Fill me in -- New to this

[FreshMeat]

Hi guys, I've just finished Grade 12 Physics, well almost, but regardless they cut us off at the most interesting part. Our class was just getting into Nuclear Reactors, Half Lives, and the seemingly infinite sub-atomic...energies I guess...(as well as anti-matter and all that other good stuff). I was just wondering if someone could maybe take some time to fill me in on the current theory or theories in development within the field of Quantum Physics, or perhaps suggest a book that might fill this gap within my brain. Thanks in advance to anyone that's able to help.

[chroot]

It would take several semesters of study and probably five textbooks to adequately fill you in on the state of the art in quantum theory -- so no one can do that for you here.

It'd be best to begin with a basic quantum mechanics textbook. I prefer "Introduction to Quantum Mechanics" by Griffiths. Note that you will be fairly considerable mathematical sophistication to study quantum mechanics -- differential equations, operator theory, and vector calculus are integral (no pun intended).

- Warren