Why you need to fall in love with quantum physics before the next revolution

INDIA BLOCK MEETS THE PHYSICIST AND THE LANGUAGES SCHOLAR WHO FELL FOR SCIENCE AND EACH OTHER

- INDIA BLOCK

Does learning about quantum physics freak you out? A new book aims to change that, and just in time.

The second quantum revolution is coming: superconductors that could revolutionise clean energy sources; new drug discoveries; stronger encryption for phone communications. They're all within reach, scientists report. Most non-scientists don’t aim to have even a passing understanding of quantum physics — a famously baffling subject — but it’s vital to understand the world we live in and the changes that are coming.

"There's a whole quest to build a quantum computer," Frank Verstraete, one of Belgium's top quantum physicist, tells me. “All the big technology companies like Google and Amazon and IBM are pouring in billions and billions and billions of dollars and trying to build one, it’s the cutting-edge of research for computing power.”

The problem is most people haven't caught up with the first quantum revolution. Quantum mechanics deals with things at the subatomic level, where quarks and photons operate. Unlike classical physics, where strict rules apply, everything gets a bit weird down there. If you're not a maths fan, thinking about it too hard starts to feel like your brain is melting out of your ears. That's a huge shame, reckons Verstraete.

“Everywhere you look, there is quantum physics,” he tells me. The colours on this page, or the fact that you aren't sinking through the chair you're sitting on? “This is pure quantum physics.” Most of us probably understand a lot more about the subject than we think. It’s all in the perception, Versraete says.