Fundamental
How Quantum and Particle Physics Explain Absolutely Everything (Except Gravity)
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Fundamental
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Narrated by:
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Tim James
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By:
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Tim James
About this listen
Fundamental does for physics what Tim's first book, Elemental, does for chemistry: it demystifies the topic in his trademark humorous, engaging style, including the most recent developments in the field.
At the start of the 20th century, science appeared complete and the laws of nature were almost all discovered, but then we woke a sleeping giant - we discovered quantum mechanics.
In the quantum realm, objects can be in two places at once. It's a place where time travel is not only possible, but necessary. It's a place where cause and effect can happen in reverse and observing something changes its state. From parallel universes to antimatter, quantum mechanics has revealed that when you get right down to it, the laws of nature are insane. The scientist J. B. S. Haldane once said, 'Reality is not only stranger than we imagine...it's stranger than we can imagine.' Never is this more true than with quantum mechanics; our best, most recent attempt to make sense of the fundamental laws of nature.
Fundamental is a comprehensive beginner's guide to quantum mechanics, explaining not only the weirdness of the subject but the experiments that proved it to be true. Using a humorous and light-hearted approach, Fundamental tells the story of how the most brilliant minds in science grappled with seemingly impossible ideas and gave us everything from microchips to particle accelerators.
Fundamental gives clear explanations of all the quantum phenomena known to modern science, without requiring an understanding of complex mathematics; tells the eccentric stories of the scientists who made these shattering discoveries and what they used them for; and explains how quantum field theory (a topic not covered in detail by any other popular-science book) gave rise to particle physics and why the Higgs boson isn't the end of the story.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,218
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 1,081
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What listeners say about Fundamental
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Roger Terrill
- 08-01-22
Super well done and filled with insight
Really enjoyed it. Wish Mr James had time to more fully illustrate his points. Refreshing perspective!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Tatras
- 12-29-22
Funny (including the voice), understandable
Funny and understandably written with just the right amount of personal sauce. One of the few books where the narration from the author is really good and I think wouldn't be better with professional actor. People like this should teach in school, because the entertaining narative kind of teaches itself
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- S. HEGEDUS
- 05-19-22
Mind Blown
I am new to the topic of quantum theory, and Tim James translated this heavy subject into an entertaining journey that left me sitting in my car several times not wanting to pause. Humor was great also, with lots of physics puns and dad jokes. Great book and performance.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Michael
- 01-10-23
Enjoyed
Good information and presented in a light hearted way. I really enjoyed listening to it
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Todd Ebert
- 12-26-19
Funny and witty
Great analogies and humor throughout makes this book a must listen and valuable addition to the quantum physics literature.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Trevor lipsey
- 06-10-21
this writer is brilliant
if i didn't know something, this writer made me crave researching it. i hope mr james continues to write these books, elemental and fundamental were both hilarious and intriguing!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Sam
- 05-20-22
A Summertime Storybook for a Sophomore
Tim's masterful communication skills have revealed again !
In such courses, Professors start with Mathematics on the very first day, with no feelings of science.
Thank you Tim, this title must be an insult to those professors, and a summertime storybook for a sophomore.
From quantum Physics, nuclear and particle Physics to Astrophysics, and the exotic abstruse concepts made so easier.
So good to see such titles,
We need more writers like you in other fields of sciences.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Larry
- 11-10-20
Brilliant!
I have listened to and enjoyed many books that attempt to tackle the complexity of this topic and it not a easy task by any means.
It is easy to underappreciated the complexity of trying to translates the language of quantum mechanics to someone who is new to the idea.
So often these types of books tend to over simplify, miss the point, go off on a nonsensical tangent that tends to become background noise after the third syllable, get it wrong entirely (probably), be bias, or worst of all, have a terrible nariator with a voice that unfortunately never graduated High school or is so mono tone, you listen to it to help you fall asleep at night.
And on that Note,
The performance was amazing!
Few books are as engaging and passionate as Tim James when he is speaking about what he loves and he managed to talk about a topic that doesn't make any sense whatsoever and proceed to convey the problem with such clarity that you can finally understand and appreciate the full scale of the mind F that it is.
Thank you Tim James! If you are reading this, I really Truly appreciated your book and look forward to listening to your work in the future. 15/10 Will definitely recommend to everyone in many divergent universes, including this one.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Taurapa
- 05-03-20
Great Book
Tim James manages to explain the incredibly complex theories of quantum physics with wit, charm and intellect, while managing to keep it understandable to non-phyisicists. I found this book engaging and fulfilling. Very enjoyable and best of all, I learned lots.
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- Jake S.
- 11-03-19
Quantum physics for anyone!
This was a joy to listen too. I will listen to it again. if you want to get an idea of what the physics discoveries you hear about on your google news feed are talking about, this is a good place to start.
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