Physics is one of the most interesting subjects covering the smallest quarks to the largest quasars and Physics books are the best way to deep dive into this interesting subject.
Physics is a vast subject that ranges from basic things like motion, heat etc to the most complex things like quantum mechanics and the theory of relativity. This amazing subject has made a lot of unimaginable things a reality and holds huge potential to make many more things a reality.
Sounds interesting right? So, here are the best physics books you must read to explore this amazing subject.
Index
A Brief History Of Time
By Stephen Hawkings
In A Brief History of Time, Hawking writes about the structure, origin, development and eventual destiny of the Universe, which is the object of study of astronomy.
He talks about basic concepts like space and time, basic building blocks that make up the Universe like quarks(a type of elementary particle and a fundamental constituent of matter) and the fundamental forces that govern it such as gravity.
Hawkings write about cosmological phenomena(relating to the origin of the Universe) such as the Big Bang and Black holes. He also discusses major theories such as, general relativity and quantum mechanics, which modern scientists use to describe the Universe.
About the Author
Stephen William Hawking was a world-renowned English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author. His theory of exploding black holes brought together both relativity theory and quantum mechanics. Hawking also worked with space-time singularities.
Hawking suffered from degenerative motor neuron disease but his intelligence never decreased. His most famous work is the proposition of Hawking radiation. Though Hawkings wrote many books, A Brief History Of Time is one of his best physics books. His innumerable contributions got him several awards and honorary positions.
Concepts Of Physics
By HC Verma
Concepts of Physics is a set of two physics books (sold as Part-1 and Part-2) written by Prof. Dr Harish Chandra Verma and published by Bharati Bhavan. The first part covers mechanics, waves, and optics whereas the second part covers thermodynamics, electromagnetism, and modern physics.
It not only helps the students in the school but also helps the aspirants preparing for any medical and engineering examinations. The book is treated like the Bible of Physics by high school students for their preparation
In this book, Prof. H. C. Verma provides innumerable solved practice sets and also numerical exercises. The book gives you a basic understanding of Physics and also educates us about the beginning chapters in Physics like concept of Forces, Newton’s Law, Work, Friction, Energy, Gravity, Mechanics, Motion, Waves, Sound.
Overall, this book is meant to clear your basic understanding of Physics and its point of view.
So, if you are a beginner in the subject, this is one of the best basic physics books you can read to get your foundations clear.
About the Author
Padma Shri Prof. Harish Chandra Verma was a Professor at The Indian Institute of Technology(IIT), Kanpur. Prior to joining IIT, he served at Science College, Patna University from 1979 till 1994 as Lecturer and Reader.
Prof. Verma has published hundreds of research papers in reputed journals. He has written several books in Physics for School and College level and that makes him really famous among engineering aspirants and students.
The Feynman Lectures on Physics
by Richard P. Feynman
The Feynman Lectures on Physics is a set of three physics books (sold in three volumes) based on lectures by Richard Feynman. The Feynman Lectures on Physics is definitely the most popular and one of the best physics books ever written.
To date, more than 1.5 million copies have been sold in English-language and probably even more copies have been sold in a dozen foreign-language editions.
The Feynman Lectures on Physics comprises three volumes.
The first volume covers mainly mechanics, radiation, and heat, including relativistic effects.
The second volume focuses on electromagnetism and matter.
The third volume has quantum mechanics. The third volume also shows the Double-slit experiment as well as demonstrates the significant features of Quantum mechanics.
In 2000, a review in Nature described this book as having simplicity, beauty, unity and presented with great enthusiasm and insight. This book also includes chapters specific to the relationship between Mathematics and Physics.
About the Author
Richard Phillips Feynman(May 11, 1918 – February 15, 1988) was an American physicist, well known for his work in the theory of quantum electrodynamics, the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium, along with his work in particle physics for which he proposed the parton model.
For his contributions in the field of quantum electrodynamics, Richard Feynman received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965.
The Elegant Universe
By Brian Greene
The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory written by well known Brian Greene was published in 1999. This book covers the physics of string and superstring theory and provides us with a non-technical assessment of the theory and some of its shortcomings.
The book won the Royal Society Prize for Science Books in 200 as well as was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction. A new edition of the book with a few updates was released in 2002.
About the Author
Brian Randolph Greene (born on February 9, 1963) is an American Physicist, string theorist and a Mathematician.
Greene is currently a professor of physics and mathematics at Columbia University. He was a physics professor at Cornell University from 1990-1995.
He is world-renowned for his groundbreaking discoveries in the field of superstring theory, including the co-discovery of mirror symmetry and the discovery of spatial topology change.
Physics of the Impossible
by Michio Kaku
Physics of the Impossible: A Scientific Exploration Into the World of Phasers, Force Fields, Teleportation, and Time Travel is a book by physicist Michio Kaku.
In this book, he uses discussions of hypothetical technologies to introduce new topics of fundamental physics.
The author has divided the book’s 15 chapters into three classes of impossibilities
- The not-impossible (invisibility, death rays, telepathy, power from antimatter)
- Possibly impossible (time travel, parallel universes)
- Probably impossible (perpetual-motion machines, precognition).
