Physics Books

Elementary Students:
LRFO = Let’s Read and Find Out early readers
Links that are crossed out are “broken links,” however, I have found that most of them actually do work if you click on them.

• What is Heat? by T. Munch
• Sun Up, Sun Down by Gail Gibbons
• What Is Light by Theodore W. Munch
• Day Light, Night Light: Where Light Comes From by Franklyn M. Branley (LRFO 2)
• A New True Book of Energy by Illa Podendorf
• Theodoric’s Rainbow by Stephen P. Kramer (PB)
• Simple Machines: Wheels, Levers, and Pulleys by David A. Adler (PB)
• How Do You Lift a Lion? by Robert E. Wells (PB)
• Floating and Sinking by Franklyn M. Branley (LRFO)
• Soap Science: A Science Book Bubbling with 36 Experiments by J. L. Bell (gr. 3-6, 64 p.)
• Junior Science Book of Electricity by Rocco V. Feravolo (64 p.)
• What is Sound by Gabriel H Reuben (46 p.)
• What Makes a Magnet? by Franklyn M. Branley (LRFO 2)
• Energy Makes Things Happen by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley (LRFO 2)
• Gravity Is a Mystery by Franklyn M. Branley (LRFO 2)
• Forces Make Things Move by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley (LRFO 2)
• Switch On, Switch Off by Melvin Berger (LRFO 2)
• Energy from the Sun by Melvin Berger (LRFO)
• Light Is All Around Us by Wendy Pfeffer (LRFO 2)
• Sounds All Around by Wendy Pfeffer (LRFO 1)
• The Listening Walk by Paul Showers (LRFO)
• What Is the World Made Of?: All About Solids, Liquids, and Gases by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld (LRFO 2)
• What Makes Light Go On by Scott Corbett (easier and shorter)
• More Power to You by Vicki Cobb (gr. 3-5, 50 p.)
• The World of Push and Pull by Earl Ubell (58 p.)
• Secrets of Sound: Studying the Calls and Songs of Whales, Elephants, and Birds by April Pulley Sayre (gr. 4-7, 64 p.)
• Heat and Its Uses by Irving Adler (48 p.)
• Magnets and How to Use Them by Tillie Pine (64 p.)
• Janice Van Cleave’s Physics for Every Kid (gr. 4+)
• The Bright Design: Electrical Energy and the Men Who Have Traced Its Patterns by Katherine Shippen (214 pp.)
• The Story of Electricity and Magnetism by Bernard Seeman
• Archimedes and the Door of Science by Jeanne Bendick
• Simple Machines texts:
  • Marbles, Roller Skates, Doorknob: Simple Machines That Are Really Wheels by Christopher Lampton
  • Seesaws, Nutcrackers, and Brooms: Simple Machines That Are Really Levers by Christopher Lampton
  • Sailboats, Flagpoles, Cranes: Using Pulleys as Simple Machines by Christopher Lampton
  • Bathtubs, Slides, Roller Coaster: Simple Machines That Are Really Inclined Planes by Christopher Lampton
  • The Story of the Atom by Mae and Ira Freeman (75 pages) *good additional resource

• For the Love of Physics by Walter Lewin (284 pgs) *I really liked this book – inspiring and fun.
• The Romance of Physics by Keith Gordon Irwin (240 pgs) *Biographies in chronological order.
• Physics Can Be Fun by Wilhelm Westphal
• Five Equations that Changed the World: The Power and Poetry of Mathematics by Michael Guillen *Great book
• Physics for the Inquiring Mind by Eric M. Rogers
• The Boy Scientist by John Bryan Lewellen (264 pgs)
• Mr. Tompkins in Paperback by George Gamow (186 pages) (“a delightful explanation of the central concepts in modern physics, from atomic structure to relativity, and quantum theory to fusion and fission” AND the original is “still thoroughly up-to-date except for particle physics and quarks” *My opinion is that it is still difficult.)
• Understanding Physics (vol 1) Motion, Sound and Heat by Isaac Asimov
• Understanding Physics (vol 2) Light, Magnetism and Electricity by Isaac Asimov
• Understanding Physics (vol 3) The Electron, Proton and Neutron by Isaac Asimov
• Six Easy Pieces by Richard P. Feynman *This is definitely not as much fun to read as 5 Equations That Changed the World. It has more information, but maybe more than is necessary at this level.
• Six Not-So-Easy Pieces by Richard P. Feynman
• 13 Things That Don’t Make Sense by Michael Brooks *some good chapters
• Basic Physics: A Self-Teaching Guide by Karl F. Kuhn

Quantum Physics:

• A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
• A Briefer History of Time by Stephen Hawking
• Seven Brief Lessons on Physics by Carlo Rovelli (96 pp.)
• Alice in Quantumland: An Allegory of Quantum Physics by Robert Gilmore
• Taking the Quantum Leap: The New Physics for Nonscientists by Fred Alan Wolf
• In Search Of Schroedinger’s Cat by John Gribbin
• Parallel Universes by Fred Alan Wolf
• Scrooge’s Cryptic Carol: Visions of Energy, Time, and Quantum Nature by Robert Gilmore
• The Age of Entanglement: When Quantum Physics was Reborn by Louisa Gilder
• The Amazing Story of Quantum Mechanics: A Math-Free Exploration of the Science that Made Our World by James Kakalios
• The Wizard of Quarks by Robert Gilmore
• Reality is Not What It Seems: the journey of Quantum Gravity by Carlo Rovelli (288 pp.)

