At last a book that not only makes quantum physics understandable for general readers but shows how it has practical value for us. Author Dr. Robert M. Oates Jr. presents this abstract, theoretical topic in a step-by-step manner that makes it comprehensible. He explains the discoveries that are revolutionizing the way we see the world, and he captures the drama and conflicts involved in overthrowing the old scientific worldview and building the new. In conclusion he presents the benefits this knowledge can have for our individual lives.
Early researchers in quantum physics couldn't believe their own evidence that proved matter, supposedly the basis of the universe, is fundamentally insubstantial. At the quantum scale, the ground state of the universe, it dissolves into waves of a nonmaterial, abstract field, and even these waves have only potential existence.
Quanta aren't physical particles but energy frequencies. They exhibit mass at the macro scale only because of their energy, as Einstein established with his discovery that energy is interchangeable with mass.
The position and speed of quanta are interconnected in such a way that it is impossible to know both of them. The more exactly one is determined, the more uncertain the other becomes, so their motion can't be predicted.
More amazing yet, an objective world independent of the observer doesn't exist. Observer and observed are linked at the quantum scale. The realm of discrete objects is transcended and everything unites into an wholeness that is inherently subjective, since nothing exists but that. What we think of as solid matter is just vibrations continually emerging from and dissolving back into a nonmaterial unified field. As Einstein said, "everything is vibrations". The frontier of science now lies in discovering more about this field.
Consciousness and the Quantum shows how the unified field exhibits inherent intelligence. This is seen in the "patterns in nature ... such as the systematic evolution of the stars, the configuration of electrons in an atom, or the energy-producing chlorophyll cells in a plant.... This is not to say that flowers ... can think or form purposes: but it is to say ... that the natural world is characterized throughout by the display of intrinsic intelligence."
This intelligence is also apparent in the molecular structure of crystals. These intricate, three-dimensional patterns give matter its apparent solidity. "'Solid matter' is just a way of speaking about complex patterns of intelligence."
On the biological level, "cells display inherent intelligence.... The swirling dance of patterns within the cell displays an intricate, intrinsic intelligence in both structure and function. And it is precisely these problem-solving patterns that add structural rigidity and occupy space."
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