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==Contents==
In his introduction, Peres wrote,
:The purpose of this book is to clarify the ''conceptual meaning'' of quantum theory, and to explain some of the mathematical methods that it utilizes. This text is not concerned with specialized topics such as atomic structure, or strong or weak interactions, but with the very foundations of the theory. This is not, however, a book on the [[philosophy of science]]. The approach is pragmatic and strictly instrumentalist. This attitude will undoubtedly antagonize some readers, but it has its own logic: quantum phenomena do not occur in a [[Hilbert space]], they occur in a laboratory.
Peres downplayed the importance of the [[uncertainty principle]], giving it only a single mention in his index, which points to that same page of the index.<ref name="PhysToday">{{cite journal|last1=Terzian |first1=Joseph E.|last2=Bennett |first2=Charles H.|author2-link=Charles H. Bennett (computer scientist)|last3=Mann |first3=Ady|last4=Wootters |first4=William K.|author4-link=William Wootters|title=Obituary: Asher Peres|journal=[[Physics Today]]|date=August 2005|volume=58|issue=8|pages=65–66|doi=10.1063/1.2062925|bibcode = 2005PhT....58h..65A }}</ref>
==Reception==
Physicist Leslie E. Ballentine gave the textbook a positive review, declaring it a good introduction to [[quantum foundations]] and ongoing research therein.<ref name="Ballentine">{{Cite journal|last=Ballentine|first=Leslie E.|date=March 1995|title=none|url=|journal=[[American Journal of Physics]]|language=en|volume=63|issue=3|pages=285–286|doi=10.1119/1.17946|issn=0002-9505 }}</ref> [[John C. Baez]] also gave the book a positive assessment, calling it "clear-headed" and finding that it contained "a lot of gems that I hadn't seen", such as the [[Wigner–Araki–Yanase theorem]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/week33.html|title=week33|last=Baez|first=John C.|authorlink=John C. Baez|date=1994-05-10|website=[[This Week's Finds in Mathematical Physics]]|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-04-10}}</ref> [[Michael Nielsen]] wrote of the textbook, "Revelation! Suddenly, all the key results of 30 years of work (several of those results due to Asher) were distilled into beautiful and simple explanations."<ref>{{cite web|last=Nielsen|first=Michael A.|author-link=Michael Nielsen|title=Asher Peres|url=http://michaelnielsen.org/blog/asher-peres/|date=2005-01-05|website=michaelnielsen.org|access-date=2018-02-21}}</ref>
[[N. David Mermin]] wrote that Peres had bridged the "textual gap" between conceptually-oriented books, aimed at understanding what quantum physics implies about the nature of the world, and more practical books intended to teach how to apply quantum mechanics. Mermin found the book praiseworthy, noting that he had "only a few complaints". He wrote,
:Peres is careless in discriminating among the various kinds of assumptions one needs to prove the impossibility of a no-hidden-variables theory that reproduces the statistical predictions of quantum mechanics. I would guess that this is because even though he is a master practitioner of this particular art form, deep in his heart he is so firmly convinced that hidden variables cannot capture the essence of quantum mechanics, that he is simply not interested in precisely what you need to assume to ''prove'' that they cannot.<ref name="Mermin">{{Cite journal|last=Mermin|first=N. David|author-link=N. David Mermin|date=1997-03-01|title=none|journal=[[Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies Mermin called the book "a treasure trove of novel perspectives on quantum mechanics" and said that Peres' choice of topics is "a catalogue of common omissions" from other approaches.<ref name="Mermin"/>in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics]]|language=en|volume=28|issue=1|pages=131–135|doi=10.1016/S1355-2198(97)85538-4|issn=1355-2198 |bibcode=1997SHPMP..28..131M }}</ref>
[[Meinhard E. Mayer]] declared that he would "recommend it to anyone teaching or studying quantum mechanics", finding Part II the most interesting of the book. While he noted some disappointment with Peres' choice of topics to include in the chapter on [[measurement in quantum mechanics|measurement]], he reserved most of his negativity for the publisher, saying (as Ballentine also did<ref name="Ballentine"/>) that they had priced the book beyond the reach of graduate students.
:Such pricing practices are not justified when one considers that many publishers provide very little copyediting or typesetting any more, as is obvious from the "[[TeX]]"-ish look of most books published recently, this one included.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mayer|first=Meinhard E.|author-link=Meinhard E. Mayer|date=2008-01-11|title=none |journal=[[Physics Today]]|language=en|volume=47|issue=12|pages=65|doi=10.1063/1.2808757|issn=0031-9228}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
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