Below I’ll give you my selections for the best Popular Physics books by a few categories. I will cover these and other great books more in depth later.
- Seven brief lessons on physics (2016)
- Physics (Idiot’s Guides) (2015)
- Quantum Physics (Idiot’s Guides) (2015)
- The Joy of Physics (2011)
- The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Vol. III: The New Millennium Edition: Quantum Mechanics (Feynman Lectures on Physics (Paperback)) (Volume 3) (2011)
- The Smart Habit Guide: 37 Small Life Changes Your Brain Will Thank You for Making (2017)
- Basic Radiotherapy Physics and Biology (2014)
- How Everything Works: Making Physics Out of the Ordinary (2007)
- Revolutions in Twentieth-Century Physics (2012)
- Physics for Entertainment (2011)
- The Physics of Superheroes (2006)
- The Cartoon Guide to Physics (Cartoon Guide Series) (1991)
- Physics I Workbook For Dummies (2014)
- The Physics of Everyday Things: The Extraordinary Science Behind an Ordinary Day (2018)
Seven brief lessons on physics (2016)
Seven Brief Lessons on PhysicsEverything you need to know about modern physics, the universe and our place in the world in seven enlightening lessons ‘Here, on the edge of what we know, in contact with the ocean of the unknown, shines the mystery and the beauty of the world. And it’s breathtaking’ These seven short lessons guide us, with simplicity and clarity, through the scientific revolution that shook physics in the twentieth century and still continues to shake us today.
Physics (Idiot’s Guides) (2015)
Physics can be a complex and intimidating subject. Idiot’s Guides: Physics breaks down the complex topics of physics and makes them easy to understand. Readers will learn from numerous examples and problems that teach all of the fundamentals — Newton’s Laws, thermodynamics, mass, energy and work, inertia, velocity and acceleration, and more!
Quantum Physics (Idiot’s Guides) (2015)
Quantum physics explores the behavior of matter and energy at the molecular, atomic, nuclear, and even smaller levels. Idiot’s Guides: Quantum Physics explores this very complex topic, while making it easy-to-understand for science enthusiasts and students alike. It skips the complicated math and dives right in to all of the concepts, paradoxes, and implications that make quantum physics so fascinating.
The Joy of Physics (2011)
For those who have always wanted to discover the joy of physics, this is the book that they’ve been waiting for. Many people remember their struggles with physics in high school and have wished for the right opportunity to gain an appreciation of this significant area of knowledge. Now is their chance not only to understand physics, but to do physics.
The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Vol. III: The New Millennium Edition: Quantum Mechanics (Feynman Lectures on Physics (Paperback)) (Volume 3) (2011)
“The whole thing was basically an experiment,” Richard Feynman said late in his career, looking back on the origins of his lectures. The experiment turned out to be hugely successful, spawning publications that have remained definitive and introductory to physics for decades.
The Smart Habit Guide: 37 Small Life Changes Your Brain Will Thank You for Making (2017)
Think Smarter. Work Smarter. Be Smarter.Imagine if there was a secret that all of the smart people in the world were keeping from you. And this meant that they always had an advantage. Really, there isn’t just one secret. There are many.
Basic Radiotherapy Physics and Biology (2014)
This book is a concise and well-illustrated review of the physics and biology of radiation therapy intended for radiation oncology residents, radiation therapists, dosimetrists, and physicists. It presents topics that are included on the Radiation Therapy Physics and Biology examinations and is designed with the intent of presenting information in an easily digestible format with maximum retention in mind.
How Everything Works: Making Physics Out of the Ordinary (2007)
“Whether a curious layperson, a trained physicist, or a beginning physics student, most everyone will find this book an interesting and enlightening read and will go away comforted in that the world is not so strange and inexplicable after all.”— , Nobel Laureate in Physics 2001, and CASE/Carnegie US University Professor of the Year 2004 If you didn’t know better, you might think the world was filled with magic—from the household appliances that make our lives easier to the CDs and D…
Revolutions in Twentieth-Century Physics (2012)
The conceptual changes brought by modern physics are important, radical and fascinating, yet they are only vaguely understood by people working outside the field. Exploring the four pillars of modern physics – relativity, quantum mechanics, elementary particles and cosmology – this clear and lively account will interest anyone who has wondered what Einstein, Bohr, Schrödinger and Heisenberg were really talking about.
Physics for Entertainment (2011)
Published in 1913, a best-seller in the 1930s and long out of print, Physics for Entertainment was translated from Russian into many languages and influenced science students around the world. Among them was Grigori Yakovlevich Perelman, the Russian mathematician (unrelated to the author), who solved the Poincaré conjecture, and who was awarded and rejected the Fields Medal.
The Physics of Superheroes (2006)
James Kakalios explores the scientific plausibility of the powers and feats of the most famous superheroes — and discovers that in many cases the comic writers got their science surprisingly right. Along the way he provides an engaging and witty commentary while introducing the lay reader to both classic and cutting-edge concepts in physics, including:
The Cartoon Guide to Physics (Cartoon Guide Series) (1991)
If you think a negative charge is something that shows up on your credit card bill — if you imagine that Ohm’s Law dictates how long to meditate — if you believe that Newtonian mechanics will fix your car — you need The Cartoon Guide to Physics to set you straight.You don’t have to be a scientist to grasp these and many other complex ideas, because The Cartoon Guide to Physics explains them all: velocity, acceleration, explosions, electricity and magnetism, circuits — even a taste of
Physics I Workbook For Dummies (2014)
Do you have a handle on basic physics terms and concepts, but your problem-solving skills could use some static friction? Physics I Workbook For Dummies helps you build upon what you already know to learn how to solve the most common physics problems with confidence and ease. Physics I Workbook For Dummies gets the ball rolling with a brief overview of the nuts and bolts of physics (i.e.
The Physics of Everyday Things: The Extraordinary Science Behind an Ordinary Day (2018)
Most of us are clueless when it comes to the physics that makes our modern world so convenient. What’s the simple science behind motion sensors, touch screens, and toasters?
Best Popular Physics Books Everyone Should Read
We highly recommend you to buy all paper or e-books in a legal way, for example, on Amazon. But sometimes it might be a need to dig deeper beyond the shiny book cover. Before making a purchase, you can visit resources like Library Genesis and download some popular physics books mentioned below at your own risk. Once again, we do not host any illegal or copyrighted files, but simply give our visitors a choice and hope they will make a wise decision.
A SIMPLE GUIDE TO POPULAR PHYSICS (COLOUR EDITION): AN INTRODUCTION TO PARTICLES, QUANTUM PHYSICS AND COSMOLOGY FOR ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS
Author(s): HARRIS, TONY
ID: 2592045, Publisher: RAHPUBLISHING, Year: 2020, Size: 3 Mb, Format: epub
The Science of Freedom: An Intriguing Perspective, Questioning Determinism Through Philosophy, Cognitive Neuroscience & Quantum physics (Popular Science)
Author(s): Michael Abraham
ID: 2789331, Publisher: Philogic Publishing, Year: 2018, Size: 934 Kb, Format: epub
National Geographic Angry birds furious forces: the physics at play in the world's most popular game
Author(s): Allain, Rhett
ID: 2570030, Publisher: National Geographic Society, Year: 2013;2014, Size: 28 Mb, Format: azw3
Please note that this booklist is not final. Some books are absolutely hot items according to The New York Times, others are written by unknown authors. On top of that, you can always find additional tutorials and courses on Coursera, Udemy or edX, for example. Are there any other relevant links you could recommend? Drop a comment if you have any feedback on the list.