Bruce Rosenblum (1926–2014)

"Quantum Enigma" opens with a colleague's objection to the book: "Though what you are saying is correct, presenting this information to non-scientists is the intellectual equivalent of allowing children to play with loaded guns."

Visualizing the quantum enigma is not difficult, the authors reveal it with stories and diagrams that any careful reader can understand. It is a lot like watching a magic show: the rabbit disappears - it is an enigma. But a disappearing rabbit we all know is a trick show more with some reasonable explanation that resolves the enigma. In the case of the quantum enigma, it is no trick, but an experimental fact, and the enigma remains unresolved. This creates a metaphysical crises once you really grasp the meaning of it, which is what makes this book so difficult, the implications and what it could mean. The authors call it physics' "skeleton in the closet", or a "loaded gun", because it is so strange in its implications and how it can be interpreted, it transcend physics, which makes many uncomfortable.

Beyond the quantum enigma and how scientists came to discover it, the book discusses consciousness studies and suggest, intuitively, that there is a connection between the quantum enigma and consciousness - perhaps understanding one can lead to the other. I found this the most provocative, and also the most difficult part to understand. The last 50-pages took nearly as long to read as the first 150 and I am still not on firm ground - but that may be the point, no one is. The implication that we are creating the universe as we discover it (John Wheeler's eye looking backwards) is great fun and makes paraphenomena and "law of attraction" and "what the bleep" stuff look small-minded when considering the possibility!

My only regret is I can not take the University of CA (Santa Cruz) course this book came out of as there are some areas that I just don't understand and could use further help with. It may be asking too much but some authors have web sites with FAQs, or forums, or even interact through Amazon. In any case hope to see and read more about this subject in the future. show less

Quantum mechanics is perhaps the most controversial scientific theory after Darwin's theory of evolution.

On one side, new age and self-help gurus of all sorts concoct simplistic, frivolous and even deceitful interpretations of quantum mechanics, ranging from the "Law of Attraction" to the magical powers of positive thinking.

This is the crowd that assures we can somehow "get the universe to provide" us with everything our hearts desire, from six-pack abs to Harley Davidson bikes and the hot show more lovers to enjoy all these goodies with, as long as we just keep asking for it fervently enough -- and buying our guru's products and services thankyouverymuch.

PHYSICS' SKELETON IN THE CLOSET

On the other side, a large part of the scientific community who deal with quantum mechanics, physicists prominently among them, are extremely reluctant to address the implications of the astonishing and mysterious facts observed in the laboratory:

** that human observation definitively creates the properties of matter;

** that everything in the universe is inexorably interconnected: any two things that have ever interacted are forever "entangled": your friend's decision of what to do in Beijing (or in Saturn) can instantaneously (though randomly) influence what happens to you in Buenos Aires, without any physical force involved. Einstein called these influences "spooky actions".

OLD-SCHOOL OPEN-MIDEDNESS

With a refreshing approach, Kutter and Rosenblum encourage us to embrace the enigma posed by quantum mechanics with the sober, yet open-minded attitude that many of history's most brilliant physicists approached this issue with during the early decades of the 20th century.

NOT "THE SECRET"

Does the quantum enigma mean that we can somehow control matter with our thoughts? That we can micro-engineer the way the future unfolds in our lives? No, it doesn't.

But it definitely means we can have an influence on it beyond what conventional thinking leads us to believe.

"Spooky actions" at a distance imply that what we do, even what we think, have an impact in the outer world -- for better or worse.

THE VERY SIMPLE, PRAGMATIC LESSON

While there's no way to fine tune the impact that our thoughts and actions have in the world, the acknowledgement that that impact is absolutely real gives us a very rational basis to reinforce our deep-seated emotional tendency to hope that at least the quality of our thoughts and actions will produce an impact of the same quality on other living beings.

Moreover, we can rest assured that there is no need to advocate for Great Causes or embark upon Grandiose Adventures in order to contribute to a better world. If that's your true vocation, more power to you; but in a very real sense, working on our own personal growth is enough.

"If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. ... We need not wait to see what others do." - Mahatma Gandhi

Notice the difference between Ghandi's quote above and the "be the change you want to see in the world" bumper-sticker version, which apparently he never said -- a similar contrast to that between the self-help interpretations of quantum mechanics and the real deal.

" ... thou canst not stir a flower without troubling a star" - Francis Thompson show less

I've read a few books about quantum mechanics, and its speculated involvements with consciousness. This book is specifically subtitled "Physics Encounters Consciousness", so I was a bit annoyed to find that the majority of it recaps basic quantum mechanical theory, as if the reader had no previous knowledge of it, leaving out consciousness for the most part. For some people this will be alright, but if you have read other books on it, and have a reasonable level of understanding, then I show more would find it difficult to recommend this book to you.
As for the bit that does involve consciousness, it wasn't really worth reading. I was expecting theories of how consciousness could be explained by quantum principles, not how quantum phenomena are influenced, or objects or reality "created", by consciousness, (which I don't believe).
The alternative theories are discussed, briefly, that alleviate the need for objects to be observed for them to exist, such as decoherence, (which is explained very well in Penrose's Shadows of The Mind, I think, and surely by now should have replaced this mystical nonsense about "observation", as if there is something magical about looking at something that causes it to become real), but far too much emphasis was put on this aspect of consciousness' involvement.
All in all, it is a good introductory book for someone wanting to learn about the Quantum mysteries and enigmas, and it is certainly well written, and very clear in its explanations of Quantum Theory, just not appropriate in its interpretations. It might give the wrong impressions to the uninitiated, as many of the topics are easily misunderstood. But this doesn't make it a bad book, as there is a lot of worth in it, if you can get past the writers' obsession with inappropriately dragging consiousness into everything. show less

A very good non-mathematical account of the "measurement problem" of quantum mechanics, by physics professors who teach the topic to non-physics majors. It's not too surprising that such authors would countenance the Copenhagen interpretation of QM -- the "shut up and calculate" interpretation. But it *is* surprising that they would go on to buy the Wigner-like contention that reality is created by consciousness and free will, favor David Chalmers's dualistic view of consciousness, and give show more short shrift to such alternatives as quantum decoherence. They didn't convince *me*, to say the least, that no interpretation of QM can avoid running up against the question of consciousness. Critical reviews by experts, obligingly reproduced at quantumenigma.com, provide a welcome counterbalance. Other reviews abound online. show less