Jim Al-Khalili is about to untangle the world's greatest science conundrums... ___________ How does the fact that it gets dark at night prove the Universe must have started with a big bang? Where are all the aliens? Why does the length of a piece of string vary depending on how fast it is moving? Our subject is 'perceived paradoxes' - questions or thought-experiments that on first encounter seem impossible to answer, but which science has been able to solve. Our tour of these mind-expanding puzzles will take us through some of the greatest hits of science - from Einstein's theories about space and time, to the latest ideas of how the quantum world works. Some of our paradoxes may be familiar, such as Schroedinger's famous cat, which is seemingly alive and dead at the same time; or the Grandfather Paradox - if you travelled back in time and killed your grandfather you would not have been born and would not therefore have killed your grandfather. Other paradoxes will be new to you, but no less bizarre and fascinating. In resolving our paradoxes we will have to travel to the furthest reaches of the Universe and explore the very essence of space and time. Hold on tight.

This is not a science book, nor even a book about science, although most of the contributors are scientists. It is a book of personal stories about Walter Kohn, a theoretical physicist and winner of half of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Walter Kohn originated and/or refined a number of very important theoretical approaches and concepts in solid-state physics. He is known in particular for Density-Functional Theory. This book represents a kind of "oral history" about him, gathered - in anticipation of his 80th birthday - from former students, collaborators, fellow-scientists, and friends.

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'Explores just about every area of life' DAILY MAIL 'If only Adam Rutherford and Hannah Fry were on tap to all of us, all the time . . . The pair have such a gift for making life, numbers and the forces at work in the universe all the richer, stranger, funnier and more marvellous.' Stephen Fry In Rutherford and Fry's comprehensive guidebook, they tell the complete story of the universe and absolutely everything in it - skipping over some of the boring parts. This is a celebration of the weirdness of the cosmos, the strangeness of humans and the fact that amid all the mess, we can somehow make sense of life. Our brains have evolved to tell us all sorts of things that feel intuitively right but just aren't true: the world looks flat, the stars seem fixed in the heavenly firmament, a day is 24 hours... This book is crammed full of tales of how stuff really works. With the power of science, Rutherford and Fry show us how to bypass our monkey-brains, taking us on a journey from the origin of time and space, via planets, galaxies, evolution, the dinosaurs, all the way into our minds, and wrestling with some truly head-scratching questions that only science can answer: What is time, and where does it come from? Why are animals the size and shape they are? How horoscopes work (Spoiler: they don't, but you think they do) Does my dog love me? Why nothing is truly round? Do you need your eyes to see? 'A wonderfully engaging blend of wit, enthusiasm, clarity and knowledge.' Bill Bryson 'Like the universe itself, this book is multi-faceted, surprising and full of wonders. It's also funny, wise and exceedingly brainy. You really owe it to yourself to read it.' Tim Harford, author of How To Make The World Add Up

Everyone who is ever likely to be born on to this planet could be fed to the highest standards of nutrition and gastronomy-and this could be done without cruelty, or destroying our fellow creatures. By 2050 we will need to feed 9.5 billion people-which is as big as the world population is ever likely to get. To achieve this we need only to design farming expressly for the purpose-what in this book is called Enlightened AgricultureA". Good Food for Everyone Forever describes what's needed, and why. Picking up from his earlier book, Feeding People is Easy, the author introduces his radically new Campaign for Real FarmingA", intended to bring about nothing less than a people's takeover of the world's food supplyA".

This unique volume applies physics and basic science to the mountain environment and is written in a non-technical language for curious laypeople who wonder why or how natural phenomena happen, and what their scientific explanation may be. The book discusses physics in a non-specialized way. Alpine Physics is mostly organized in categories relevant for non-scientists with an interest in alpine environments.Intuitive decision-making is often just grounded in plain common sense, to which mountain and nature lovers relate easily, especially when involving high-stakes decisions based on the estimation of such a treacherous environment. The book highlights how this intuitive decision-making can be complemented and augmented by basic scientific knowledge, and with better understanding it leads one to become a rational decision-maker.The book stimulates its readers to reason and discover why things are the way they are, at high altitudes, where many risk factors are aggravated, often dramatically, by steep gradients. The writing style marries that of the conventional science textbook and that of the informal North-American climbing guidebooks.

