcus Chown, author of The Universe Next Door