Quantum mechanics is the mathematical foundation for chemistry and physics on the microscopic scale. The energies and interactions between atoms and molecules can be described using the mathematics of matrices and quantized angular momentum. The seemingly esoteric mathematical language and quantum behavior of atoms and molecules have directly led to modern technology such as compact fluorescent bulbs, lasers, the global positioning system (GPS) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Quantum Mechanics in Everyday Life provides an introduction to the language of quantum and leads the reader to a deeper understanding of familiar, widely-used technology at the atomic and molecular level.

The Ben cao gang mu, compiled in the second half of the sixteenth century by a team led by the physician Li Shizhen (1518–1593) on the basis of previously published books and contemporary knowledge, is the largest encyclopedia of natural history in a long tradition of Chinese materia medica works. Its description of almost 1,900 pharmaceutically used natural and man-made substances marks the apex of the development of premodern Chinese pharmaceutical knowledge. The Ben cao gang mu dictionary offers access to this impressive work of 1,600,000 characters. This first book in a three-volume series analyzes the meaning of 4,500 historical illness terms.