Simply Schrödinger by John Gribbin is part biography and part a book about Schrödinger's contributions to quantum physics. Written for a wide readership it offers wonderful insight into the man as well as the dynamics of the world of physics at the time.

I am hesitant to call this a biography though it is certainly biographical. It tells us about his personal life as well as his professional, but not a lot of setting up by going into his youth. That decision, while making it less of an actual biography, does make it more interesting since many readers want to know about his work and his personal life during the time he was active. In other words, I was satisfied with the amount of his life I learned about.

Like every book I've read about quantum physics, as well as some courses, the ideas and the math can be daunting. Even the parts that can be explained well, and Gribbin does it as well as most, can still be confusing because our minds are not used to thinking of the world in this way. What I will say is that Gribbin makes the science as accessible as possible, though the reader should still expect to put in some effort to make (some) sense of it. I have found that the couple of rigorous courses I've had, though helping me to understand some mathematical aspects, did less to help me with a big picture understanding than reading a number of books like this that focus on some aspect(s) and tries to make it less opaque. Piecing all of them together has given me at least a rudimentary understanding.

I would recommend this book for someone interested in the personal as well as the theoretical beginnings of quantum physics. It isn't a textbook by any means but does make some of the ideas more understandable through both good explanations and contextualizing them within the work of those working on it. Some ideas just make more sense when you follow how they came to be rather than simply that they are.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. ( )