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Joined: Oct 2007
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Little'un has somehow become interested in Quantum Mechanics (!). I think somebody at school was talking about Schrodinger's Cat in the box or somesuch.
As usual dad is asked to explain - so he has no chance!
Does anybody know of any resources that may at least give this inquisitive 10 - going on 11 year old - an introduction at least for this 'cos I'm stuck
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Joined: Sep 2008
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Does he already have Uncle Albert and the Quantum Quest? If not, I heartily recommend that. For beyond that, I'm going to be watching the thread myself. I've been wondering about getting the Great Courses quantum mechanics course on DVD, and would love to know whether anyone here has it. We have their particle physics course which has been a huge hit, but some of their courses are more appealing to my DS than others - it's more about the manner of the lecturer than about the content, I think.
Last edited by ColinsMum; 10/25/10 01:58 AM. Reason: used html syntax for links. Again.
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Thanks for the books collinsmum, thanks for the topic Raddy. I'll watch this thread eagerly for more insight. http://www.particlezoo.net/index.htmlThere's a free app on the iPhone by the same name http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/elegant/Recommending the website only, not so sure about the movie. � http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_tic_tac_toe?wasRedirected=trueAgain, there's a free app on the iPhone� I don't know bout this stuff but� My yoga teacher showed me a movie that showed a dozen clones of a young boy dribbling a ball. �With a Depak Chopra interpretation the narrator said �reality is fluid and the possibilities are endless until the observer interacts. �Then it showed only one boy dribbling the ball because someone looked at him. �This is an exaggerated spiritual interpretation of the uncertainty principle. �Many people think the uncertainty principle states that a scientist can't neutrally observe because the mere act of observing will change the outcome. �The actual uncertainty principle states that "the uncertainty of a particle's position plus it's momentum is greater than zero". �But it's written in a math sentence. �It means if you to know it's location you have to stop it from moving, you can't measure it's momentum exactly. �Or, if you measure the velocity plus direction you'll never measure an exact location at the same time. �-the disappearing spoon chemistry book. �Cool factoid. I'm semi-cognizant of dark energy, but i can only discuss it using fantasy and spiritual terms so I won't until I'm better educated and can use math and science words. � LoL I'm learning quantum quantities of this knowledge over my whole lifetime.
Youth lives by personality, age lives by calculation. -- Aristotle on a calendar
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Joined: Jun 2010
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That Quantum Tic Tac Toe link is tres cool.
Striving to increase my rate of flow, and fight forum gloopiness. 
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Colinsmum - is the Uncle Albert book really good, as the other Stannard books I've bought have been a liitle lightweight. I did look at this but Amazon doesn't let me 'look inside'.
I have been looking at Jim Al-Khalili's "Quantum - A Guide For Te Perplexed" and I might read that with him - maybe he will follow the bits I can't and vice versa and so far it looks pretty good.
Iucouno - the Dr. Quantum has a couple of videos on Youtube. I think they come from a5 DVD set that I found on Amazon. A lot of the reviews were a little guarded about the series due to it becoming "new-agey" and "para-scientific' so this put me off buying them. the Youtube ones I found are great tho'. I'm going to work through the links you have posted.
La Texican - I'm going to check out your recommendations too, many thanks.
I'll keep looking and keep you all posted
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Joined: Aug 2008
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Robert Gilmore has written several entertaining and informative children's books on quantum physics (Alice in Quantumland, The Wizard of Quarks, Scrooge's Cryptic Carol). Facts and Mysteries in Particle Physics may be a good one for Dad if he doesn't have a solid background in physics (or your little one--not too heavy on math prerecs)... I personally liked the Gilmore series as a youngster. There is a lot of humor, and he weaves in other topics in physics that relate to quantum mechanics and particle physics...
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I haven't actually read it, so can't really say. DS *loves* it, but he is only 6, so ymmv. Actually I'll go and ask him... Not sure that helped; he says, "it's fact and fiction intertwined, and that's my favourite kind of book...", "the story is mostly Gedanken finding the fact things out", and "it's just as good as George's Cosmic Treasure Hunt, not better not worse". Perhaps the conclusion is that it *is* lightweight, but enjoyable. It certainly is not going to be the end of the line for a child who is interested in quantum mechanics, but maybe a useful step on the way. It's a fairly well-known book, so maybe get it from a library and see?
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Well, I saw this recommended in The Physics Of Super Heroes by James Kakalios (which is brilliant, by the way) Mr Tompkins in Paperback http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...amp;pf_rd_p=467128533&pf_rd_i=468294there is a later version that has been updated by Stannard -has anyone any experience of this book? The Stannard carries quite a hefty price tag and our local library doesn't have it?
Last edited by Raddy; 10/25/10 11:19 PM.
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Gosh, yes, I remember Mr Tomkins from my undergraduate days! It's much more on relativity than quantum physics, though, IIRR. I don't know anything about the Stannard updating but it sounds like a good thing. Definitely a good thing to have. My one reservation would be that, IIRR, it was a bit in-joke-y - more like the kind of thing that was fun and funny if you'd already had the course with the mathematics, than a good way to learn that stuff in the first place. But in the worst case, your DS's curiosity should be fed by it.
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