top of page
This site was designed with the
.com
website builder. Create your website today.Start Now

Recommended Reading for Aspiring Physicists

 

This is a list of books that I want to read, have read or am going to read. It comprises quite a few which I have not gotten around to, so the summary of these will be very brief- those that I have read will obviously have a longer description. This was initially a blog post but has grown and now deserves a whole page to itself. This list as a whole is organised roughly so that the material gets denser as you go down - it's not the order I read them in, but the order I think that I should have read them in.

50 Physics Ideas you really need to know

 

Ok, the '50 ideas' series is pretty brief, but it gives a great introduction to many topics and some breadth of knowledge which is always helpful. On top of the listed title (by Joanne Bakewell) you might also like "50 Quantum Physics Ideas" by the same author, "50 Maths Ideas" by Tony Crilly, and "50 Philosophy of Science Ideas" by Gareth Southwell. All of these are written in the same, easy to understand format and should discuss key issues to an extent such that you understand the basis on which Physics is built.

The Physics Book

 

By Clifford A. Pickover, this book contains facts about 500 facets of Physics, with descriptions of phenomena kept to only a single side and fantastic illustrations throughout. Pretty shallow on the knowledge front, but it does of course cover a wide range of idease and conveys the authors enthusiasm for Physics very well. Also of note is The Maths Book by the same author. Great for dipping in and out of.

Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman?

 

A classic, almost everybody in science has heard of this, and most will have read it as well. It's not a science book, but the autobiography of the great Richard Feynman. Hey, it can't hurt to get used to the workings of one of the greatest minds of the last century, right? Also very entertaining and requires no physics knowledge.

The meaning of it all

 

Another Feynman book that's not really about Physics, this one could be classed as slightly more relevant though I guess. The most accurate way of classifying it would be as 'philosophy of science', and in it he discusses the issues with what he calls "this unscientific age", amongst other things. Overall, I just love anything by Feynman, so this was a nice volume to get even if it wasn't too relevant.

 

QED
 
Probably the single most famous physics book out there, at least in the eyes of many physicists. This little volume explains the entire theory of QED, minus the maths. This is incredibly approachable, very engaging and thoroughly worthwhile. Feynman concisely explains his theory of almost everything (the book is subtitled "the strange theory of light and matter", which only really leaves out gravity and nuclear forces). A must read.
In Search of Schroedinger's Cat
By John Gribbin
 
It's a little bit dated (from the 80s) in some parts of it, but this is generally a good introduction to quantum mechanics at a non-technical level. I personally think that this would be a good introduction to concepts, then QED and 'The Quantum Universe' would be great follow-ups to learn about some more details. Of course, even then, you still haven't covered much of the maths, but hopefully the intuition I've gotten from them has put me in good stead. This one contains a lot of history and text with few equations. Make of that what you will.
Six Easy Pieces/ Six not so Easy Pieces

 

The last of the Feynman on the list- he explains so well that it's difficult to keep him away! These are extracts from his lectures (which incidentally, really SHOULD be on the list, as they are available for free online and are really excellent). I haven't got these exact books, but have read the lectures in "Six Easy Pieces" and I think they're great for anyone starting As. "Six Not-so-sasy Pieces" is more for the A2 student who wants to take things further.

The Quantum Universe & Why does E=mc2?

 

These two books by Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw are brilliant and are reasonably open to anyone. Certainly if you are taking A level physics then you should be able to read these without any difficulty, although they can at times get a little bit dense (I sometimes find myself taking notes). Between the two they explain quantum mechanics and relativity, the pillars of modern physics- and they do so in a clear, lighthearted way that is easy to follow. Other than Feynman, these authors are the best at explaining concepts in my opinion.

Relativity
By Albert Einstein
 
The man himself explains the theories he is most famous for. This book covers special relativity in part one, and then... covers general relativity in part two. The section on special relativity is actually quite clear and straightforward, and was certainly quite good at teaching the concepts. A couple of months on and I can't remember much of the general relativity other than that the maths was quite hard (having looked back, I'm actually now rather confused - it describes concepts simply in the GR section but then seems to pluck formulas from thin air. I guess that the derivation would be too complicated for the audience.)
A Brief History of Time / A Briefer History of Time
By Stephen Hawking
 
One of the landmark popular science books. Unfortunately, I haven't read it, but from what I hear it's a very good account of cosmology and contains but one equation in the entire book - E=mc^2. The first title is his original work that brought pop science back into the public eye, and the latter title is a revision that's a bit shorter and more up to date.
The Universe in a Nutshell
By Stephen Hawking
 
This is supposedly the sequel to 'A Brief History of Time'. At this point, since that makes it effectively three whole books worth of stuff, I might not get around to reading and reviewing these three. They come highly reccommended though.
The elegant Universe
By Brian Greene
 
This is an excellent account of String Theory and is very interesting, I have to say, inspiring. The entire book just makes you want to start trying to solve the puzzles for yourself! The book is largely an account of the origins of string theory - it starts with an introduction to the Standard Model and to General Relativity, then moves on to why they are incompatible and how string theory came into being.
Classical Mechanics: The Theoretical Minimum
By Leonard Susskind and George Hrabovsky
 
I'm not quite sure who this is targetted at to be honest. It's a popular science book on classical mechanics, which makes it one of a kind- a quick look at the rest of this list will tell you that the majority of this kind of literature is on quantum mechanics or relativity. This book feels difficult mathematically, but manages to cover a huge amount of ground in very few pages, which I suppose explains why it feels so damn hard. This book starts to cover what's called 'analytical mechanics', which is an alternative approach to Newtonian mechanics that has exactly the same results, but is better for some problems.
The road to reality
By Roger Penrose
 
I haven't read this so I don't know exactly what this is about, but it comes highly reccommended. The book covers plenty of mathematics and delves into some serious physics, but that's about all I know at the moment. Penrose has worked on lots of revolutionary theories and I suspect that this book is a tour de force of what he thought most promising when he wrote it.
Goedel, Escher, Bach
By Douglas Hofstadter
 
This is not a physics book, but regardless you should read it. It is kind of a maths book, if you need some kind of reason that's subject based. It IS however, an excellent book. Hofstadter discusses mathematical logic, recursion, computer science, molecular genetics, physics to an extent, paintings, music and possibly above all, consciousness. A highly intellegent, highly recursive, highly funny and immensely absorbing book. Yes, it's approaching text-book size, yes it's slightly dated when it comes to computer chess, but yes, you still need to read this book.
bottom of page