PHYSICS BOOKS

There are many great physics books available to choose from if you’d like to learn more about the subject. On this page, I’ve listed some that have been recommended and/or helpful to me for learning the most interesting concepts in this general field of study. I have also provided a list of recommended books about or written by each of the physicists that I included in my list of important scientists. As you read through the topics on my site, I encourage you to make notes and select books to further pursue your interests. Enjoy!

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PHYSICS BOOKS (General Topic)

• The Dancing Wu Li Masters
  by Gary Zukav (Perennial, 1979)
• God and the New Physics
  by Paul Davies (Penguin, 1983)
• A Brief History of Time
  by Stephen Hawking (Bantam, 1988)
• Deep Time
  by David Darling (Bantam Press, 1989)
• The Physics of Star Trek
  by Lawrence M. Krauss (Basic Books, 1995)
• Just Six Numbers: The Deep Forces That Shape the Universe
  by Martin Rees (Basic Books, 2000)
• A Briefer History of Time
  by Stephen Hawking (Bantam, 2005)
• Quantum Theory Cannot Hurt You
  by Marcus Chown (Faber and Faber 2007)
• The Quirks and Quarks Guide to Space
  by Jim Lebans (McClelland and Stewart, 2008)
• Death from the Skies! These are the Ways the World Will End...
  by Philip Plait (Viking, 2008)
• You Are Here - A Portable History of the Universe
  by Christopher Potter (Vintage, 2009)

PHYSICS BOOKS (by Physicist)

By Last or Common Name: B | C | D | E | F | G | H | L | O | P | R | S | W

• Atomic Physics and Human Knowledge
  by Niels Bohr (Author)
• On the Quantum Theory of Line-Spectra
  by Niels Bohr (Author)
• Volume I - Atomic Theory and the Description of Nature (Philosophical Writings of Niels Bohr Series, Vol 1)
  by Niels Bohr (Author)
• Essays 1933 to 1957 on Atomic Physics and Human Knowledge, Vol. 2
  by Niels Bohr (Author)
• The Philosophical Writings of Niels Bohr, Vol. 3: Essays 1958-1962 on Atomic Physics and Human Knowledge
  by Niels Bohr (Author)
• Volume IV - Causality and Complementarity
  by Niels Henrik David Bohr (Author), Jan Faye (Author), Henry J. Folse (Author)

• Truth and Beauty: Aesthetics and Motivations in Science
  by Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (Author)
• Radiative Transfer
  by Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (Author)
• Hydrodynamic and Hydromagnetic Stability (International Series of Monographs on Physics)
  by Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (Author)
• The Mathematical Theory of Black Holes (International Series of Monographs on Physics)
  by Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (Author)
• Newtons Principia: For The Common Reader
  by Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (Author)
• Ellipsoidal Figures of Equilibrium
  by Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (Author)

• The Strangest Man: The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac, Mystic of the Atom
  by Graham Farmelo (Author)
• The Principles of Quantum Mechanics
  by P. A. M. Dirac (Author)
• Lectures on Quantum Mechanics
  by P. A. M. Dirac (Author)
• General Theory of Relativity
  by P. A. M. Dirac (Author)
• Directions in Physics
  by P. A. M. Dirac (Author), Heinrich Hora (Editor), J. R. Shepanski (Editor)

• The Nature of the Physical World: Eddington Masterpieces #1 (Eddington Masterpieces (illustrated))
  by Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington (Author)
• Space, Time and Gravitation: An Outline of the General Relativity Theory
  by Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington (Author)
• The Internal Constitution of the Stars (Cambridge Science Classics)
  by Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington (Author)
• Fundamental Theory (Eddington Masterpieces)
  by Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington (Author)
• Science and the Unseen World
  by Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington (Author)
• Mathematical Theory of Relativity
  by Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington (Author)
• The Expanding Universe: Astronomy's 'Great Debate', 1900-1931
  by Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington (Author)
• Relativity Theory of Protons and Electrons
  by Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington (Author)
• The Internal Constitution Of The Stars: Eddington Masterpieces #5 (Eddington Masterpieces
  by Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington (Author)
• The Philosophy of Physical Science: Eddington Masterpieces #2
  by Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington (Author)
• Report on The Relativity Theory of Gravitation
  by Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington (Author)