In Nature's Magic Peter Corning states that synergy--a vaguely familiar term to many of us--has been a wellspring of creativity in the natural world and has played a key role in the evolution of cooperation and complexity at all levels, from physics and chemistry to the latest human technologies. The 'Synergism Hypothesis' asserts that synergy is more than a class of interesting and ubiquitous effects. It has also been a major causal agency in evolution; it represents a unifying explanation for biological complexity and represents a different perspective on the evolutionary process. In contrast to gene-centered theories, or postulates of self-organization and emergent 'laws' of complexity, the Synergism Hypothesis represents, in essence, an 'economic' (or bio-economic) theory of complexity. Peter A. Corning, Ph.D., is the Director of the Institute for the Study of Complex Systems in Palo Alto, California. He has published numerous research papers and articles and three previous books, one of which was a theoretical monograph on the role of synergy in evolution, The Synergism Hypothesis: A Theory of Progressive Evolution (McGraw-Hill, 1983).

Thought the science of the future was all hoverboards and space travel? Think again.

Every day, scientists come up with the ingenious solutions and surprising discoveries that will define our future. So here, Jim Al-Khalili and his crack team of experts bin the crystal ball and use cutting-edge science to get a glimpse of what's in store.

From whether teleportation is really possible (spoiler: it is), to what we'll do if artificial intelligence takes over, What's Next? takes on the big questions. And along the way, it'll answer questions like: Will we find a cure to all diseases? An answer to climate change? Will bionics make us into superheroes?

Touching on everything from genetics to transport, and nanotechnology to teleportation, What's Next? is a fascinating, fun and informative look at what's in store for the human race.

Mathematics scares and depresses most of us, but politicians, journalists and everyone in power use numbers all the time to bamboozle us. Most maths is really simple - as easy as 2+2 in fact. Better still it can be understood without any jargon, any formulas - and in fact not even many numbers. Most of it is commonsense, and by using a few really simple principles one can quickly see when maths, statistics and numbers are being abused to play tricks - or create policies - which can waste millions of pounds. It is liberating to understand when numbers are telling the truth or being used to lie, whether it is health scares, the costs of government policies, the supposed risks of certain activities or the real burden of taxes.

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER AND RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK *Chosen as a Book of the Year by the Financial Times, Sunday Times, Daily Mail, Prospect, Guardian and The Times* This is the story of a race - not against other vaccines or other scientists, but against a deadly and devastating virus. On 1 January 2020, Sarah Gilbert, Professor of Vaccinology at Oxford University, read an article about four people in China with a strange pneumonia. Within two weeks, she and her team had designed a vaccine against a pathogen that no one had ever seen before. Less than 12 months later, vaccination was rolled out across the world to save millions of lives from Covid-19. In Vaxxers, we hear directly from Professor Gilbert and her colleague Dr Catherine Green as they reveal the inside story of making the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine and the cutting-edge science and sheer hard work behind it. This is their story of fighting a pandemic as ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. Sarah and Cath share the heart-stopping moments in the eye of the storm; they separate fact from fiction; they explain how they made a highly effective vaccine in record time with the eyes of the world watching; and they give us hope for the future. Vaxxers invites us into the lab to find out how science will save us from this pandemic, and how we can prepare for the inevitable next one.

'Brilliant and fascinating. No one is better at making the recondite accessible and exciting' Bill Bryson Britain's most famous mathematician takes us to the edge of knowledge to show us what we cannot know. Is the universe infinite? Do we know what happened before the Big Bang? Where is human consciousness located in the brain? And are there more undiscovered particles out there, beyond the Higgs boson? In the modern world, science is king: weekly headlines proclaim the latest scientific breakthroughs and numerous mathematical problems, once indecipherable, have now been solved. But are there limits to what we can discover about our physical universe? In this very personal journey to the edges of knowledge, Marcus du Sautoy investigates how leading experts in fields from quantum physics and cosmology, to sensory perception and neuroscience, have articulated the current lie of the land. In doing so, he travels to the very boundaries of understanding, questioning contradictory stories and consulting cutting edge data. Is it possible that we will one day know everything? Or are there fields of research that will always lie beyond the bounds of human comprehension? And if so, how do we cope with living in a universe where there are things that will forever transcend our understanding? In What We Cannot Know, Marcus du Sautoy leads us on a thought-provoking expedition to the furthest reaches of modern science. Prepare to be taken to the edge of knowledge to find out if there's anything we truly cannot know.

