Sixth Form Recommended Reading

Storm in a Teacup: The Physics of Everday Life Helen Czerski

Our world is full of patterns. If you pour milk into your tea and give it a stir, you'll see a swirl, a spiral of two fluids, before the two liquids mix completely. The same pattern is found elsewhere too. Look down on the Earth from space, and you'll find similar swirls in the clouds, made where warm air and cold air waltz. Helen Czerski links the little things we see every day with the big world we live in. Each chapter begins with something small - popcorn, coffee stains and refrigerator magnets - and uses it to explain some of the most important science and technology of our time.

Seeing Physics: 2,600 Years from Thales to Higgs by Don Lemons

Seeing Physics uses drawings to help explain 51 key ideas of physics in an accessible and engaging way. Arranged chronologically, it begins with Thales' discovery of triangulation, taking in Kepler's laws of planetary motion and Newton's cradle before explaining the hydrogen atom, general relativity, Higgs Boson and other important discoveries of the 20th and 21st centuries. Each discovery is placed in its historical context, revealing the controversies that once threatened the advance of modern science.

Mysteries of the Quantum Universe by Thibault Damour & Mathieu Burniat

Take an incredible journey through the quantum universe with explorer Bob and his dog Rick, as they travel through a world of wonders, talk to Einstein about atoms, hang out with Heisenberg on Heligoland and eat crepes with Max Planck. Along the way, we find out that a dog - much like a cat - can be both dead and alive, the gaze of a mouse can change the universe, and a comic book can actually make quantum physics fun, easy to understand and downright enchanting.