In ten of these chapters, Kaku concludes that some scientific and technological breakthroughs will make these things real. He has high hopes for another three as well.
For example, invisibility maybe just a few years away from becoming a reality and researchers have already achieved it for small objects.
That sounds really interesting, right? Yes, Physics of the Impossible is among the most amazing and interesting physics books.
About The Author
Michio Kaku is the Henry Semat Professor of Theoretical Physics at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.
He is the co-founder of string field theory. Kaku has written several books, including Parallel Worlds and Beyond Einstein, and his bestseller, Hyperspace, was voted one of the best science books of the year by the New York Times and the Washington Post.
He is a frequent guest on national TV, and his nationally syndicated radio program is heard in 13 0 cities. He lives in New York City.
University Physics With Modern Physics
By Hugo D. Young
University Physics is an advance physics book known for its deep and thoughtful set of worked examples–key tools for developing both physical understanding and problem-solving skills of its readers.
The Thirteenth Edition revises all the Examples and Problem-Solving Strategies and directs while maintaining the Twelfth Edition’s consistent, structured approach and a strong focus on modelling as well as mathematics.
To help students to face challenges as well as routine problems in their learning process, the Thirteenth Edition adds Bridging Problems to each chapter, which poses a difficult, multiconcept problem and provides a skeleton solution guide in the form of questions and hints for the overall development of the reader.
All those things make University physics one of the best advance physics books and a must-buy book who want to learn physics at a deeper level.
About The Author
Hugh David Young (November 3, 1930 – August 20, 2013) was an American physicist, was also a physics professor at Carnegie Mellon University for 52 years. Young is best known as the co-author of the later editions of University Physics, a highly regarded introductory theoretical physics textbook, with co-authors like Francis Sears and Mark Zemansky.
Young was born on November 3, 1930, in Ames, Iowa, USA. He came to Carnegie Mellon as an undergraduate major in physics in 1948, and, by 1959, he had earned a Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, and PhD in Physics from the university. In a later period he also earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in music in 1972, concentrating in organ performance.
Introduction to Quantum Mechanics
by David J. Griffiths
Introduction to Quantum Mechanics written by David J. Griffiths is an introductory book on quantum physics mechanics.
The book is considered a standard undergraduate textbook in the subject.
The First edition of this book was published in 1995 and the second edition in 2005 by Pearson Education. A third edition was published by Cambridge University Press in 2018.
Quantum mechanics is the study of tiny things. It explains the behaviour of matter and light along with its interactions with energy on the scale of atomic and subatomic particles.
Classical physics only explains matter and energy on a scale familiar to human experience, including the behaviour of astronomical bodies such as the Moon. Classical physics is still in use in much of modern science and technology.
However, at the end of the 19th century, scientists discovered phenomena in both the large and the small worlds that classical physics could not explain. That leads to quantum theory.
This is one of the few good physics books which can takes you through the basics of this very interesting theory.
About The Author
David Jeffrey Griffiths was born December 5, 1942, is an American physicist and educator. He worked at Reed College from 1978 till 2009, becoming the Howard Vollum Professor of Science.
He is principally known as the author of three highly appreciated textbooks for undergraduate physics students: ‘Introduction to Elementary Particles’, ‘Introduction to Quantum Mechanics’, and ‘Introduction to Electrodynamics’.
Relativity: The Special and General Theory
By Albert Einstein
Relativity: The Special and the General Theory was first published in German in 1916 as a short paper and was eventually published as a book written by Albert Einstein in English- language in the year 1920.
In this book, Einstein has explained the basic idea and principles of a theory that shaped the world we live in today, using minimum mathematical words.
In his work “Relativity” Einstein intended to give us the insights of his great research “Theory of Relativity” to the readers from the perspective of a general audience who is not conversant with the mathematical apparatus of theoretical physics.
Being one of the best physics books, it consists of three major parts
- The first one focuses on special relativity.
- The second focuses on general relativity.
- The third deals with considerations of the universe.
The first edition of this book was published in 1916 and the last edition was published 2011 and remains the most popular exposition of Einstein’s immense contribution to mankind.
About the Author
Albert Einstein (14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German physicist and is regarded as the Father of Modern Physics. He also received the Nobel Prize in Physics in the year 1921, for his contribution in the field of theoretical physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect.
The theory of relativity is considered one of the pillars of modern Physics. His mass-energy equivalence formula E=mc2 is considered as “the world’s most famous equation”.
After his intellectual achievements, the name “Einstein” became synonymous with the word “genius”.
So, those were the 8 best books we picked for all our readers. A lot of people will argue that many other books deserve a spot on the list and we completely agree with it.
There are many amazing books in the world of physics and if we go on writing about all those books the article will be too huge (P.S: It is already close to 3000 words long).
So, that is why we picked 8 of the best physics books which can take one from a basic level to an advanced level in Physics covering two of the best theories of Physics, the theory of relativity and the quantum mechanics.