From the reviews: "If you find science fiction films thought-provoking, this could be the book for you....The scope of the book is wide, with a good grounding in basic physics and biology, and a lot of other information besides." New Scientist "The idea of using science fiction films to convey science in an interesting way is sound, and anyone preparing a course using the genre should at least consult this book." Nature By revealing the facts behind the fiction of some of the finest films in the sci-fi genre, Fantastic Voyages offers a novel approach to teaching science--namely, it uses scenes from science fiction films to illustrate fundamental concepts of physics, astronomy, and biology. Each film scene depicts a scientific principle--or its violation-reinforcing concepts that are taught in more traditional ways. The chapter Electricity and Magnetism discusses the use of computers in Blade Runner. Within Astronomy, 2001 is examined as it relates to ancient astronauts. And what could be a better choice for the chapter on evolution than Planet of the Apes. Helpful end-of-chapter exercises are included, together with more than 20 movie stills. The new edition will have add material on astronomy and astrophysics as well as discussing several movies that have come out since the publication of the first edition.

"Entertaining and informative."
–– Julius Schwartz, Editor Emeritus, DC Comics

Praise for The Science of Superheroes

"We comics fans have known it for years, of course: somewhere, in some nether dimension or on some alternate world, there is an Earth on which superheroes are real . . . and now Lois Gresh and Bob Weinberg have shown us how that’s possible. To paraphrase an old DC Comics feature: Science says you’re wrong if you believe that The Science of Superheroes isn’t more fun than a barrel of genetically altered winged monkeys."
–– Roy Thomas, writer and editor of X-Men, Fantastic Four, The Incredible Hulk, Superman, Justice League of America, Legion of Superheroes, Star Wars, and many other comic book classics

"Weinberg and Gresh tell it like it is–– and how it would be, if our favorite comic book characters actually existed. The Science of Superheroes is a fascinating and entertaining examination of everything from astrophysics to genetic biology to the evolution of the ‘superhero.’ "
–– Mark Powers, editor of X-Men and Uncanny X-Men

The Science of Superheroes takes a lighthearted but clear-headed look at the real science that underlies some of the greatest superhero comic books of all time, including Spider-Man, Batman, Fantastic Four, and many more. Each chapter presents the story of the origin of one or more superheroes and asks intriguing questions that lead to fascinating discussions about the limits of science, the laws of nature, and the future of technology.

If gamma rays can’t turn a 128-pound weakling into the Incredible Hulk, what could? Are Spider-Man’s powers really those of a spider? Could a person ever breathe water like a fish? From telepathy to teleportation, from cloning to cosmic rays, this vastly entertaining romp through the nexus of science and fantasy separates the possible from the plausible and the barely plausible from the utterly ridiculous.

Der erste Kontakt.- Routenplanung, was ist das?- Gestatten, Graph.- Gewicht ist Pflicht.- Eine ungefahrliche Explosion.- Kurzstrecke oder nicht? Das ist hier die Frage - Lokal entscheiden, global optimieren.- Am Anfang war der Input.- Negativ ist negativ, - Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten.- Weibliche Intuition.- Die Arbeit vor der Arbeit.- Baumchen wechsle dich - Prim, ohne Zahlen.- Nimm, was du kriegen kannst .- Arbor-was?.- Studieren geht uber flanieren.- Spannung ohne Strom.- Eulersch oder nicht, was fur ein Gedicht.- Euler und der Nikolaus.- Heute flaniert die Mullabfuhr.- Paarungszeit.- Post aus China.- Schach-Matt?.- Platonische Liebe?.- Notorisch Problematisch.- Not eines Handlungsreisenden.- Weniger ist mehr.-150-prozentig.- Bonsai.- Gar nicht so platonisch.- Der Erfolg des Handlungsreisenden.

