Preface to the first edition

Summary

Quantum physics is the theory that underlies nearly all our current understanding of the physical universe. Since its invention some sixty years ago the scope of quantum theory has expanded to the point where the behaviour of subatomic particles, the properties of the atomic nucleus and the structure and properties of molecules and solids are all successfully described in quantum terms. Yet, ever since its beginning, quantum theory has been haunted by conceptual and philosophical problems which have made it hard to understand and difficult to accept.

As a student of physics some twenty-five years ago, one of the prime fascinations of the subject to me was the great conceptual leap quantum physics required us to make from our conventional ways of thinking about the physical world. As students we puzzled over this, encouraged to some extent by our teachers who were nevertheless more concerned to train us how to apply quantum ideas to the understanding of physical phenomena. At that time it was difficult to find books on the conceptual aspects of the subject – or at least any that discussed the problems in a reasonably accessible way. Some twenty years later when I had the opportunity of teaching quantum mechanics to undergraduate students, I tried to include some references to the conceptual aspects of the subject and, although there was by then a quite extensive literature, much of this was still rather technical and difficult for the non-specialist.