I took a lot of physics classes in college, but I never had a good understanding of the subject until I read Asimov's "Understanding Physics." This edition (which is out of print, but can be purchased for as little as
$1.95 from Amazon's marketplace) is an anthology of three volumes that were previously published seperately: "Motion, Sound & Heat," "Light, Magnetism & Electricity," and "The Electron, Proton & Neutron." Yes, there are formulas in here, but they aren't difficult, and on the whole, this 800-page book is very readable. I've never been a big fan of Asimov's fiction, but he is a terrific science teacher. He turned on a lot of stubborn light switches in my head (like the one that explains "escape velocity').
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