Franz Liszt is well known for his early years as 'super-star' pianist who excited audiences throughout Europe, but his later life is also of great interest. In his final 25 years he sought to achieve his life's aims of promoting new forms of music and giving stronger witness to his Christian faith, while continuing to support his stalwart life partner Princess Carolyne. However, he was to face unexpected problems in the continued negative reception of his music and recrimination in his closest relationship. Drawing on detailed analysis of Liszt's correspondence from his fiftieth year onwards, Peter Coleman approaches his later life as a case study of an older person grappling with a succession of often disturbing life experiences. These included the deaths of two of his children, political upheaval and war within Europe, and a growing realisation of his own past failings. Liszt suffered frequent bouts of depression but never ceased composing music nor steadfastly heeding Christ's command to bear one's cross. This sensitive treatment of an extraordinary individual will appeal to the scholar and general reader alike.

A wealth of evidence for doubters and disbelievers

"Whether it’s the latest shark cartilage scam, or some new ‘repressed memory’ idiocy that besets you, I suggest you carry a copy of this dictionary at all times, or at least have it within reach as first aid for psychic attacks. We need all the help we can get."
–James Randi, President, James Randi Educational Foundation, randi.org

"From alternative medicine, aliens, and psychics to the farthest shores of science and beyond, Robert Carroll presents a fascinating look at some of humanity’s most strange and wonderful ideas. Refreshing and witty, both believers and unbelievers will find this compendium complete and captivating. Buy this book and feed your head!"
–Clifford Pickover, author of The Stars of Heaven and Dreaming the Future

"A refreshing compendium of clear thinking, a welcome and potent antidote to the reams of books on the supernatural and pseudoscientific."
–John Allen Paulos, author of Innumeracy and A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper

"This book covers an amazing range of topics and can protect many people from being scammed."
–Stephen Barrett, M.D., quackwatch.org

Featuring close to 400 definitions, arguments, and essays on topics ranging from acupuncture to zombies, The Skeptic’s Dictionary is a lively, commonsense trove of detailed information on all things supernatural, occult, paranormal, and pseudoscientific. It covers such categories as alternative medicine; cryptozoology; extraterrestrials and UFOs; frauds and hoaxes; junk science; logic and perception; New Age energy; and the psychic. For the open-minded seeker, the soft or hardened skeptic, and the believing doubter, this book offers a remarkable range of information that puts to the test the best arguments of true believers.

This book recalls, for nonscientific readers, the history of quantum mechanics, the main points of its interpretation, and Einstein's objections to it, together with the responses engendered by his arguments. Most popular discussions on the strange aspects of quantum mechanics ignore the fundamental fact that Einstein was correct in his insistence that the theory does not directly describe reality. While that fact does not remove the theory's counterintuitive features, it casts them in a different light.Context is provided by following the history of two central aspects of physics: the elucidation of the basic structure of the world made up of particles, and the explanation, as well as the prediction, of how objects move. This history, prior to quantum mechanics, reveals that whereas theories and discoveries concerning the structure of nature became increasingly realistic, the laws of motion, even as they became more powerful, became more and more abstract and remote from intuitive notions of reality. Newton's laws of motion gained their abstract power by sacrificing direct and intuitive contact with real experience. Arriving 250 years after Newton, the break with a direct description of reality embodied in quantum mechanics was nevertheless profound.

A fascinating collection of stories about key Firsts in science

Pythagoras intuited that the earth was round.

Charles Darwin discovered the source of nature’s intricate diversity.

Marie Curie traced radioactivity to the atom.

Edwin Hubble discovered the expanding universe.

Albert Einstein reshaped our views of matter and energy, space and time.

Lynn Margulis showed that nature is far more promiscuous and creative than Darwin dreamed.

These brilliant men and women are part of a very special group–scientists who made truly original, groundbreaking discoveries. Science Firsts tells the stories of thirty-five of the most important firsts in the history of science. You’ll encounter such extraordinary figures as Enrico Fermi, the first to unleash the power of the atom; Joseph Priestley, the first to produce oxygen and glimpse photosynthesis in action; and Guglielmo Marconi, the first to make wireless communication a reality. Science Firsts reveals how these incredible minds ventured into previously unseen territory to satisfy their hunger for knowledge and, in doing so, changed the course of history.