• Einstein: His Life and Universe
  by Walter Isaacson (Author)
• The World As I See It
  by Albert Einstein (Author)
• Relativity : the Special and General Theory: Original Version
  by Albert Einstein (Author)
• Ideas And Opinions
  by Albert Einstein (Author)
• The Principle of Relativity
  by Albert Einstein (Author)
• Essays in Humanism
  by Albert Einstein (Author)
• The Meaning of Relativity
  by Albert Einstein (Author)
• Einstein on Cosmic Religion and Other Opinions and Aphorisms
  by Albert Einstein (Author), George Bernard Shaw (Author)
• The Theory of Relativity: And Other Essays
  by Albert Einstein (Author)
• A Stubbornly Persistent Illusion: The Essential Scientific Works of Albert Einstein
  by Stephen Hawking (Editor)

• Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character
  by Richard P. Feynman (Author), Ralph Leighton (Editor), Bill Gates (Introduction)
• Six Easy Pieces: Essentials of Physics Explained by Its Most Brilliant Teacher
  by Richard P. Feynman (Author), Robert B. Leighton (Author), Matthew Sands (Author)
• What Do You Care What Other People Think?: Further Adventures of a Curious Character
  by Richard P. Feynman (Author), Ralph Leighton (Author)
• QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter (Princeton Science Library)
  by Richard P. Feynman (Author), A. Zee (Introduction)
• The Pleasure of Finding Things Out: The Best Short Works of Richard P. Feynman
  by Richard P. Feynman (Author), Jeffrey Robbins (Editor)
• Exercises for the Feynman Lectures on Physics
  by Richard P. Feynman (Author), Robert B. Leighton (Author), Matthew Sands (Author)
• The Character of Physical Law
  by Richard Feynman (Author), Frank Wilczek (Foreword)
• The Meaning of It All: Thoughts of a Citizen-Scientist
  by Richard P. Feynman (Author)
• The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Vol. I: The New Millennium Edition: Mainly Mechanics, Radiation, and Heat
  by Richard P. Feynman (Author), Robert B. Leighton (Author), Matthew Sands (Author)
• The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Vol. II: The New Millennium Edition: Mainly Electromagnetism and Matter
  by Richard P. Feynman (Author), Robert B. Leighton (Author), Matthew Sands (Author)
• The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Vol. III: The New Millennium Edition: Quantum Mechanics
  by Richard P. Feynman (Author), Robert B. Leighton (Author), Matthew Sands (Author)
• The Feynman Lectures on Physics, boxed set: The New Millennium Edition
  by Richard P. Feynman (Author), Robert B. Leighton (Author), Matthew Sands (Author)

• Alexander A Friedmann: The Man who Made the Universe Expand
  by Eduard A. Tropp (Author), Viktor Ya. Frenkel (Author), Artur D. Chernin (Author), Alexander Dron (Translator), Michael Burov (Translator)
• Papers On Curved Spaces and Cosmology
  by Alexander A. Friedmann (Author), Vesselin Petkov (Editor)
• The World as Space and Time
  by Alexander A. Friedmann (Author), Vesselin Petkov (Editor)

• One Two Three . . . Infinity: Facts and Speculations of Science
  by George Gamow (Author)
• Thirty Years that Shook Physics: The Story of Quantum Theory
  by George Gamow (Author)
• Gravity
  by George Gamow (Author)
• The Birth & Death of the Sun: Stellar Evolution and Subatomic Energy
  by George Gamow (Author)
• The New World of Mr Tompkins
  by George Gamow (Author), Russell Stannard (Editor), Michael Edwards (Illustrator), Wu Bozhe (Translator)

• The Inflationary Universe
  by Alan Guth (Author)

