One of the most compelling science journalists, George Musser, has written an important and highly enjoyable new book on particle physics, its many mysteries, and particularly the weirdly possible worlds of quantum entanglement, what Einstein called “Spooky action at a distance.”
Does quantum mechanics allow two particles separated by huge distances in space “know” what the other particles are doing, and in fact interact with them?
Musser’s new book is Spooky Action at a Distance: The Phenomenon That Reimagines Space and Time — and What It Means for Black Holes, the Big Bang, and Theories of Everything (286 pp., hardcover, Scientific American/Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 2015; $27, ISBN 978–0–374–29851–7).
This book is a highly enjoyable tour-de-force on quantum entanglement, how we perceive the universe, the history of arguments over quantum mechanics, the effects of current particle theory on black holes and other phenomena, and the search for a theory that would tie it all together.
Amid the superb writing here is a lot of information that will bring you up to date on everything you should know about this compelling mystery. For any of Astronomy’s readers who adore cosmology — and we know you are there by the thousands! — this book will be one of the reading highlights of your year.