The God Effect: Quantum Entanglement, Science's Strangest Phenomenon

Loved it. It not only explained the story of quantum entanglement but also was a good foundation for things like quantum mechanics and quantum computing. I thought Clegg did a good job of making in explainable to the non-physicists of the world.

This book does an excellent job of describing the history of the discoveries of quantum mechanics and the disputes over its implicationis. It does not consider any theological issues or the implications of quantum mechanics for theology. Having God in the title is rather misleading.

I can't say "I love it" because I didn't get the book yet. I'm the kind of person that is drawn to mystery. It's the curiosity trait in me. I know there is a concept called "quantum physics", but the spirituality aspect seems quite novel to prove, as yet.

Like so many authors who write about relativity and quantum physics for the layman, Brian Clegg explains some aspects of the science well, and skips over other aspects of the field. There are very few books out there that satisfactorily explain every one of the facets of quantum physics that is explainable.

What's good about this book:
It starts out on an interesting note, providing some of Einstein's arguments against quantum physics in his original German. Those original words, along with the more exact translations provided, give readers a better feel for Einstein's real objection to quantum weirdness, rather than just compressing his views into the usual quote about God playing dice;
It contains some interesting descriptions of the art of encryption and what quantum science might eventually contribute to sending secured messages;
It includes a better-than-average description of the set-up of Alain Aspect's experiments, the experiments that finally seemed to demonstrate the existence of quantum entanglement and therefore of "spooky action at a distance."

How author Brian Clegg could have made this book better:
He doesn't devote enough time to giving the exact results of Aspect's experiments and to explaining their significance. That's really what I read this book in order to discover;
Although this book is largely about the phenomenon of particle "entanglement," Clegg never fully defines what constitutes entanglement. I'd have liked more hand-holding paragraphs devoted to that basic idea;
I would also have liked fuller definitions of basic concepts such as "solid state," and "qubit."

Clegg says qubits (when these theoretical entities could be harnessed) would be capable of carrying such a wide range of informational values all at once in a superimposed state, that their use would greatly increase the processing capacity of computers and would essentially return us to the days of analog rather than digital mechanisms. In that regard, I would like to have read about the use of "fuzzy logic" that was all the rage in the '80's, and that still is the basis for a lot of computer operations. Since fuzzy logic also returns users to the broad range of capacity that characterized the analog age, it might have been interesting to learn how fuzzy logic would compare to the use of qubits.

Finally, both the title and the jacket of this book are misleading. Clegg doesn't make it clear until the last few pages that, by the "God Effect," he in fact is referring to "entanglement." He also doesn't mention the "God Particle," the Higgs boson, (another strictly theoretical particle when this book was written in 2006) until those last few pages. So we don't know the reason for the book's title until the very end. Since this isn't a mystery thriller, in which the skillful author doesn't reveal the killer's identity until the last page, this delay in clarifying the book's subject matter might be a little frustrating.

Then the book carries a second subtitle of "Time Travel, Teleportation, and the Ultimate Computer." Again, two of these topics aren't broached until the last chapters, and then only to be either effectively dismissed or misrepresented. Clegg tells about the invention of the telegraph and how that enabled savvy horse race bettors to learn which horse won a particular London race, and then to bet on that horse while bets were still being accepted in England's smaller, outlying towns. Clegg characterizes this advantage given by telegraph transmissions as "traveling back in time." That kind of loose, possibly metaphorical reference, once again muddies the concepts of "time" and "time travel."

As for teleportation - Clegg says it won't be possible in any literal sense for the foreseeable future (or likely ever). So if you are tempted to get this book based on its jacket's promise of presenting Star Trek in action, you'll be disappointed.

Finally, Clegg is quick to dismiss entanglement as a factor in producing consciousness. He says that consciousness is more robust and more easily explained than through the vagaries of entanglement. I think most scientists would object to this opinion that consciousness can ever be "easily" explained..

However, this book is good enough to keep you reading, and will inspire you to go on to read other books on the subject in order to fill in more of the missing pieces of the puzzle of quantum physics.

Arrived as promised.