Quantum Steampunk

[Yunger Halpern] reimagines 19th-century thermodynamics through a modern, quantum lens, playing with the aesthetics of the 1800s through trains, dirigibles and horseless carriages. It is a physics book, but one that is as likely to attract readers of science fiction as those of popular science.—Simon Ings, NewScientistAt this moment when quantum theory is being applied, nonexperts will find this guide helpful.—Harvard MagazineQuantum Steampunk is probably the best plain English explanation of quantum physics you’ll find anywhere. Dr. Halpern uses illustrations, whimsical descriptions, and humor.—Quantum ZeitgeistAn entertaining book… that explains the essence and secrets of the many facets of quantum thermodynamics in layman’s terms….By adding literary flair to otherwise dry technical content, Yunger Halpern masterfully conveys in simple terms the variety of complex ideas that characterize the different subfields of quantum thermodynamics.—Physics Today[Yunger Halpern] combines fragments of a yet-to-be-written steampunk novel with her personal and technical accounts of coming of age in the modern era of quantum thermodynamics.This optimistic, balanced view of modern quantum research, emphasizing fundamentals and minimizing hype, is a good introduction for the general scientific-minded reader.—Charles Clark, NIST Connections

Nicole Yunger Halpern, a theoretical physicist, is currently a Fellow of QuICS, the Joint Center for Quantum Information and Computer Science at the University of Maryland.