Absolutely Small: How Quantum Theory Explains Our Everyday World Book

This is an excellent book for a non-specialist. It may be a bit challenging to a non-scientist with little math background--but the math is not difficult--just simple algebra. The book is filled with useful diagrams that really do help elucidate the concepts. I like how the book starts from first principles of quantum theory. It explains lucidly how quantum theory deviates from classical physics. The book explains that in classical physics, relative sizes matter, but in quantum physics, absolute sizes matter.

The book has an excellent discussion of the wave-particle duality of light. Starting from first principles, the book builds up slowly from the smallest scales--simple hydrogen atoms--up through the periodic table to large atoms, and then continues from simple molecules up through large, complex molecules. What I like best about this book, is how the author uses quantum theory to explain macroscopic properties of molecules. The book shows why carbon dioxide is a "greenhouse gas", and explains why it is important to the earth's climate. There is a good description of some types of organic molecules, including fats, alcohols, and cholesterol. The book explains exactly what saturated, unsaturated, and poly-unsaturated fats are, as well as transfatty acids, all from a quantum physics perspective.

My only complaint about this book is the editing. There are many misspelled words, and not all of them are typos. The editor should have caught the fact that "discreet" and "discrete" are two different words.