Through Two Doors at Once
The Elegant Experiment That Captures the Enigma of Our Quantum Reality
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Narrated by:
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René Ruiz
About this listen
One of Smithsonian's favorite books of 2018.
One of Forbes' 2018 best books about astronomy, physics, and mathematics.
One of Kirkus' best books of 2018.
The intellectual adventure story of the "double-slit" experiment, showing how a sunbeam split into two paths first challenged our understanding of light and then the nature of reality itself - and continues to almost 200 years later.
Many of science's greatest minds have grappled with the simple yet elusive "double-slit" experiment. Thomas Young devised it in the early 1800s to show that light behaves like a wave, and in doing so opposed Isaac Newton. Nearly a century later, Albert Einstein showed that light comes in quanta, or particles, and the experiment became key to a fierce debate between Einstein and Niels Bohr over the nature of reality. Richard Feynman held that the double slit embodies the central mystery of the quantum world. Decade after decade, hypothesis after hypothesis, scientists have returned to this ingenious experiment to help them answer deeper and deeper questions about the fabric of the universe.
How can a single particle behave both like a particle and a wave? Does a particle exist before we look at it, or does the very act of looking create reality? Are there hidden aspects to reality missing from the orthodox view of quantum physics? Is there a place where the quantum world ends and the familiar classical world of our daily lives begins, and if so, can we find it? And if there's no such place, then does the universe split into two each time a particle goes through the double slit?
With his extraordinarily gifted eloquence, Anil Ananthaswamy travels around the world and through history, down to the smallest scales of physical reality we have yet fathomed. Through Two Doors at Once is the most fantastic voyage you can take.
©2018 Anil Ananthaswamy (P)2018 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
“Through Two Doors at Once is a challenging and rewarding survey of how scientists…are grappling with nature’s deepest, strangest secrets.” (Wall Street Journal)
“A fascinating tour through the cutting-edge physics the experiment keeps on spawning.” (Scientific American)
"Through Two Doors at Once offers beginners the tools they need to seriously engage with the philosophical questions that likely drew them to quantum mechanics." (Science)
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- The Unfinished Quest for the Meaning of Quantum Physics
- By: Adam Becker
- Narrated by: Greg Tremblay
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Every physicist agrees quantum mechanics is among humanity's finest scientific achievements. But ask what it means, and the result will be a brawl. For a century, most physicists have followed Niels Bohr's Copenhagen interpretation and dismissed questions about the reality underlying quantum physics as meaningless. A mishmash of solipsism and poor reasoning, Copenhagen endured, as Bohr's students vigorously protected his legacy, and the physics community favored practical experiments over philosophical arguments.
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Good, "light" "read"... potential caveat below...
- By James S. on 03-31-18
By: Adam Becker
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Knocking on Heaven's Door
- How Physics and Scientific Thinking Illuminate the Universe and the Modern World
- By: Lisa Randall
- Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie
- Length: 14 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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The latest developments in physics have the potential to radically revise our understanding of the world: its makeup, its evolution, and the fundamental forces that drive its operation. Knocking on Heaven's Door is an exhilarating and accessible overview of these developments and an impassioned argument for the significance of science. There could be no better guide than Lisa Randall.
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Too Political
- By Allan on 12-14-11
By: Lisa Randall
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The Unknown Universe
- A New Exploration of Time, Space and Cosmology
- By: Stuart Clark
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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On March 21, 2013, the European Space Agency released a map of the afterglow of the big bang. Taking in 440 sextillion kilometers of space and 13.8 billion years of time, it is physically impossible to make a better map: We will never see the early universe in more detail. On the one hand, such a view is the apotheosis of modern cosmology; on the other, it threatens to undermine almost everything we hold cosmologically sacrosanct.
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Everything, Absolutely Everything!
