Praise for Quantum Mechanics
“While it’s definitely a book for people who have some math background, it doesn’t require much and it unspools the basics slowly, thoughtfully and with exceptional clarity.”
—Adam Frank, NPR’s 13.7 blog
“If you’re ever banished to a desert island and allowed to take just one book, here it is. Given enough time, with no distractions, you could use it to eventually master quantum mechanics. . . . [E]ven without mastering all the calculational complexities, a careful read at the very least offers deeper insight into the logic and mathematical substance of quantum physics than you’ll get from any popular account.”
—Science News
“[Quantum Mechanics] provides you with the ‘minimal’ equipment you need to understand what all the fuzz with quantum optics, quantum computing, and black hole evaporation is about. . . . If you want to make the step from popular science literature to textbooks and the general scientific literature, then this book series is a must-read.”
—Back Reaction
“[V]ery detailed but very well written.”
—San Francisco Book Review
“The writing is fresh and immediate, with plenty of detail packaged into the smooth narrative. . . . [O]n their own terms, I found Susskind and Friedman’s explanations crisp and satisfying. . . . I maintain a clear recollection of the bewilderment with which I struggled through my own university quantum-mechanics courses. For students in a similar position, trying to draw together the fragments of formalism into a clear conceptual whole, Susskind and Friedman’s persuasive overview—and their insistence on explaining, with sharp mathematical detail, exactly what it is that is strange about quantum mechanics—may be just what is needed.”
—David Seery, Nature
“[Quantum Mechanics] is even better than the first volume, taking on a much more difficult subject. . . . ‘The Theoretical Minimum’ phrase is a reference to Landau, but it’s a good characterization of this book and the lectures in general. Susskind does a good job of boiling these subjects down to their core ideas and examples, and giving a careful exposition of these in as simple terms as possible. If you’ve gotten a taste for physics from popular books, this is a great place to start learning what the subject is really about.”
—Peter Woit, Not Even Wrong
“[T]he book will work well as a companion text for university students studying quantum mechanics or the armchair physicists following Susskind’s YouTube lectures.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Either for those about to start a university physics course who want some preparation, or for someone who finds popular science explanations too summary and is prepared to take on some quite serious math . . . it’s a fascinating addition to the library.”
—Popular Science (UK)
“This is quantum mechanics for real. This is the good stuff, the most mysterious aspects of how reality works, set out with crystalline clarity. If you want to know how physicists really think about the world, this book is the place to start.”
—Sean Carroll, physicist, California Institute of Technology, and author of The Particle at the End of the Universe