Relativity:

• Five Equations that Changed the World by Michael Guillen, Chapter 5: Curiosity Killed the Lights (Albert Einstein and the Theory of Special Relativity) (52 pgs)
• Albert Einstein and the Theory of Relativity by Robert Cwiklik (173 pgs)
• Relativity Simply Explained by Martin Gardner
• E=Mc2: A Biography of the World’s Most Famous Equation by David Bodanis
• 13 Things That Don’t Make Sense by Michael Brooks, Chapter 2: Pioneer Anomaly
• Relativity and Quantum Mechanics: Principles of Modern Physics (Secrets of the Universe) by Paul Fleisher

Physics – The Cosmos

• see my astronomy page

Experiment:

• links/experiments: http://charlottemason.tripod.com/physics.html

Resources:

• Images of atoms: www.almaden.ibm.com/vis/stm/gallery.html
• Walter Lewin’s YouTube videos of him doing physics demonstrations
• Documentary: Einstein’s Big Idea
• Pick up a used physics textbook to reference when learning about the measurement of changes in matter and energy. Many physical laws, such as the speed of light or gravitational pull of the earth, cannot be quantitatively defined by human observation, therefore physics frequently uses mathematics to calculate forces at work.
• Basic Physics: A Self-Teaching Guide by Karl F. Kuhn

Biographies

• Isaac Newton by Harry Sootin (191 pp.)
• Isaac Newton: Mastermind of Modern Science by David Knight
• Sir Isaac Newton by Robert W. Houston
• Quest of Isaac Newton by Barbara & Myrick Land
• Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time by Dava Sobel (208 pp.)
• Michael Faraday, Father of Electronics by Charles Ludwig (224 pp.)
• Michael Faraday: From Errand Boy to Master Physicist by Harry Sootin (180 pp.)
• The Man Who Changed Everything: The Life of James Clerk Maxwell by Basil Mahon (256 pp.)
• Albert Einstein and the Theory of Relativity by Robert Cwiklik (192 pp.)
• Ordinary Genius: The Story of Albert Einstein by Stephanie McPherson (96 pp.)
• The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope by William Kamkwamba (270 pp.)
• Five Equations that Changed the World: The Power and Poetry of Mathematics by Michael Guillen (288 pp.)
• The Radar Man: The Story of Sir Robert Watson-Watt by John Rowland (143 pp.)
• The Man Who Transformed the World: James Watt by William D. Crane (179 pp.)
• Alessandro Volta and the Electric Battery by Bern Dibner (110 pp.)
• The Little Giant of Schenectady: A Story of Charles Steinmetz by Dorothy Markey (191 pp.)
• Steinmetz: Maker of Lightning by Sigmund Lavine (241 pp.)
• Father of Supersonic Flight: Theodor von Karman by D. S. Halacy, Jr. (185 pp.) 1881-1963
• Wernher von Braun by Heather M. David (240 pp.) 1912-1977
• Nikola Tesla: Giant of Electricity by Helen B. Walters (169 pp.) 1856-1943
• Electrical Genius: Nikola Tesla by Arthur J. Beckhard (186 pp.)
• Giant of the Atom: Ernest Rutherford by Robin McKown (185 pp.)
• Niels Bohr: The Man Who Mapped the Atom by Robert Silverberg (185 pp.)
• Enrico Fermi: Father of Atomic Power by Sam and Beryl Epstein (95 pp.)
• The Story of Atomic Energy by Laura Fermi (188 pp.)
• Marconi: Pioneer of Radio by Douglas Coe (256 pp.)
• Marconi: Father of Radio by David Gunston (124 pp.)
• Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen and the Discovery of X-Rays by Bern Dibner (128 pp.)
• Discoverer of X-Ray: Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen by Arnulf Esterer (186 pp.)
• Samuel Morse and the Electronic Age by Wilma Pitchford Hays (112 pp.)

 

I encourage you to check out Biblioguides, which now offers an SMH partner guide. They provide a list of all of the books on SMH, but with added information, including (when available) images of the book’s cover, a complete description, a look inside, and links to available digital versions. Also, with advanced search capabilities, you can find books that meet your qualifications. “Biblioguides gives you the resources and tools to discover the right book for the right person at the right moment.” They offer a free trial, so do check it out.