“QED and the Men Who Made It” [1] might be close to what you’re after for quantum theory at least. Unlike other popular accounts, it gets quite technical and co

“QED and the Men Who Made It” [1] might be close to what you’re after for quantum theory at least. Unlike other popular accounts, it gets quite technical and covers a lot of the historical dead ends that people had during the development of quantum field theory. [1] https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691033273/qed-and-the-men-who-made-it https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691033273/qe...