In search of Schrodinger's cat

Nowadays there are plenty of books to choose from if you want a simple introduction to quantum theory, but back in 1984 John Gribbin's In search of Schrödinger's cat was one of only a handful of such books. The question is whether it is worth reading a book which was written that long ago, when the subject has certainly moved on. Well, there's plenty of information here but the book takes a more historical viewpoint than most. If you want to find out about how the subject came about then you should take a look at this easy to read book.

After a look at the early questions about whether matter and radiation are continuous or discrete the book describes the work at the end of the 19th and start of the 20th centuries such as the study of radioactivity, the photoelectric effect and Bohr's model of the atom. It then moves on to the revolution in the subject in the mid 1920's. Gribbin also looks at some of the applications of quantum theory such as microelectronics and the laser. The later part of the book takes a more detailed look at some of the paradoxical aspects of quantum theory