What is the state of physics now? Help me please

[Ludo]

You could try Brain Greene's "The Fabric of the Cosmos"
Very nice!

[Nigel]

yes, a good choice if you want to learn string theory; I'm reading the that now. However it you want a broader perspective and if you are up for a much fatter book with some illustrative math try Roger Penrose's The Road to Reality. It will provide a rich physics/math reading diet for several months with 1000 pages or more to digest. Very nourishing !

[Christopher]

This was just recommended to me, has not yet arrived, but apparently a good overview of modern physics.

Anastopoulos, Charis, Particle or Wave, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2008.

[Priscilla]

"The Fabric of the Cosmos" is good, as is "The Elegant Universe." I just finished "The Search for Symmetry, Superstrings, and the Theory of Everything" and enjoyed it very much.

[Nigel]

Christopher wrote: "This was just recommended to me, has not yet arrived, but apparently a good overview of modern physics.

Anastopoulos, Charis, Particle or Wave, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2008."

Having just finished Greene's Elegant Universe I was hesitant to plough directly into Fabric of the Cosmos. Instead I did a little 'light' reading of Feynman's QED which was brilliant - photonic pun intended ! I'm also finishing off The Cosmic Landscape: String Theory and the Illusion of Intelligent Design which was a good sequel to Greene's Elegant Universe but not quite as compellingly written.

[BBK]

Wow ! I m glad that I have found the group that I wanted to join.

[Dr M]

And if you want to find out that physics is more than string theory (yes, really!) you could give Robert Laughlin's A Different Universe a go. Or if you want to stick with particles but get a thorough popular-level introduction to what we actually know and how, I suggest Robert Oerter's The Theory of Almost Everything. Myself, I have recently started reading Manjit Kumar's Quantum, which is more history of science (quantum mechanics) than popular physics, but is still very inspiring, and so far very well-written.

[Martina]

I have just finished Physics of impossible...I like sci-fi novels and movies, so I it was fascinating to learn, what phenomena could be possible to do now, in the future or maybe never.Michio Kaku is great writer I guess..this was only my first book by him.

I can recommend also books by Marcus Chown
, Lee Smolin , Tony Hey
, Kip Thorne or George Gamow

[Ludo]

Hi Ash,
Physics is also about daily life! Using internet and ipads has à lot to do with physics!
Internet was invented at CERN. Looking for the Gods particle, is not only hybris but also extremely fascinating...
As an engineer I often asked myself : Technology is the answer. But what was the question?
It was the Age of Ivan Illich, Schumacher (Small is beautifull), and Radical Technology.
Physics as philosophy, art or even politics, are all great ways to look and investigate, understand and explain our world.
Looking back in history, learns us also that it is never finished and that is even more exciting.
Great scientists are inspiring us with their critical thinking but "The Theory of Everything" is never finished!

[Subhajit]

Do not get me wrong please, but I keep saying this that, physics is for lazy people. On a more serious note, what I mean is, the real study of physics is done in the mind and not through books, which can only act as guides to one's undying curiosity. For me, the currency to deal with here is curiosity.
Thank you all..:-)