I remember a couple of days on quarks and particle spin in high school physics, but I never made it past classical electromagnetism in college physics courses. And except for one class in "discrete" mathematics (set theory, graph theory, etc.) I didn't get much past basic differential equations in college math. Nevertheless, since I was a kid, I've always loved reading about advanced physics - not enough that I would be able to pass even the simplest college quiz, just enough to get the very big picture. Cosmos-level knowledge.

This week, I've been trying to find something to explain the current state of physics to me - Quantum Field Theory and beyond. Of course most of what's out there is pretty heavy that jumps right into the advanced math (gauge theories, Lie groups, Lagrangians, etc.). Dummies on lunch break are not the typical audience for this stuff. But this one, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Quantum Field Theory is pretty good at the big picture and doesn't require any heavy math to understand ('understand' in a very abstract way since many of the concepts thoroughly defy intuition). It's also clear that it's not trying to fool anyone into thinking any of this stuff can be truly understood without the math. But I'll take what I can get. Even imprecise and somewhat baffling analogies can be interesting.