As a young science fiction fan, physicist James Kakalios marveled at the future predicted in pulp magazines, comics, and drive-in movies, where the new millennium brought flying cars, underwater cities, and robotic assistants. But what we ended up with - laptop computers, MRI machines, Blu-ray players, and dozens of other marvels-are even more fantastic. In The Amazing Story of Quantum Mechanics, he explains why the development of quantum physics enabled our amazing present day. While touring the history of science fiction - everything from Jules Verne to monster movies of the fifties to the graphic novel Watchmen - Kakalios describes the groundbreaking discoveries of real physicists, such as Max Planck, Niels Bohr, Werner Heisenberg, and Erwin Schrodinger, and elucidates the three deceptively simple rules of quantum mechanics. With clear illustrations and straightforward analogies, Kakalios makes quantum mechanics understandable for us mere mortals, explaining everything from the periodic table to the atomic bomb. A winning blend of pop culture and hard science, The Amazing Story of Quantum Mechanics reveals the physics behind our world. Book jacket.