Brief Answers to the Big Questions is a wonderful collection of the late Stephen Hawking's musings on the "Big Questions". Not everyone will agree with all of his views, but it's difficult not to be inspired by the cosmic journey Hawking transports you through, and the heartfelt optimism he has for the future of humanity.
Here's a fascinating thing I learned about recently - how simple the origins of electromagnetism are.
In particle physics we have one of the most accurate and successful theories ever - the Standard Model - but there are many things about it that seem "out of place".
It's a phrase you'll often hear if you try and press physicists for answers to the most difficult questions. "What happens at the center of a black hole?", "What happened in the first moments of the Big Bang?" Modern physics is currently not advanced enough to be able to give answers to these questions.
To anyone who is confused about what it is exactly that theoretical physicists do, here is a brief yet broad summary of what we're trying to achieve.
One of the most puzzling mysteries of modern day Physics is why mathematics is such a useful tool for uncovering the workings of the universe. Although mathematics has always been the only acceptable language in which to phrase serious physics, letting mathematics guide the direction of physics is a late 20th/21st century revolution in scientific thinking.
The Platonic Realm 