I am trying to figure out particle physics on the side.
Sound boring? It’s not. I got interested in it after they announced the discovery of the Higgs particle at the CERN particle collider in Switzerland. A year later, I had the opportunity to visit there. They actually do tours of the place. Absolutely fascinating. I already have some of the relevant background in physics, chemistry, and math for this from my work. The math and science is just familiar enough, yet just different enough, to make trying to understand this stuff quite challenging yet doable with some effort: the perfect combination to engage me yet not lose me. It is a humbling, yet not quite humiliating, exercise.
This is the book I am trying to ploughing through right now:
https://www.amazon.com/Introduction...8201&s=gateway&sprefix=griffiths+parti&sr=8-2
It is amazing stuff: trying to understand how the universe is put together: it involves Einsteinian relativity, quantum mechanics, field theory, etc...
Once I get a handle on this, I hope to tackle string theory next! I have already read some non-technical math books on the subject, but want to eventually try to get a more technical understanding of it. I have learned that in this field, unless you understand the math, it really doesn’t make much sense.