- By Gillian on 03-09-17
By: Stuart Clark
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Warped Passages
- Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions
- By: Lisa Randall
- Narrated by: Donna Postel
- Length: 17 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Warped Passages is an altogether exhilarating journey that tracks the arc of discovery from early 20th-century physics to the razor's edge of modern scientific theory. One of the world's leading theoretical physicists, Lisa Randall provides astonishing scientific possibilities that, until recently, were restricted to the realm of science fiction. Unraveling the twisted threads of the most current debates on relativity, quantum mechanics, and gravity, she explores some of the most fundamental questions posed by Nature.
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Physics textbook without the math
- By Victor on 05-13-18
By: Lisa Randall
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The Infinity Puzzle
- Quantum Field Theory and the Hunt for an Orderly Universe
- By: Frank Close
- Narrated by: Jonathan Cowley
- Length: 12 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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The second half of the 20th century witnessed a scientific gold rush as physicists raced to chart the inner workings of the atom. The stakes were high, the questions were big, and there were Nobel Prizes and everlasting glory to be won. Many mysteries of the atom came unraveled, but one remained intractable-what Frank Close calls the "Infinity Puzzle."
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Succinct exposition
- By Gary on 06-26-12
By: Frank Close
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Beyond Biocentrism
- Rethinking Time, Space, Consciousness, and the Illusion of Death
- By: Robert Lanza, Bob Berman
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 7 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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In Beyond Biocentrism, acclaimed biologist Robert Lanza and astronomer Bob Berman take the listener on an intellectual thrill ride as they reexamine everything we thought we knew about life, death, the universe, and the nature of reality itself. The first step is acknowledging that our existing model of reality is looking increasingly creaky in the face of recent scientific discoveries.
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Here's the thing
- By Mikal on 11-09-18
By: Robert Lanza, and others
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The Trouble with Physics
- The Rise of String Theory, The Fall of a Science, and What Comes Next
- By: Lee Smolin
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 14 hrs and 49 mins
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In this illuminating book, the renowned theoretical physicist Lee Smolin argues that fundamental physics - the search for the laws of nature - is losing its way. Ambitious ideas about extra dimensions, exotic particles, multiple universes, and strings have captured the publics imagination -- and the imagination of experts.
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Strings snipped
- By J B Tipton on 06-06-10
By: Lee Smolin
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Einstein and the Quantum
- The Quest of the Valiant Swabian
- By: A. Douglas Stone
- Narrated by: Gabriel Vaughan
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
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Einstein and the Quantum reveals for the first time the full significance of Albert Einstein's contributions to quantum theory. Einstein famously rejected quantum mechanics, observing that God does not play dice. But, in fact, he thought more about the nature of atoms, molecules, and the emission and absorption of light - the core of what we now know as quantum theory - than he did about relativity.
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educational and fun
- By Amjad on 12-04-13
By: A. Douglas Stone
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The World According to Physics
- By: Jim Al-Khalili
- Narrated by: Jim Al-Khalili
- Length: 6 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Shining a light on the most profound insights revealed by modern physics, Jim Al-Khalili invites us all to understand what this crucially important science tells us about the universe and the nature of reality itself. Al-Khalili begins by introducing the fundamental concepts of space, time, energy, and matter, and then describes the three pillars of modern physics - quantum theory, relativity, and thermodynamics - showing how all three must come together if we are ever to have a full understanding of reality.
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excellent book
- By Anonymous User on 05-10-21
By: Jim Al-Khalili
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The Universe in the Rearview Mirror
- How Hidden Symmetries Shape Reality
- By: Dave Goldberg
- Narrated by: Chris Sorensen
- Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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A physicist speeds across space, time, and everything in between showing that our elegant universe from the Higgs boson to antimatter to the most massive group of galaxies is shaped by hidden symmetries that have driven all our recent discoveries about the universe and all the ones to come. Why is the sky dark at night? Is it possible to build a shrink-ray gun? If there is antimatter, can there be antipeople? Why are past, present, and future our only options? Are time and space like a butterfly's wings? No one but Dave Goldberg, the coolest nerd physicist on the planet, could give a hyper-drive tour of the universe like this one.
