Brian Cox's Top Book Recommendations

Want to know what books Brian Cox recommends? We've researched interviews, social media posts, podcasts, and articles to build a comprehensive list of Brian Cox's favorite book recommendations of all time. At Shortform, we know books. Our book guides are the best in the world. Learn why.

What is Real?: The Unfinished Quest for the Meaning of Quantum Physics

Adam Becker

4.4

Preview Summary

Every physicist agrees quantum mechanics is among humanity's finest scientific achievements. But ask what it means, and the result will be a brawl. For a century, most physicists have followed Niels Bohr's Copenhagen interpretation and dismissed questions about the reality underlying quantum physics as meaningless. A mishmash of solipsism and poor reasoning, Copenhagen endured, as Bohr's students

Recommended by Brian Cox.

Brian Cox

This great podcast from @seanmcarroll talking to David Albert about the measurement problem in Quantum Mechanics introduced me to a terrific book - What is Real? by Adam Becker. It’s fascinating on the history of QM, Bell’s theorem, Many Worlds .... https://t.co/Cl5cNMbjPq [source]

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Life Ascending: The Ten Great Inventions of Evolution

Nick Lane

4.3

“Original and awe-inspiring . . . an exhilarating tour of some of the most profound and important ideas in biology.”—New Scientist

Where does DNA come from? What is consciousness? How did the eye evolve? Drawing on a treasure trove of new scientific knowledge, Nick Lane expertly reconstructs evolution’s history by describing its ten greatest inventions—from sex and warmth to death—resulting in a s

Recommended by Brian Cox.

Brian Cox

@StrongLikeBear @ShalanSharma @Dagk Yes, that’s right. I think it’s correct to say that many biologists (not all) believe the step from prokaryote to eukaryote was highly unlikely. See for example Nick Lane’s Life Ascending - a great book for many reasons. [source]

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Empire of the Clouds: When Britain's Aircraft Ruled the World

James Hamilton-Paterson

4.4

In 1945 Britain was the world's leading designer and builder of aircraft - a world-class achievement that was not mere rhetoric. And what aircraft they were. The sleek Comet, the first jet airliner. The awesome delta-winged Vulcan, an intercontinental bomber that could be thrown about the sky like a fighter. The Hawker Hunter, the most beautiful fighter-jet ever built and the Lightning, which coul

Recommended by Brian Cox.

Brian Cox

@thestigmaster And I agree with you on this. There is a great book called Empire of the Clouds which describes how we damaged our aviation industry with a series of short-sighted political decisions in the late 60s and 70s. [source]

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Gravity: An Introduction to Einstein's General Relativity

James B. Hartle

4.2

The aim of this groundbreaking new book is to bring general relativity into the undergraduate curriculum and make this fundamental theory accessible to all physics majors. Using a "physics first" approach to the subject, renowned relativist James B. Hartle provides a fluent and accessible introduction that uses a minimum of new mathematics and is illustrated with a wealth of exciting applications.

Recommended by Brian Cox.

Brian Cox

@rationalist44 (1) is easy - there are two components, but for distant galaxies the so-called ‘proper motion’ is negligible. (2) You need a little GR. Look up cosmological redshift. The best intro text book in my view is Hartle - the calculation is in section 18.2. [source]