Among recent up to date writings about quantum mechanics intended for the layman what would you recommend?

Answer 1

Assuming that you are already familiar with the following older layman-style classics (and some NOT so classic and somewhat controversial works), like:

The Tao of Physics – Fritjof Capra
The Dancing Wu Li Masters – Gary Zukav
The Emperor’s New Mind – Roger Penrose
Perfect Symmetry – Heinz R. Pagels
The Cosmic Code – Heinz R. Pagels
Other Worlds – Paul Davis
The Edge of Infinity – Paul Davis
God and the New Physics – Paul Davis
QED – Richard Feynman
From X-rays to Quarks – Emilio Segrè
The Recursive Universe – William Poundstone
The Particle Connection – Christine Sutton
Quantum Reality – Nick Herbert
Star Wave – Fred Alan Wolf
Einstein’s Moon – F. David Peat
The Structure and Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics – R. I. G. Hughes
A Brief History of Time – Stephen W. Hawking
Relativity: The Special and the General Theory – Albert Einstein


Take a look at the following too:

Gödel, Escher, Bach – Douglas R. Hofstadter
Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah – Richard Bach
Essential Rumi – Jala al-Din Rumi, Coleman Barks
The Rumi Collection – Jelaludin Rumi, Kabir Helminski, Andrew Harvey
Chaos – James Gleick
Fuzzy Thinking – Bart Kosko


I would also strongly recommend that you read (reread) at least the following crucial philosophical works:

An Introduction to Metaphysics – Martin Heidegger
Being and Time – Martin Heidegger
Being and Nothingness – Jean Paul Sartre


Then you can look at the following newer stuff:

Speakable and Unspeakable in Quantum mechanics – J. S. Bell and Alain Aspect
The Elegant Universe – Brian Greene
The Fabric of the Cosmos – Brain Greene
The Road to Reality – Roger Penrose
The New Quantum Universe – Tony Hey and Patrick Walters
The Great Beyond – Paul Halpern
Symmetry and the Beautiful universe – Leon M. Lederman
The Universe in a Nutshell – Stephen W. Hawking
Sneaking a Look at God’s Cards – G. Chirardi and G. Malsbary
The Quantum World: Quantum Physics for Everyone – Kenneth W. Ford
Hyperspace – Michio Kaku
Beyond Einstein – Michio Kaku
Superstrings and the search for the Theory of Everything – F. David Peat
String Theory and M-Theory: A Modern Introduction (somewhat technical) – Katrin Becker, et al.
Our Superstring Universe – L. E. Lewis Jr.
Introduction to Superstrings and M-Theory (somewhat technical) – Michio Kaku, et al.


Well, read all that and you will cut ~ 2 months from the 20-year Transdimensional Anomalous study plan. :-)

BTW, don’t be giving us that lame excuse of: “I am not even sure if I have another 20 years”. If a history major can become one of the most famous physicists of our time (i.e. Ed Witten) then why cannot you – someone who has been dealing with the mathematical aspects of “I Ching” for the past 40+ years?

Answer 2

"The Elegant Universe" by Brian Greene...you can get it on Amazon.com.

"Universe" explains quantum mechanics in plain, simple language; no fancy words, no fancy equations, no fancy math. But what I like most about "Universe" is that it explains QM in the context of other, competing models of the fundamental forces of nature. Thus, we see how QM compares with the theory of relativity or with string theory, for examples.