"Nothing to sneeze at."–Time

Acclaim for The Secret Life of Dust

"You will never again look disparagingly upon dust. Hannah Holmes has written my favorite kind of book––one that takes a seemingly mundane subject and trumpets its significance in our lives not only on Earth, but in the Heavens."
–– Dr. Neil de Grasse Tyson, Director, Hayden Planetarium and author of One Universe: At Home in the Cosmos

"A fascinating journey into the unseen flecks that underpin our world and those beyond."
–– Peter Tyson, author of The Eighth Continent

"Witty, interesting, and absolutely terrifying."
–– Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"An excellent work. Dust is small, but The Secret Life of Dust is a big, and fun, accomplishment."
–– Austin American-Statesman

"Few browsers will put science writer Hannah Holmes’ latest volume down without adding it to their to-be-read list."
–– Dallas Morning News

"Worth the price on its dust jacket. Holmes’ book belongs on your shelf, in a dusty nook between the works of Diane Ackerman and John McPhee."
–– Chicago Tribune

"It’s an entertaining little book. . . . After reading The Secret Life of Dust, the fluff in your vacuum cleaner will never look quite the same again."
–– New Scientist

"An unusual perspective on things we don’t notice."
–– The Sunday Times

"Hannah Holmes is a science writer to watch. Who ever thought dust could so shine?"
–– Kirkus Reviews

Mainstream science has long dismissed astrology as a form of primitive superstition, despite or perhaps even because of its huge popular interest. From daily horoscopes to in-depth and personalized star forecasts, astrology, for many, plays a crucial role in the organization of everyday life. Present-day scholars and scientists remain baffled as to why this pseudo-science exercises such control over supposedly modern, rational and enlightened individuals, yet so far they have failed to produce any meaningful analysis of why it impacts on so many lives and what lies behind its popular appeal. Moving beyond scientific scepticism, Astrology, Science and Culture finally fills the gap by probing deeply into the meaning and importance of this extraordinary belief system. From the dawn of pre-history, humankind has had an intimate connection with the stars. With its roots in the Neolithic culture of Europe and the Middle East, astrology was traditionally heralded as a divinatory language. Willis and Curry argue that, contrary to contemporary understanding including that of most astrologers astrology was originally, and remains, a divinatory practice. Tackling its rich and controversial history, its problematic relationship to Jungian theory, and attempts to prove its grounding in objective reality, this book not only persuasively demonstrates that astrology is far more than a superstitious relic of years gone by, but that it enables a fundamental critique of the scientism of its opponents. Groundbreaking in its reconciliation of astrologys ancient traditions and its modern day usage, this book impressively unites philosophy, science, anthropology, and history, to produce a powerful exploration of astrology, past and present.

Mainstream science has long dismissed astrology as a form of primitive superstition, despite or perhaps even because of its huge popular interest. From daily horoscopes to in-depth and personalized star forecasts, astrology, for many, plays a crucial role in the organization of everyday life. Present-day scholars and scientists remain baffled as to why this pseudo-science exercises such control over supposedly modern, rational and enlightened individuals, yet so far they have failed to produce any meaningful analysis of why it impacts on so many lives and what lies behind its popular appeal. Moving beyond scientific scepticism, Astrology, Science and Culture finally fills the gap by probing deeply into the meaning and importance of this extraordinary belief system. From the dawn of pre-history, humankind has had an intimate connection with the stars. With its roots in the Neolithic culture of Europe and the Middle East, astrology was traditionally heralded as a divinatory language. Willis and Curry argue that, contrary to contemporary understanding including that of most astrologers astrology was originally, and remains, a divinatory practice. Tackling its rich and controversial history, its problematic relationship to Jungian theory, and attempts to prove its grounding in objective reality, this book not only persuasively demonstrates that astrology is far more than a superstitious relic of years gone by, but that it enables a fundamental critique of the scientism of its opponents. Groundbreaking in its reconciliation of astrologys ancient traditions and its modern day usage, this book impressively unites philosophy, science, anthropology, and history, to produce a powerful exploration of astrology, past and present.

