THE QUANTUM UNIVERSE: EVERYTHING THAT CAN HAPPEN DOES HAPPEN by Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw

 

Niels Bohr, the Danish physicist who invented rather a lot of Quantum Theory, said something along these lines: if you think you understand Quantum Physics then you don't. This book isn't easy, even if you are in the Sixth Form, but you wouldn't expect it to be, given what I've said about the topic. It is as clear an introduction to the topic as you'll find. Quantum Physics is wonderfully weird. It allows parallel universes and a lot of odd things. You won't understand it all whilst you're still at school but it will give you a great head start for future studies.

 

PS We've got more than one copy of this book - it's that important!

THE CHARACTER OF PHYSICAL LAW by Richard Feynman

 

The cool thing about Richard Feynman is that he never wrote a single book, but there are a lot out there claiming to be by Richard Feynman. What happened is that people taped him and then wrote it up. This book is the write-up of a series of lectures that he gave about how physicists use Mathematics in their study of the world and what it means to talk about the Laws of the Universe. Feynman is brilliant at explaining things. I like the explanation of the dissipation of energy in terms of drying yourself with a wet towel. He's my favourite physicist: he worked hard and was clever but never let the authorities push him around.

 

Someone has put all of Chapter 5 on the Internet

http://www.informationphilosopher.com/solutions/scientists/feynman/past_and_future.html

If you'd rather watch him give the lectures instead of reading the book, Bill Gates has paid to put them online: http://research.microsoft.com/apps/tools/tuva/#data=3%7C%7C%7C