Quantum: Einstein, Bohr, and the Great Debate about the Nature of Reality by Manjit Kumar; Unabridged MP3 Audio Book; Narrator Ray Porter

Quantum theory is weird. As Niels Bohr said, if you aren’t shocked by quantum theory, you don’t really understand it. For most people, quantum theory is synonymous with mysterious, impenetrable science. And in fact for many years it was equally baffling for scientists themselves. In this tour de force of science history, Manjit Kumar gives a dramatic and superbly written account of this fundamental scientific revolution, focusing on the central conflict between Einstein and Bohr over the nature of reality and the soul of science. This revelatory book takes a close look at the golden age of physics, the brilliant young minds at its core, and how an idea ignited the greatest intellectual debate of the twentieth century.

“Lively…A wide-ranging account, written for readers who are curious about the theory but want to sidestep its mathematical complexities…Fascinating.”—New York Times Book Review

“With vigor and elegance, Kumar describes the ‘clash of titans’ that took place in the world of physics in the early twentieth century, between physicists who did and those who did not believe in the quantum—the strange concept that we now know to be the underpinning of reality. The titans in Kumar’s account of the conflict are Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr…[Kumar] recounts this meaty, dense, exciting story, filled with vivid characters and sharp insights. With physics undergoing another revolution today, Kumar reminds us of a time when science turned the universe upside down.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“One of the best guides yet to the central conundrums of modern physics.”—John Banville, Man Booker Prize–winning author

“Kumar is an accomplished writer who knows how to separate the excitement of the chase from the sometimes impenetrable mathematics.”—Financial Times

“A super-collider of a book, shaking together an exotic cocktail of free-thinking physicists, tracing their chaotic interactions and seeing what God-particles and black holes fly up out of the maelstrom…Provides probably the most lucid and detailed intellectual history ever written of a body of theory that makes other scientific revolutions look limp-wristed by comparison.”—Independent (London)

“As a fairly innumerate non-scientist, I am perversely drawn to books about math and science and usually abandon them with ignorance intact. However, Quantum by Manjit Kumar…is so well written that I now feel I’ve more or less got particle physics sussed. Quantum transcends genre—it is historical, scientific, biographical, philosophical.”—Guardian (Manchester)

“A wonderful experience for lovers of physics...almost mind-bendingly complex discussions regarding elements, atomic weights, experiments, and chains of formulae are easily dealt with by Ray Porter, who demonstrates a relaxed familiarity with technical matter. Porter re-creates the lives and times of the great scientists Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr, Marie Curie, and Ernest Rutherford, among others…Quantum offers almost 15 hours of solid science for devotees of the subatomic world.”—AudioFile

Manjit Kumar was the founding editor of Prometheus, an arts and sciences journal. He has written and reviewed for various publications, including the Guardian, and is a consulting science editor at Wired UK. He lives in London.