When studying physics—or anything at all rigorously enough—one often falls prey to a certain degree of misology. Not all of it is fun and not all of it is easy; this is the bitter truth. When solving problems, working through textbooks, or learning ideas that go above your head, you will be frustrated. It’s then easy to forget why you began with physics in the first place. This is where really, really good (and non-speculative) popular books on physics come in handy: they inspire, they encourage, and they help you keep the big picture in mind.

For the others who lack formal background with Physics and want somewhere to begin, the books here are a great place. Needless to say, they are in no way a substitution for rigorously motivated physics. They only serve as quasi-qualitative descriptions of the universe and the laws that govern it.

So, here are a handful of popular physics books, ranked in general consensus of the order of difficulty. Easy, ones are those that primarily require no mathematical background. They’re qualitative descriptions of the universe and are a great place to begin if you lack technical background. The Medium, label is reserved for those works that do require some technical background in mathematics and do a good job at providing a bird’s eye view. Difficult ones typically go the extra mile in explaining ideas without speculation. Naturally, they require more dedication and commitment than the others.

• The First Three Minutes by Steven Weinberg. ****An account of the Big Bang by one of the most brilliant physicists of all time. “It’s just a really great description of the beginning of the universe, and almost every book on cosmology will include some variants of Weinberg’s description because he walks through it in such a clear way. It’s a relatively slim volume, in which he describes what happened in the first three minutes of the Big Bang, as it was known and understood back then (1977). We’ve learned a fair amount since then and some of the details in his original version are a little off, but the basic picture is still incredibly accurate.”—David Goldberg, Physicist.
• The Character of Physical Law by Richard Feynman. a series of seven lectures concerning the nature of the laws of physics, ****delivered by Feynman in 1964 at Cornell University, as part of the Messenger Lectures series. The text is a statement of what is most remarkable in nature.
• A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking. A popular introduction to the fundamental concepts of physics, including the nature of time, the big bang theory, and the concept of black holes. Presented by one of the most prolific cosmologists of all time.
• The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene. An engaging and lucid account of string theory. Greene covers an astonishing amount of material in simple and clearly written, non-technical and non-mathematical language.
• The Big Picture by Sean Carroll. An exploration of the universe from the smallest particles to the largest questions about meaning and purpose. Physics and philosophy in tandem.
• The God Particle by Leon Lederman. An extraordinarily accessible and enormously witty tour of the history of particle physics. From the Greeks' earliest scientific observations through Einstein and beyond in an inspiring celebration of human curiosity.
• The Particle Odyssey by Frank Close. A brilliant popular introduction to particle physics and its history, beautifully illustrated with amazing figures and photographs.
• Six Easy Pieces by Richard Feynman. These lectures represent the most accessible material from the series. This is perhaps the most concise bird’s eye view of physics as a discipline itself.
• Six Not-So-Easy Pieces: Einstein's Relativity, Symmetry, and Space-Time by Richard Feynman. ****Though slightly more challenging than the first six, these lectures are more focused, delving into the most revolutionary discovery in twentieth-century physics: Einstein’s Theory of Relativity.
• Black Holes and Time Warps by Kip Thorne. Kip Thorne’s concise introduction to general relativity. It provides an illustrated overview of the history and development of black hole theory, from its roots in Newtonian mechanics until the early 1990s.
• The Theoretical Minimum by Leonard Susskind and George Hrabovsky. A solid introduction to classical mechanics, quantum mechanics, classical field theory, and special relativity. These courses collectively teach everything required to gain a basic understanding of each area of modern physics including all of the fundamental mathematics.
• The Feynman Lectures on Physics by Richard Feynman. Feynman's Lectures are essential readings for everyone interested in physics. They are highly regarded for their clear explanations and deep insights into the fundamental principles of physics.
• “The Fabric of the Cosmos” by Brian Greene. This book explores the fundamental nature of the universe, including the concept of space and time, the structure of the cosmos, and the nature of reality.
• “The Cosmic Landscape” by Leonard Susskind. This book explores the concept of string theory and the ways in which it can be used to understand the fundamental nature of the universe. It is written in a technical style and is intended for readers with a strong background in physics or mathematics.