Back in the late '70's, the quantum physics textbook at UNSW used in second
year undergraduate electrical engineering and science courses was by
Eisberg
and Resnick. The book was over 850 pages thick and the course required
you get through most of it in a 14 week session. It was solid going and not for
the faint hearted. Many an undergraduate left their pursuit of trying to be an electrical
engineer whilst battling to comprehend the contents of that book to the level they
could pass the exam. Filled with lots of challenging maths and concepts, the text had
only one photograph in it which did not appear until about page 527. It was a black and
white image of the levitation of a magnet over a superconducting surface. I remember
flicking to it at times and staring at it in awe. It gave one a glimmer of hope that
perhaps by persevering and battling through the rest of the text that you
would be empowered with an insight into what clearly was magic.