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Good, but for whom?
- By Michael on 08-31-13
By: Dave Goldberg
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Dance of the Photons
- From Einstein to Quantum Teleportation
- By: Anton Zeilinger
- Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
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Einstein's steadfast refusal to accept certain aspects of quantum theory was rooted in his insistence that physics has to be about reality. Accordingly, he once derided as spooky action at a distance the notion that two elementary particles far removed from each other could nonetheless influence each others propertiesa hypothetical phenomenon his fellow theorist Erwin Schrdinger termed quantum entanglement.
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Brilliant author tries hard, but comes up short...
- By Michael on 07-27-12
By: Anton Zeilinger
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The Physics of Star Trek
- By: Lawrence M. Krauss
- Narrated by: Larry McKeever
- Length: 6 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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What actually happens when the words, "beam me up, Scottie" are uttered? What "warps" when something travels at warp speed? Internationally renowned theoretical physicist and educator Lawrence M. Krauss provides matter-of-fact scientific explanations of the physics of Star Trek in this highly creative and informative guide for both the devoted Trekkie and the physics novice.
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Interesting Book. Quite Technical
- By Christopher B. on 12-07-04
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Is this for kindergarteners?
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Thought provoking and rich with insight
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Accompanying PDF is Included
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The year is 1919. The horror of the First World War is fresh for the protagonists of Time of the Magicians, each of whom finds himself at a crucial juncture. Benjamin is trying to flee his overbearing father and floundering in his academic career, living hand to mouth as a critic. Wittgenstein, by contrast, has dramatically decided to divest himself of the monumental fortune he stands to inherit, in search of spiritual clarity.
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The knowledge of death is so terrifying that we live most of our lives in denial of it. One of the most difficult moments of childhood must be when each of us first realizes that not only we but all our loved ones will die—and there is nothing we can do about it. Or at least, there hasn’t been. Today, we are living through a revolution in biology. Giant strides are being made in understanding why we age—and why some species live longer than others. Could we eventually cheat disease and death and live for a very long time, possibly many times our current lifespan?
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Brilliant. The book was fantastic and level headed. I appreciated also the way he criticized Sinclair.
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Quantum Supremacy
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The runaway success of the microchip may finally be reaching its end. As shrinking transistors approach the size of atoms, the phenomenal growth of computational power inevitably collapses. But this change heralds the birth of a revolutionary new type of computer, one that calculates on atoms themselves. Quantum computers promise unprecedented gains in computing power, enabling advancements that could overturn every aspect of our daily lives.
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Title should have been “Quantum Global Warming”
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The Singularity Is Nearer
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Since it was first published in 2005, Ray Kurzweil's The Singularity Is Near and its vision of the future have been influential in spawning a worldwide movement with millions of followers, hundreds of books, major films, and thousands of articles. During the succeeding decade, many of Kurzweil's predictions about technological advancements have been borne out, and their viability has become familiar to the public through such now commonplace concepts. In this entirely new book Ray Kurzweil brings a fresh perspective to advances in the singularity.
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victory lap
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What listeners say about Through Two Doors at Once
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- chetyarbrough.blog
- 08-18-23
LIFE'S MEANING
Anil Ananthaswarmy makes a valiant effort to explain the "...Enigma of Quantum Reality" with "Through Two Doors at Once". What is amazing about Anathaswary's history is how inventive scientists have been in proving quantum mechanics is real. That amazing accomplishment leads to proof that physics reactions are not only local but exhibit spooky action at a distance (entanglement). At a microscopic level, quantum mechanics implies reality is a matter of chance, not cause and effect. Quantum mechanics denies predictability unless, as Einstein insisted throughout his life, we live in a world that has a natural law that explains all life's consequences are based on defined actions.
With as much of the universe's energy and matter not observable, it seems Einstein had a point in suggesting quantum mechanics would be drawn back into a "cause and effect" world. As recent as this week, the activity of muons in dark energy suggests there is more to the story of the predictability of life.