• A Brief History of Time
  by Stephen Hawking (Author)
• The Illustrated Brief History of Time, Updated and Expanded Edition
  by Stephen Hawking (Author)
• A Briefer History of Time: The Science Classic Made More Accessible
  by Stephen Hawking (Author), Leonard Mlodinow (Author)
• The Grand Design
  by Stephen Hawking (Author), Leonard Mlodinow (Author)
• Brief Answers to the Big Questions
  by Stephen Hawking (Author)
• George's Secret Key to the Universe
  by Stephen Hawking (Author), Lucy Hawking (Author), Garry Parsons (Illustrator)
• George's Cosmic Treasure Hunt (George's Secret Key)
  by Stephen Hawking (Author), Lucy Hawking (Author), Garry Parsons (Illustrator)
• George and the Big Bang (George's Secret Key)
  by Stephen Hawking (Author), Lucy Hawking (Author), Garry Parsons (Illustrator)
• George and the Blue Moon (George's Secret Key)
  by Stephen Hawking (Author), Lucy Hawking (Author), Garry Parsons (Illustrator)

• Physics and Philosophy: The Revolution in Modern Science
  by Werner Heisenberg (Author)
• Physics and Beyond: Encounters and Conversations
  by Werner Heisenberg (Author), Arnold J. Pomerans (Translator)
• The Physical Principles of the Quantum Theory
  by Werner Heisenberg (Author), Carl Eckart (Translator), F.C. Hoyt (Translator)
• Philosophical Problems of Quantum Physics
  by Werner Heisenberg (Author)
• Encounters with Einstein
  by Werner Heisenberg (Author)
• Uncertainty: The Life and Science of Werner Heisenberg
  by David C. Cassidy (Author)

• Intelligent Universe: A New View of Creation and Evolution
  by Sir Fred Hoyle (Author)
• October the First Is Too Late
  by Fred Hoyle (Author), John Howard (Introduction)
• The Small World of Fred Hoyle
  by Sir Fred Hoyle (Author)
• Evolution from Space
  by Sir Fred Hoyle (Author), Chandra Wickramasinghe (Author)
• Diseases From Space
  by Fred Hoyle & N. C. Wickramasinghe (Author)
• Lifecloud: Origin of Life in the Universe
  by Fred Hoyle (Author), N.C. Wickramasinghe (Author)

• The Realm of the Nebulae
  by Edwin Hubble (Author)
• The Nature of Science
  by Edwin Hubble (Author)
• Edwin Hubble: Genius Discoverer of Galaxies (Genius Scientists and Their Genius Ideas)
  by Claire Datnow (Author)
• Edwin Hubble: Mariner of the Nebulae
  by Gale E. Christianson (Author)
• Edwin Hubble: American Astronomer
  by Mary Virginia Fox (Author)

• Georges Lemaître: Life, Science and Legacy
  by Rodney D. Holder (Editor), Simon Mitton (Editor)
• The Day Without Yesterday: Lemaitre, Einstein, and the Birth of Modern Cosmology
  by John Farrell (Author)

• El Origen de La Vida (Spanish Edition)
  by Alexander I. Oparin (Author)
• The Chemical Origin of Life
  by Alexander I. Oparin (Author), Ann Synge (Translator)
• Summary of Alexander Oparin's "The Origin of Life"
  by Ultano Kindelan Everett (Author)

• Atom and Archetype: The Pauli/Jung Letters, 1932-1958
  by C. G. Jung (Author), Wolfgang Pauli (Author), C. A. Meier (Editor), David Roscoe (Translator), Beverley Zabriskie (Preface)
• Theory of Relativity
  by W. Pauli (Author)
• The Innermost Kernel: Depth Psychology and Quantum Physics. Wolfgang Pauli's Dialogue with C.G. Jung
  by Suzanne Gieser (Author)
• Writings on Physics and Philosophy
  by Wolfgang Pauli (Author), Charles P. Enz (Editor), Karl v. Meyenn (Editor), R. Schlapp (Translator)
• General Principles of Quantum Mechanics
  by Wolfgang Pauli (Author), P. Achuthan (Translator), K. Venkatesan (Translator)
• Electrodynamics: Volume 1 of Pauli Lectures on Physics
  by Wolfgang Pauli (Author)
• Optics and the Theory of Electrons: Volume 2 of Pauli Lectures on Physics
  by Wolfgang Pauli (Author)
• Thermodynamics and the Kinetic Theory of Gases: Volume 3 of Pauli Lectures on Physics
  by Wolfgang Pauli (Author)
• Statistical Mechanics: Volume 4 of Pauli Lectures on Physics
  by Wolfgang Pauli (Author)
• Lectures on Physics: Wave Mechanics Volume 5
  by Wolfgang Pauli (Author), Charles P. Enz (Editor)
• Selected Topics in Field Quantization: Volume 6 of Pauli Lectures on Physics
  by Wolfgang Pauli (Author)

