Quantum - Hindustan Times review

A great review of Quantum in Indian newspaper The Hindustan Times:

'That science is a many-splendoured sexy thing is the radiating message that comes out of this fabulous book. Manjit Kumar writes a pulsating narrative about the history of modern science’s most fundamental revolution in Quantum (Hachette, Rs 495). The great debate about the nature of reality — between Albert Einstein and Neils Bohr where they and their ‘two schools of thought’ face each other off reads like Corleone-Tattaglia feud from the Godfather minus the machine guns, plus the atom-smashers.'

'Even in the prologue of this historical journey of science, Kumar knows how to hook the reader. “Paul Ehrenfest was in tears. He had made his decision. Soon he would attend the wee-long gathering where many of those responsible for the quantum revolution would try and understand the meaning of what they had wrought. There he would have to tell his old friend Albert Einstein that he had chosen to side with Niels Bohr.... In a note to Einstein as they sat around the conference table, Ehrenfest scribbled: ‘Don’t laugh! There’s a special section in purgatory for professors of quantum theory, where they will be obliged to listen to lectures on classical physics ten hours every day."'

'Kumar brings lucidity and a sense of drama to what is usually considered by lay readers as an esoteric, bubble-chambered subject. He does this without sacrificing the ‘science of it’ at the altar of readability. The triumphs and the tribulations, the politics and the physics, the humanity and the genius of the protagonists all collide to produce the sort of energy that we usually expect in a Le Carre thriller.'

See the full piece here.

Quantum - bestselling In India

We've just seen this bestseller chart in The Hindu, an Indian newspaper, which shows Manjit Kumar's book in sixth place:

1) The Idea Of Justice by Amartya Sen – Penguin Allen Lane Rs. 699

2) Jinnah- India – Partition Independence by Jaswant Singh – Rupa Rs. 695

3) Sociobiology – The New Synthesis by Edward O. Wilson Rs. 2376

4) Authentic Happiness – Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment by Martin E. P. Seligman , Ph.d – Nicholas Brealey Rs. 295

5) Think India – The Rise of The World’s Next Superpower by Vinay Rai & William L. Simon – Plume Rs. 399

6) Quantum – Einstein, Bohr And the Great Debate About the Nature Of Reality by Manjit Kumar – Hachette Rs. 495

7) Stop the Excuses! – How To change Lifelong Thoughts by Dr Wayne W. Dyer – Hay House Rs. 295

8) Cricket Biryani – The History of Hyderabad Cricket by P.R.Man Singh Rs. 1500

9) Romance of The Golconda Diamonds by Omar Khalidi Rs. 1400

10) A Better India A Better World by N R Narayana Murthy – Penguin Allen Lane Rs. 499

Quantum: well reviewed in India

'As an introduction to a fiendishly difficult branch of science it is hard to improve upon Quantum. This is one of the finest accounts of the 20th century’s greatest intellectual adventure' Express Buzz, India.

See the full review here.

Quantum - now big in India, too!

Hachette have just recently published the Indian edition of Quantum and its first review is just in:

'If theoretical and often boring physics can be delivered in an exciting novel style, Manjit Kumar has done it. His Quantum Einstein, Bohr and the Great Debate about the Nature of Reality is an engrossing account of the high caliber intellectual and academic debates, sometimes acrimonious, on the then evolving concept of Quantum, in the 20th century.' The Organiser

Read the full review here.