Die nach Inhalt, Methode und sozialer Relevanz durchgreifenden Umwalzungen in Mathematik, Astronomie, Physik, Chemie, Biologie und Geographie sowie in Naturphilosophie und wissenschaftlichen Organisationsformen wahrend des 16./17. und des beginnenden 18. Jahrhunderts werden in der Historiographie der Wissenschaften mit dem Sammelbegriff Wissenschaftliche Revolution schlechthin bezeichnet. Der Autor beschreibt in seinem Buch markante Hohepunkte jenes Prozesses, auf denen ganz wesentlich unsere heutige Wissenschaft gegrundet ist. Um die geistigen Wendungen und die Personlichkeiten hervortreten zu lassen, wurde grosser Wert auf authentische Ausserungen jener Wissenschaftler gelegt."

"‘Dirty! Don’t touch! Yuck! Feh! You don’t know where it’s been!’ These admonitions ring in our ears–for some of us our earliest memories of parental exhortation, for others the indelible mark of our deepest fears. Germs, as we know, are everywhere, lying in wait to attack the inadequately vigilant or insufficiently armed, gangs of serial killers on a random search for their next victim. We do not mock. Well, maybe we mock a little, but in fact, mother (or father) does sometimes know best–some germs can be very nasty invaders indeed. Yet we live in a world of microbes–some dreadful, some harmless, some essential to our continued life on earth. Knowing which to avoid, which to eliminate, and which just to live happily with can turn fearful warnings into reasoned discourse, and trembling terror into intelligent action."
––From the Preface

What do microbes have to do with your pets, your kids, your supermarket, your laundry, your sex life, your vacation at the beach, and your dinner plans for Saturday night? Plenty, as it turns out, and you’ll learn all about it in Where the Germs Are.

This doesn’t mean you have to panic, run out and buy every one of the more than 700 antibacterial products now on the market, dress in surgical scrubs, or live in a plastic bubble. In fact, most of the germs we live with are harmless, and some are positively delightful–like the ones that make grapes into wine, give yogurt its tang and cheeses their multitude of flavors, and lend sourdough bread its satisfying bite and aroma. But of course there are a nasty few that it would be good to avoid, and avoiding them means knowing something of the way they behave. Where the Germs Are is an intelligent, well-informed, scientifically accurate, and often delightfully funny guide to microbe country. Why not stop by for a spell–after all, you’re already there.

In vielen Wissenschafts- und Technikzweigen ist der praktische Nutzen der Bionik anerkannt. Die Losung technischer Probleme mit Hilfe biologisch motivierter Prinzipien wird erfolgreich praktiziert. Aussen vor blieb jedoch bisher die Verstandigung zwischen den beteiligten Wissenschaftszweigen.

Dieses Buch gibt einen aktuellen Uberblick uber die unterschiedlichen Forschungsfelder, angefangen von Optimierungsstrategien in der Robotik uber Adaptive Beinprothesen, Informationsverarbeitung in naturlichen und kunstlichen Systemen, Optimierungsstrategien in der Industrie bis hin zu Philosophischen Aspekten der Bionik. Somit unterstutzt es erstmals einen Diskurs zwischen den Disziplinen und ermoglicht einen Austausch zwischen Forschern unterschiedlicher Fachgebiete. Die Beitrage sind allgemein verstandlich geschrieben und wagen einen Blick in die Zukunft spannender Forschungsaufgaben."

Totality: The Great American Eclipses is a complete guide to the most stunning of celestial sights, total eclipses of the Sun. It focuses on the eclipses of August 21, 2017 and April 8, 2024 that pass across the United States. The U.S. mainland has not experienced a total solar eclipse since 1979. This book provides information, photographs, and illustrations to help the public understand and safely enjoy all aspects of these eclipses including: How to observe a total eclipse of the Sun How to photograph and video record an eclipse Why solar eclipses happen The earliest attempts to understand and predict eclipses The mythology and folklore of eclipses The response of animals to total solar eclipses The response of man to total eclipses through time How scientists used total eclipses to understand how the Sun works How astronomers used a total solar eclipse in 1919 to confirm Einstein's general theory of relativity Weather prospects for the 2017 eclipse Detailed maps of the path of totality for the 2017 eclipse and the eclipses of 2018 through 2024 Precise local times for the eclipses of 2017 and 2024 (the next total solar eclipse to visit the U.S.) Color and black-and-white photographs, diagrams, and charts to illustrate and explain total solar eclipses Global maps of total solar eclipses from 2017 to 2045 and lists of total and annual solar eclipses from 1970 through 2070