I'm looking for something that is going to blow my mind without any scientistic ideas (e.g. something that sounds like science, but doesn't have anything in common with science), written by a professional physicist who spent a lot of time considering "what it all means". I'm reasonably proficient in math and stats, but I'd prefer something that I could spend time listening to in my free time.
Any recommendations on good and exciting books on quantum physics written by scientists?
I really enjoyed
though to be honest it's now getting uncomfortably close to fifteen years since I read it as a high school student, and I don't have my copy at hand to give it a critical assessment. As a high schooler I found it engaging and accessible, and if you want to you could see it as very successful in my case - it was my first introduction to quantum paths, and here I am working in the field a decade later, though I'm unsure that effect is uniform across its readership. As I recall, though, I looked it over a few years ago and didn't find anything that was worryingly inaccurate or misreepresentative of how modern quantum physicists see the field.
Try "What is Quantum Mechanics" by Transnational College of LEX. It is very unorthodox. Under the supervision of a Nobel Prize winner the book was assembled by a number of different people who had to discover quantum mechanics from the ground up. Amazon or your local library. Be sure it's the second edition.
I would like to recommend this book, the theoretic minimum: quantum mechanics written by Leonard Susskind. It is very nice to talk about many important points in quantum mechanics.
I would recommend Feynman lectures on physics vol 3. Where he discusses about quantum physics. Feynman is excellent in explaining hard concepts simply so almost anyone can understand.
I would also recommend introduction to quantum mechanics by David Griffiths. David Griffiths has written many educational books in physics and is very pedagogical.
I very much enjoyed "The Quantum Universe: Everything That Can Happen Does Happen", by Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw. I believe that it was written for a slightly-above-lay audience, so your knowledge of maths and stats should be more than sufficient to get through it. The book has a witty and conversational style, but is not in any way dumbed-down. Both authors are academics and public science communicators by trade: Jeff Forshaw is a Professor of Particle Physics at Manchester, where his co-author Brian Cox is an "Advanced Fellow" in the same field, and a well-known TV personality.
I should point out as an aside that the title "Professor" has more gravitas in the UK than in some other Western nations; specifically it is not equivalent to a lecturer. However, I was unable to produce the name of a specific Chair occupied by Jeff Forshaw.