• Planck: Driven by Vision, Broken by War
  by Brandon R. Brown (Author)
• The Origin and Development of the Quantum Theory
  by Max Planck (Author)
• Treatise on Thermodynamics
  by Max Planck (Author)
• Eight Lectures on Theoretical Physics
  by Max Planck (Author), A. P. Willis (Translator)
• Scientific Autobiography and other papers
  by Max Planck (Author)
• The Theory Of Heat Radiation (1914)
  by Max Planck (Author), Morton Masius (Translator)
• Where Is Science Going?
  by Max Planck (Author)
• A Survey of Physical Theory
  by Max Planck (Author)
• The Theory of Heat Radiation
  by Max Planck (Author)

• A Force of Nature: The Frontier Genius of Ernest Rutherford
  by Richard Reeves (Author)
• Radioactive Transformations
  by Ernest Rutherford (Author)
• The Newer Alchemy
  by Ernest Rutherford (Author)
• Radio-activity
  by Ernest Rutherford (Author)
• Radioactive Substances and Their Radiations
  by Ernest Rutherford (Author)

• Memoirs
  by Andrei D. Sakharov (Author)
• Progress, Coexistence & Intellectual Freedom
  by Andrei D. Sakharov (Author)
• My Country and the World
  by Andrei D. Sakharov (Author)
• Moscow And Beyond, 1986 To 1989
  by Andrei D. Sakharov (Author), Antonina Bouis (Translator)
• Alarm and Hope
  by Andrei D. Sakharov (Author)
• Meeting the Demands of Reason: The Life and Thought of Andrei Sakharov
  by Jay Bergman (Author)
• Sakharov: A Biography
  by Richard Lourie (Author)

• What is Life?: With Mind and Matter and Autobiographical Sketches
  by Erwin Schrodinger (Author), Roger Penrose (Foreword)
• Letters on Wave Mechanics: Correspondence with H. A. Lorentz, Max Planck, and Erwin Schrödinger
  by Albert Einstein (Author), Martin J. Klein (Introduction), K. Przibram (Foreword)
• Schrödinger: Life and Thought
  by Walter Moore (Author)
• My View of the World
  by Erwin Schrodinger (Author)
• 'Nature and the Greeks' and 'Science and Humanism'
  by Erwin Schrodinger (Author)
• Statistical Thermodynamics
  by Erwin Schrodinger (Author)
• Collected Papers on Wave Mechanics
  by Erwin Schrodinger (Author)

• Beiträge zur photographischen Photometrie der Gestirne (German Edition)
  by Karl Schwarzschild (Author)
• 2nd Karl Schwarzschild Meeting on Gravitational Physics
  by Piero Nicolini (Editor), Matthias Kaminski (Editor), Jonas Mureika (Editor), Marcus Bleicher (Editor)
• Gesammelte Werke / Collected Works: Volumes 1-3 (Vol 1-3) (German and English Edition)
  by Karl Schwarzschild (Author), Hans-Heinrich Voigt (Editor)

• Gravitation
  by Charles W. Misner (Author, Introduction), Kip S. Thorne (Author, Introduction), John Archibald Wheeler (Author), David I. Kaiser (Preface)
• A Journey into Gravity and Spacetime
  by John Archibald Wheeler (Author)
• Magic without Magic: John Archibald Wheeler
  by John Archibald Wheeler (Author), John R. Klauder (Editor)
• Spacetime Physics
  by Edwin F. Taylor (Author), John Archibald Wheeler (Author)
• Exploring Black Holes: Introduction to General Relativity
  by Edwin F. Taylor (Author), John Archibald Wheeler (Author)
• Geons, Black Holes, and Quantum Foam: A Life in Physics
  by Kenneth W. Ford (Author), John Archibald Wheeler (Author)
• Quantum Theory and Measurement
  by John Archibald Wheeler (Editor), Wojciech Hubert Zurek (Editor)
• Gravitation and Inertia
  by Ignazio Ciufolini (Author), John Archibald Wheeler (Author)