PhD Mathematician Writing Books for the Very Young that Teach Science-Including Quantum Topics
(EdgyApp) The majority of adults can’t pretend to understand quantum mechanics let alone explain them to a child.
Christopher Ferrie is a PhD mathematician and a Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Quantum Software and Information at the University of Technology-Sydney, has written Quantum Physics for Babies, and other books to acquaint the young with scientific topics.
Ferrie wanted to make baby book with only the cover as a joke, then, after encouragement from his family, he spent some time on creating the actual content for the book. Ferrie published Quantum Physics for Babies as a real book through a self-publishing platform, then to Amazon.com, where readers asked him to write more similar books, which he did.
Quantum Physics for Babies follows an alphabetical structure that associates each letter of the alphabet with a concept derived from physics; each is accompanied by a short explanation: A for atoms, E for energy, J for joules, N for neutrinos, etc. Ferrie starts his book with a the A for Atom; ths illustration is a blue ball, against a white background, saying that “all balls are made of atoms.”
The concept of a book for babies/toddlers sounds tongue-in-cheek, but young children are most curious. There are serious calls for the future generation of computer tech professionals and this series of books might be one of the motivators.
