Author notes

108. Quantum Reindeer

usedbooks

on Dec. 12, 2010

I remember the day I learned that gluons and quarks really do exist, and the universe isn't as simple as people had me believe. I was eleven years old when I discovered a small paperback book on a dusty bookshelf in our living room. The title of the book was "The Cartoon Guide to Quantum Physics."

What a heavy burden it is to know a truth your peers do not! Just as they believed that reindeer couldn't circumnavigate the globe loaded with the high mass of a billion gifts and working against the opposing forces of friction and gravity, I was realizing that if all the reindeer and gift particles were transformed into waves…

Well, I'm sure you're all old enough to know the truth about Christmas, so I won't bore you.