Quantum physics for babies and you

In a recent survey, nearly 1 in 3 Americans said they would rather clean a toilet than do a single math problem.

“Tell someone on the street that you are a physicist, or worse, a mathematician, and you’ll be acknowledged with a ‘I hated math in school’ or ‘I was never any good at math.’ Tell them you are a quantum physicist and you’ll be lucky if you get a response,” says Chris Ferrie, a quantum theorist and author of Quantum Physics for Babies, a children’s book gaining in popularity after being endorsed by Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

So what is it about math and physics that creates doubt and avoidance among so many people? If it’s the fear of the unfamiliar, Ferrie, a University of Waterloo mathematics alumnus, plans to eliminate it by introducing children to quantum physics.

Ferrie, also an alumnus of the Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC), returns to the University of Waterloo on Friday August 18 to share his experience communicating a complex topic to a general audience. Learn how he has used his books as a platform to encourage science literacy and to share quantum physics with a wider audience.

“I want quantum physics, indeed all physics and math and science, to be normal for a child to take interest in,” said Ferrie. While his books, which also include titles like Quantum Entanglement for Babies and General Relativity for Babies, are exposing young kids to the language and concepts of these topics, it turns out that parents are learning, too.

Register now

IQC special seminar
Chris Ferrie: Quantum Physics for Babies

Friday, August 18, 2017

1:00pm

Mike & Ophelia Lazaridis Quantum-Nano Centre, Room 1502

Free registration