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  • When the Uncertainty Principle Goes to 11

  • Or How to Explain Quantum Physics with Heavy Metal
  • Written by: Philip Moriarty
  • Narrated by: Tim Gerard Reynolds
  • Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
  • 3.7 out of 5 stars (3 ratings)

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When the Uncertainty Principle Goes to 11 cover art

When the Uncertainty Principle Goes to 11

Written by: Philip Moriarty
Narrated by: Tim Gerard Reynolds
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Publisher's Summary

There are deep and fascinating links between heavy metal and quantum physics. No, there are. Really.

While teaching at the University of Nottingham, physicist Philip Moriarty noticed something odd, a surprising number of his students were heavily into metal music. Colleagues, too: a Venn diagram of physicists and metal fans would show a shocking amount of overlap.

What's more, it turns out that heavy metal music is uniquely well-suited to explaining quantum principles.

In When the Uncertainty Principle Goes to 11, Moriarty explains the mysteries of the universe's inner workings via drum beats and feedback: You'll discover how the Heisenberg uncertainty principle comes into play with every chugging guitar riff, what wave interference has to do with Iron Maiden, and why metalheads in mosh pits behave just like molecules in a gas.

If you're a metal fan trying to grasp the complexities of quantum physics, a quantum physicist baffled by heavy metal, or just someone who'd like to know how the fundamental science underpinning our world connects to rock music, this book will take you, in the words of a pioneering Texas thrash band, to A New Level.

For those who think quantum physics is too mind-bendingly complex to grasp, or too focused on the invisibly small to be relevant to our full-sized lives, this funny, fascinating book will show you that physics is all around us.... and it rocks.

©2018 Philip Moriarty (P)2018 Recorded Books

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Great introduction to wave physics/quantum mechanics

This book is a good introduction to wave physics, quantum mechanics, and Fourier calculus. If you’ve already completed formal studies in these areas, there’s not much here for you.

This is an excellent companion for someone starting electrical engineering in university or a technical school, or in radio/wireless technology.

The narrator does a good job conveying Mr. Moriarty’s enthusiasm. Check him out on YouTube, on the Sixty Symbols channel.

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Not really a book to be listened to

I got this book because Tim Gerard Reynolds narrates it. He's been amazing and everything I've heard him in, he's very good in this but the material doesn't work well with his narration.

The book is about various concepts and physics mostly to do with quantum mechanics and waves. The information isn't deep enough for those who understand the topic, but it's an okay medium level introduction for those who don't. The strained ties into heavy metal music are actually more distracting than they are useful. As a book to listen to there are appendixes where the math is explained that don't come across well in audio. I don't know if it was a material itself or the format but this book just didn't work for me. It might work better as a natural book or maybe as a video

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