Physics Reading and Personal Statement

Brief History of Time probably is the most clichéd. Apparently it's not even that well-written, my physics teacher discouraged us from reading it (even though she was inspired by it...). If it's used for a reason, it's because literally everybody who might think of applying for physics has heard of it.

I would recommend books from the Theoretical Minimum series by Leonard Susskind. They're halfway between a textbook and a popular science book, but it doesn't shy away from really getting into the meat of the topic and the derivations. Definitely start with the classical mechanics book, it's the most approachable of the three. It does go into quite advanced topics like Lagrangian and Hamiltonian mechanics. But if you're thinking of applying for physics you probably think that there isn't enough maths in the A-level to begin with.

There's also The Order of Time by Carlo Rovelli, it covers a very wide range of areas of physics while still keeping on one particular theme.

I'll have a look at getting those two books, they look great. I've came across one of Carlo Rovelli's lectures before.

Think one of the hardest parts of writing the statement is not throwing lots of books and lectures together, rather having a clear theme and link between them all, drawing on a couple points. I'm struggling to pick what to include and what to leave out!

Appreciate the response and reccomendations, thanks!

Check out the uni websites for a good place to start for their reading lists Don't forget you can do online lectures, listen to podcasts, read journal articles etc. too

Brief History of Time probably is the most clichéd. Apparently it's not even that well-written, my physics teacher discouraged us from reading it (even though she was inspired by it...). If it's used for a reason, it's because literally everybody who might think of applying for physics has heard of it.

I would recommend books from the Theoretical Minimum series by Leonard Susskind. They're halfway between a textbook and a popular science book, but it doesn't shy away from really getting into the meat of the topic and the derivations. Definitely start with the classical mechanics book, it's the most approachable of the three. It does go into quite advanced topics like Lagrangian and Hamiltonian mechanics. But if you're thinking of applying for physics you probably think that there isn't enough maths in the A-level to begin with.

There's also The Order of Time by Carlo Rovelli, it covers a very wide range of areas of physics while still keeping on one particular theme.

I’m looking to apply for Physics at university this year, and I’m looking for any good recommendations for Physics books I could read that would be beneficial for including in my Personal Statement? I’ve read Stephen Hawking’s ‘Brief Answers to the Big Questions’ and have started reading ‘A Brief History of Time’ however from what I’ve found, these seem to be quite cliche in personal statements - suppose they’re used for a reason though! Thank you!

brief history is the most popular one. Marcus chown is a good author

I have been reading through the classical mechanics - Leonard Susskind, and along with the accompanying lectures online I found, it has been very interesting. Thanks for the recommendation!
I had a look ahead at Lagrangian mechanics. I found it just as fascinating as challenging, trying to get a basic understanding of it!
Is it that the Lagrangian is a function from which you can find all the equations of motion you need, in any situation? And that by combining the functions of constraints, you can specify a particle’s dynamic nature?
Appreciate the recommendation again, hope you can shed some light on this, thank you!