Quantum Leaps (Hardcover)
Jeremy Bernstein (Author)
http://www.amazon.com/Quantum-Leaps...=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1258234514&sr=8-6
I read this book in one sitting. It is small. The central theme of the book is Bells theorem,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell's_theorem
a notoriously difficult concept/experiment to understand and very few have done a good job of explaining it, although I think Bersntein's book may be the best attempt. But the consequences of it are perhaps the cornerstone of modern science. You can't really consider yourself educated without understanding Bell's Theorem, imo.
The book throws other tidbits in for spice. The reason I quoted the post above on Kabbalah is that he goes into the parallels between quantum mechanics and some religions, in particular hinduism, and the Dali Lama's great interest in the subject matter.
Most professional physicists treat the subject matter of the connection between quantum mechanics and eastern philosophy/religion with a smile on their face. I understand this retort. It is not so much the connetion that they find silly, it is that like most of these "new age science", there is no real way to prove or disprove anything. It is all conjecture with a lot of hand waving for evidence. The problems is that these are not crackpots making these assertion from the "religious" side. They are highly respected people.
However, I believe this should be viewed more as philosophy rather than science. Imo, one day, when conciusness is better understood, these guys will stand up and say, I told you so.
