Breakthrough: Spectacular Stories of Scientific Discovery from the Higgs Particle to Black Holes

Breakthrough: Spectacular Stories of Scientific Discovery from the Higgs Particle to Black Holes by Marcus Chown

This book looks at physics breakthroughs of the last century, with an emphasis on electromagnetism and quantum mechanics. The narrative works well with a good balance of personal details of the participants with stories of the physics and the actual breakthroughs. Stories include the prediction of Neptune with Urbain Le Verrier, electromagnetism with Maxwell and Faraday. Hertz, Hoyle and Dirac also get sufficient coverage.