Recommended Physics Reading

Ok so time and again I've seen the question of what books one should read to develop an interest in physics and to bridge the gap between A-level and degree. I was thinking maybe we should create a list of interesting and informative books that are useful and advisable to read. Obviously only post those that you would recommend, not every book you have ever read . If you could post title, author and a small description that would be grand

For a more complete and up to date list of recommendations based on this thread and it's sister thread then see the associated article in the TSR Wiki

Astrophysics & Cosmology

A Brief History of Time - Stephen Hawking
Not as good as its mythological status suggests but definitely worth a read to give a broad overview of cosmology. A little out of date now, and a little mind blowing in places but it certainly opens your eyes to the principles of cosmology. Nothing really in the way of scary mathematics.

Universe in a Nutshell - Stephen Hawking
The sequel to the above, written in 2001 it brings the reader up to date, focussing mainly on the theory of branes and M-theory, which leads on from string theory. A lot more pretty pictures in this one, but again quite involved conceptually, and somewhat biased towards set theories.

The Elegant Universe - Brian Greene
Another of these mythical "must read" books which has become extremely popular of late. For all its popularity make no mistake that it is not an easy read. Its pitched at quite a high level but does give just about everything on string theory you could possibly want to know. It's also very biased towards string theory. Read it if you like, but in my opinion there are far better books out there. Save yourself the trouble and watch the TV series.

Blackholes and Timewarps: Einstein's Outrageous Legacy - Kip Thorne
A really excellent book that I would really recommend. It's quite difficult to obtain, and rather epic in proportions but it covers all areas of astronomy, right through from relativity to black holes to the search for gravity waves. I particularly like the way it focusses on the scientific method, and how physics at that level operates in research groups.

The First Three Minutes - Steven Weinberg
This is a book that is always highly recommended. It's very well explained to the lay person (but with gloassarys and mathematical stuff at the end for those who want it) and focusses more on a step by step occurance of what happened in the first 3 minutes after the big bang, in a level of detail not covered elsewhere. It does have one drawback, and that is it is seriously starting to show its age. It shows just how far astronomy has come in the last 25 years as many areas known today are not mentioned, and often he guards his back against the then latest (and now accepted theories) by describing others. Inflation is not mentioned at all. If you bear this in mind though, its worth a read just for being well-written and slightly different in topic.

Just Six Numbers - Martin Rees
Written by the Astronomer Royal this book takes a slightly different tact, focussing on 6 dimensionless fundamental constants of nature and looking at how these affect the way the universe is today. It basically tells the story of the development of the universe through these 6 numbers. It tries to be different, but is basically the same story from a different angle. Worthy of a read though.

In Search of the Big Bang - John Gribbin
Very much a pop science book, and like most John Gribbin books probably not entirely accurate, but it is an enthralling read about the history of the universe and how the theories we believe today came about. It includes a bit on string theory, and in particular a discussion of the forces as existing in other dimensions... which in my experience is quite rare for a book.

Quantum

In Search of Schrodinger's Cat - John Gribbin
Again, not completely accurate and a little out of date now, but a compelling read for all that. It was this book which awoke my enthusiasm for quantum, which has remained ever since. It's all just so bizarre. The book is basically a history of quantum and how it came about, with some good analogies and a final discussion on how it is used in every day life.

Schrodinger's Kittens - John Gribbin
The sequel to the above, discussing the developments of quantum since the late 80s when the above was written. It mainly covers entanglement, doing quite a reasonable job of explaining it I must say. I think there is a small section on quantum computing also. Not as good as the above book but readable and interesting nonetheless for those with an interest in quantum.

QED - Richard Feynman
Not for the faint hearted. I have to confess I've never read this but you can never go wrong with Feynman. From what i know though, it is pitched at quite a high level, so I would advise leaving it til at least A2, and having read some more basic quantum books first.

Relativity
Relativity is quite hard to read on as the subject is necessarily complex and mathematical. There are not in my experience that many books out there pitched at a level readable by A-level students. The best you can do is to read the astro books above which do talk and discuss relativity at reasonable length. Books on time travel are another possibility

Special Relativity - A. P. French.
this is really a degree level text book, fairly widely used from what I can gather, but it is just about readable and understandable as a reading book and the maths is kept to a relative minimum. I wouldn't recommend it to those not totally confident with maths and physics as it is quite an advanced read.

Electromagnetism
Finding books on electromagnetism of a pop science nature is nigh on impossible. Electromagnetism necessarily requires high level of mathematical skill and understanding, on topics not covered at A-level (such as vector calculus and multiple integrals to name but two). If anyone can find any I'll include it, but in short I would avoid EM like the plague as it is enough to put anyone off physics for life if you aren't careful. You'll meet it soon enough at Uni if you go on that far

Historical

Great Physicists - William H. Cropper
I love this book. I take it to uni with me every term as its great to just dip into. It covers nearly every possible area of physics in surprising detail. It even gives explanations of some advanced mathematical topics such as vector calculus. It's set out as a biography of around 30 key physicists, arranged by area of physics, discussing in depth the lives of these greats and the detail behind what they discovered. I highly recommend this one.

General

Feynman Lectures In Physics (Vol I-III) - Richard Feynman
These are the classic lecture series books produced by Feynman which every student likes to claim to have read. I would not advise purchasing them (they are expensive) or indeed reading them cover to cover, but they do offer a different perspective of things and Feynman is unparallelled in his ability to explain. Make no mistake, these are degree level books, although they would not be useful as a core text book in any degree course you do. If you want lighter reading I suggest the extracts below.

Six Easy Pieces/ Six Not So Easy Pieces - Richard Feynman
These are the best bits from the above lectures in physics. The first is clealy simpler to read than the not so easy ones, as should be obvious from the title. I would definitely advise reading 6 easy pieces, just for the discussions of quantum. Feynman sees things differently too everyone else and his analogies are excellent.

The Meaning of it All - Richard Feynman
I've never actually read this one, I'mnot even sure what it's about. However, it was recommended to me by people in the know about these things before I applied to uni, and with Feynman you really can't go wrong. The only reason I haven't read it is that for thin book (as with all Feynman books) it isn't cheap.

A-level Standard Texts
Can't think of any at present