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- KJ
- 04-24-21
Worth more than one listen!
This is THE most comprehensive and engaging dive you'll ever find dedicated this #1 most central mystery in all of physics. Expertly researched and all of it done impressively without a single eqation!! Thru a partially historical lense, it explains wave/particle duality from its early hints before the first double slit experiments...to delayed choice quantum eraser and beyond. Featuring in person interviews with some of today's foremost physicists, it covers all the most popular interpretations and theories without choosing sides. No career legacy or agenda to push on you here...just the facts. To me the most valuable insights came directly from the words and musings of all the great scientific minds both past and present. Because who better to help shape your understanding on the matter?
At the end I'm left even more convinced that this is the "holiest" holy grail in all of science(even more so than any t.o.e)...the bedrock principle of the universe, and the ultimate nut to crack.
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- Kyler Orin Scates
- 07-25-24
Great history
This was a good overview of the history of quantum theory and helped explain the gist of the experiments and theories and their evolution over time
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- Dan
- 01-17-19
Compelling and beautiful
One of the most beautiful books ever written! I see this as an investigation into the fine work of Jesus’ creative power!
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- Tim Woensdregt
- 10-31-22
Approachable, excellent overview!
Fantastic book. I've been through it 3 times, will definitely listen to it again.
It's a strong historical overview and lays out the various theories and interpretations without speaking to correctness of any given viable theories.
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- James S.
- 08-26-18
Great explanations, far exceeded my expectations..
Though it touches on only a small subset of physical phenomena, this book has surprising depth and breadth, and can be used both as an experimental lab manual for each of the experiments explained, as well as a book on the philosophy of physics.
The author refers to the same basic experimental setup for each new story (interference of wave-particle paths), and makes it into somewhat of a joke for repeating the same thing for each new story; but really this book has much more breadth than its title suggests. He gives great explanations for just about all types of interference relevant to quantum mechanics, and weaves into each story a lot of great background info on the philosophy of the physics and the physicists involved.
I was literally in tears by the end of this audible (not literally), that's how good it was!
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8 people found this helpful
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- T-Bone
- 10-24-18
Wonderful performance
Complicated subject matter gently unfolded. You might not remember everything, but you’ll have a terrific time listening.
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- Venusian Incognito
- 02-27-23
History of quantum physics with a thought provoking ending
There a few other books like this one; books that take you through a brief tour of physics from Newtonian to quantum and the in between. That said, if you hang in there to the end, the author does a good job of tying everything together and catching us up to where QP is presently,
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- GLYNN A
- 08-14-18
Excellent exposition of the conundrum
It helps if you've had some (OK a lot) of quantum mechanics background. You might start with Jim Al-Khalili's guide. This book gives credence to the possibility that Copenhagen is mainstream more by force of personality than objective assessment. No final judgment is made but the idea that determinism can be retained is not outright dismissed in principle - which is welcoming. We're back to "If I don't look is something still there" is answered satisfactorily - "Yes it is" whilst still embracing quantum weirdness most specifically non-locality. It's worth the debate. Reviews of weak measurements were interesting.
I'm in admiration of Anil's writing. He does not have to be the originator of all the ideas discussed to be applauded - his communication of state of play is brilliantly clear. I'm not buying the smart idea that "the interpretation doesn't matter". Saying that measurement brings reality in to being has uncomfortably little to say about what is there when you're not looking.
This is an entertaining and informative book.
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- Spencer Hargiss
- 03-23-19
Excellent overview of interpreting QM
This was my favorite book on interpretations of QM I have read. I really enjoyed it. I really appreciated that unlike some books on the topic which are overwhelmingly theoretical, this book grounds its math and philosophy in real, tangible experiments. It returns to experiments again and again, reminding us why physicists have been forced by the results of these experiments to question some of our most basic ideas about the world... realism, locality, even the idea that the world has a single past, present and future.
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3 people found this helpful