Breakfast with Einstein: The Exotic Physics of Everyday Objects

By Chad Orzel

Your alarm goes off, and you head to the kitchen to make yourself some toast and a cup of coffee. Little do you know, as you savor the aroma of the steam rising from your cup, that your ordinary morning routine depends on some of the weirdest phenomena ever discovered. 

The world of quantum physics is generally thought of as hopelessly esoteric. While classical physics gives us the laws governing why a ball rolls downhill, how a plane is able to fly, and so on, its quantum cousin gives us particles that are actually waves, "spooky" action at a distance, and Schrodinger's unlucky cat. But, believe it or not, even the most mundane of everyday activities is profoundly influenced by the abstract and exotic world of the quantum. 

In Breakfast with Einstein, Chad Orzel illuminates the strange phenomena lurking just beneath the surface of our ordinary lives by digging into the surprisingly complicated physics involved in his (and anyone's) morning routine. Orzel, author of How to Teach Quantum Physics to Your Dog, explores how quantum connects with everyday reality, and offers engaging, layperson-level explanations of the mind-bending ideas central to modern physics. 

From the sun, alarm clocks, and the red glow of a toaster's hot filaments  (the glow that launched quantum mechanics) to the chemistry of food aroma, a typical day is rich with examples of quantum weirdness. Breakfast with Einstein reveals the hidden physics all around us, and after reading this book, your ordinary mornings will never seem quite as ordinary again.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Dec 11, 2018
• ISBN: 9781946885661

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

[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.

[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.