An Interpretive Introduction to Quantum Field Theory Book

Imagine if you wanted to learn about painting, but the only books out there were either glossy coffee-table books or technical manuals for mixing colors, choosing brushes, and drawing perspective lines. This has been the situation facing those of us interested in learning about the quantum world. On the one hand, there are popular-level books and magazine articles, which can be excellent but rely on analogies and metaphors; on the other, there are textbooks, which are geared toward physicists who intend to apply the theory and need to learn all the calculational tricks.

This book plugs the gap. It is like a book on painting that gives you some details about how artists create works of beauty, but doesn't assume you actually want to be an artist yourself. Teller's book is mathematical and takes some effort to get through, but deepened my understanding of quantum physics in a way that no other book has done.

Its main flaw is that it's now out of date, in particular on renormalization. For that, I recommend the latest edition of Tony Zee's "Quantum FIeld Theory in a Nutshell".