---
title: Modern Physics
description: This field examines twentieth-century developments that transformed our understanding of the universe, focusing on relativity and quantum mechanics. Learners will understand wave-particle duality, atomic structure, nuclear reactions, and the limitations of classical physics.
category: sciences
subcategory: physics
difficulty: beginner, intermediate, advanced
url: /subject/modern-physics
---

# Modern Physics

This field examines twentieth-century developments that transformed our understanding of the universe, focusing on relativity and quantum mechanics. Learners will understand wave-particle duality, atomic structure, nuclear reactions, and the limitations of classical physics.

## Available Resources

1 Books • 3 Courses • 1 Websites

## Websites

### 1. The Theoretical Minimum

Home of Leonard Susskind's Stanford continuing-education lecture series, with free video courses on classical mechanics, quantum mechanics, special and general relativity, cosmology, and statistical mechanics. Viewers build the minimum mathematical grounding needed to follow modern theoretical physics.

**Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free

**Link:** https://theoreticalminimum.com/

**Tags:** theoretical-physics, quantum-mechanics, general-relativity, classical-mechanics, stanford-lectures

## Courses

### 1. Quantum Mechanics

Learn quantum mechanics from Leonard Susskind's renowned lectures. Explore the fundamentals of modern physics in this comprehensive course.

**Difficulty:** Advanced | **Price:** Free

**Link:** https://theoreticalminimum.com/courses/quantum-mechanics/2012/fall

**Tags:** quantum-mechanics, quantum-states, entanglement, theoretical-physics, stanford-lectures

### 2. Einstein, Oppenheimer, Feynman: Physics in the 20th Century (MIT STS.042J)

**Author:** David Kaiser

History of modern physics and physicists, from relativity and quantum mechanics to high-energy physics and cosmology, set in Imperial Britain, Nazi Germany, wartime America and the Cold War. 26 lecture videos, slides, readings and podcasts show how politics and institutions shaped science.

**Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free

**Link:** https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/sts-042-einstein-oppenheimer-feynman-physics-in-the-20th-century-fall-2020/

**Tags:** history-of-physics, quantum-mechanics-history, manhattan-project, cold-war-science, science-and-society

### 3. Quantum Physics I (MIT 8.04)

**Author:** Allan Adams, Matthew Evans, Barton Zwiebach

The experimental basis of quantum physics, wave mechanics, and the Schrödinger equation in one and three dimensions. 24 lecture videos, lecture notes, exams, and problem sets with solutions prepare learners to solve standard quantum systems and continue to 8.05.

**Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Price:** Free

**Link:** https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/8-04-quantum-physics-i-spring-2013/

**Tags:** quantum-mechanics, wave-mechanics, schrodinger-equation, wavefunctions, uncertainty-principle

## Books

### 1. Physics for Scientists and Engineers

**Author:** Raymond A. Serway

Calculus-based introductory physics textbook covering mechanics, thermodynamics, waves, electromagnetism, optics, and modern physics. Worked examples and large problem sets build the quantitative problem-solving habits expected in university engineering and physical-science sequences.

**Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid

**Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/0030283787?tag=edmonddante07-20

**Tags:** books, science-research, natural-science

---

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