Any good sci-fi that features semi-accurate physics/science?

[AaronK]

I want to find some good examples of sci-fi where at least fairly solid science (physics if I'm being particular) is featured or explained prominently in the story? Even if the stories are just referencing theoretical work that hasn't yet been experimentally established (like superstring theory, just to use an example), I feel like that would be pretty refreshing amongst all the wildly imprecise and faulty stuff we've all come across while reading.

Any good books with that in mind?

 

[BillTre]

Well, The Martian (now also a major movie!) is an obvious recent choice.

 

[kochanskij]

An outstanding sci-fi book and movie is "Contact" by Carl Sagan.
His attempt to describe a method of superluminal travel in a scientific way led to modern physics research into wormholes.

 

[Noisy Rhysling]

The Mote In God's Eye and The Gripping Hand represent space travel realistically. No zipping between planets in two or three days. Niven and Pournelle say at one point that it was sometimes quicker to travel a shorter distance to a "Alderson Point" (wormhole) then travel around that solar system to another Alderson Point and do that yet again than it would be to travel from the original point of arrival in a system to the planet they're headed for. Imagine that you entered the solar system between outside the orbit of Pluto and Earth was on the other side of the Sun from your entry point. Obviously knowing all the Alderson Points would be a major help in this.