Breakfast with Einstein: The Exotic Physics of Everyday Objects

By Chad Orzel

A Sunday Times Book of the Year

From the author of the international bestseller How to Teach Quantum Physics to Your Dog

Your humble alarm clock, digital cameras, the smell of coffee, the glow of a grill, fibre broadband, smoke detectors… all hold secrets about quantum physics.

Beginning at sunrise, Chad Orzel reveals the extraordinary science that underpins the simplest activities we all do every day, from making toast to shopping online. It’s all around us, the wonderful weirdness of quantum – you just have to know where to look.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Oneworld Publications
• Release date: Oct 11, 2018
• ISBN: 9781786074058

Chad Orzel

Chad Orzel was born and raised in central New York, and received a degree in physics from Williams College, and his Ph.D. in chemical physics from the University of Maryland. He is now a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Union College in Schenectady, New York. He lives near campus with his wife Kate, their daughter, and, of course, Emmy, the Queen of Niskayuna.

Reviews for Breakfast with Einstein

[librisissimo · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Probably the most fun physics book I have ever read. Describes how quantum mechanics affects every part of our modern everyday life. Very casual in tone, but rigorous in the science.

[capewood · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

2022 book #18. 2018. Quantum physics for the lay person, assuming that person has a science or engineering degree. Interesting but pretty tough going in parts. Who would have thought you needed a knowledge of quantum physics to completely understand how your toaster works?

[gypsysmom_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I saw a blurb about this book and thought I should read it because my knowledge of physics stems from high school and one university course almost 50 years ago. I wish I could say that I now understand physics better but that would not be true. If someone asked me to explain the physics of refrigerator magnets (one of the chapters that Orzel covers) I wouldn't be able to do it any better than I could before I read the book. And I think someone without even the minimal knowledge of physics and chemistry that I have would be even more lost. I was also disappointed that almost all of the scientists Orzel refers to are male; the exceptions are Marie Curie and her daughter Irene Joliot-Curie. It is probably true that males predominate in the field of physics but what about Lise Meitner who was one of three scientists responsible for developing nuclear fission or Donna Strickland who won a Nobel Prize in 2018 for developing pulsed lasers. Disappointing.