Escape From Shadow Physics

Author: Adam Forrest Kay

Through my younger son’s interest in Physics, I have enjoyed a second look into the wonderful world of Physics. Every now and then I get him to explain some new concepts of Quantum Mechanics to me. When I saw the review of this book in the Wall Street Journal I jumped at the opportunity to learn something new and maybe have something to explain to him for a change. 

One of the challenges I have with Quantum Physics is visualizing the duality of light’s particle and wave nature. It turns out that back in 2005, a couple of French scientists discovered that adding a tiny droplet of silicone oil to a vibrating bath of the same oil resulted in the droplet bouncing around amidst the wave that was in the oil bath. While this was quite a cute visualization of the particle and wave duality, it turns out that a lot of the quantum analytics equations had an analogue in this bouncing oil droplet world. The author, Adam Forrest Kay is fascinated with this finding and believes that this might be a path to end the “Dark Ages of Quantum Theory”.

Much of the book is a rant on how Neils Bohr held enormous sway on the Physicist group-think. According to Bohr and all the leading physics of the last several decades, the wave and particle nature of light are both valid, but only one or the other can be validated in any particular experiment.  Mr. Kay really wants us to believe that there is some unknown underlying mechanism that gives rise to this dual way of interpreting light. He says that even Einstein had the same belief when he responded to Bohr with his now famous “God does not play dice” quote. 

With the recent discoveries in hydrodynamic quantum analogs (vibrating oil bath experiments), Mr. Kay is very hopeful that it will create a path to lead us out of the Dark Ages of Quantum Theory. However, this book meanders along and doesn’t make a compelling case that there is light at the end of the proverbial quantum tunnel.

James

Author: Percival Everett

First, I must confess that I have not read the Mark Twain classic,  “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”.  Percival Everett has chosen to retell this story from the perspective of Jim, the enslaved person in the original novel. In doing so, he gets an opportunity to bring out the violence and injustice of slavery that were probably missing from the original.

There are some aspects of the plot that are from the original. Jim who is referred to as James in the book, runs away and escapes to Jackson island to avoid being sold and separated from his family. He is joined by Huckleberry Finn who has faked his own death to escape from his abusive father. Together they journey down the Mississippi River and run into all kinds of trouble as they meet robbers, con artists, singing minstrels, etc.

Since I haven’t read the original, I can’t attest to how much of the story is unique to this novel. Everett’s James is a complex, intellectual figure in contrast to the simplistic portrayal of Jim in Twain’s original. One interesting twist from Everett is that James speaks eloquent “Standard English” when interacting with other enslaved people, but switches to simplistic African-American vernacular English when interacting with White people. James also delves deep into philosophical territory while engaging in imagined conversations with thinkers like Rousseau and Locke. 

"James" is not a mere retelling or critique of Twain's work, but stands as a powerful novel in its own right. It offers a searing examination of racial identity, the construct of whiteness, and the enduring legacy of slavery. Everett's ability to blend humor with profound insights into the human condition makes for a compelling and often uncomfortable read. My favorite quote from the book is 

“If you are not making mistakes you’re not learning.“