The full story of how our relationship with light shapes our health, productivity and mood.

'A sparkling and illuminating study, one of those rare books that could genuinely improve your life' Sunday Times

Since the dawn of time, humans have worshipped the sun. And with good reason. Our biology is set up to work in partnership with it. From our sleep cycles to our immune systems and our mental health, access to sunlight is crucial for living a happy and fulfilling life. New research suggests that our sun exposure over a lifetime - even before we were born - may shape our risk of developing a range of different illnesses, from depression to diabetes.

Bursting with cutting-edge science and eye-opening advice, Chasing the Sun explores the extraordinary significance of sunlight, from ancient solstice celebrations to modern sleep labs, and from the unexpected health benefits of sun exposure to what the Amish know about sleep that the rest of us don't.

As more of us move into light-polluted cities, spending our days in dim offices and our evenings watching brightly lit screens, we are in danger of losing something vital: our connection to the star that gave us life. It's a loss that could have far-reaching consequences that we're only just beginning to grasp.

Randall Munroe is . . .'Nerd royalty' Ben Goldacre 'Totally brilliant' Tim Harford 'Laugh-out-loud funny' Bill Gates 'Wonderful' Neil Gaiman AN INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The world's most entertaining and useless self-help guide, from the brilliant mind behind the wildly popular webcomic xkcd and the million-selling What If? and Thing Explainer For any task you might want to do, there's a right way, a wrong way, and a way so monumentally bad that no one would ever try it. How To is a guide to the third kind of approach. It's full of highly impractical advice for everything from landing a plane to digging a hole. 'How strange science can fix everyday problems' New Scientist 'A brilliant book: clamber in for a wild ride' Nature

Is planet earth the end of the line, or is space itself the next stop?
Cyberspace. It's incredible, taking us to any part of the planet we want to visit. But as Paul Levinson shows in his brilliant new book, when it comes to transport, we're still stuck in the past, preferring to take our bodies with us. Whether it's trains, yachts, scooters or pogo-sticks, we're compelled to keep moving, our movements curtailed only by the earth itself. In our imaginations however, we soar way past the limits of current technology.
With a lucid but reflective style that takes in everything from robots and science fiction to religion and philosophy, Paul Levinson asks why there is a deep seated human desire to know what's 'out there'. Why, after getting a man on the moon, did the US space program develop so slowly? In a world where space is constantly repackaged, how do we know what real space is? Is our desire to get into space natural, or a religious craving, and is it a modern phenomenon, or did our ancestors also dream of escaping the clutches of Mother Earth?
Jam-packed with exciting, innovative, even revolutionary thinking about our future, Realspace is essential reading for everyone who has ever sat at their desk, gazed into the distance and imagined boarding a space shuttle...

In a series of 50 accessible essays, Joanne Baker introduces and explains the fundamental physical concepts and laws that govern the inner workings of our universe. From Schrodinger's cat to Einstein's theory of relativity, energy conservation to speed of light, 50 Quantum Physics Ideas You Really Need to Know is a complete introduction to the most important quantum physics concepts in history.

'By the deepest thinker about this topic since Darwin' Daniel Gilbert, author of the bestseller Stumbling on Happiness

'Fascinating . . . a thought-provoking journey into emotion science' The Wall Street Journal

'This meticulous, well-researched, and deeply thought out book provides information about our emotions - what they are, where they come from, why we have them. For anyone who has struggled to reconcile brain and heart, this book will be a treasure; it explains the science without short-changing the humanism of its topic' Andrew Solomon, bestselling author of Far From the Tree and The Noonday Demon

When you feel anxious, angry, happy, or surprised, what's really going on inside of you?

Many scientists believe that emotions come from a specific part of the brain, triggered by the world around us. The thrill of seeing an old friend, the fear of losing someone we love - each of these sensations seems to arise automatically and uncontrollably from within us, finding expression on our faces and in our behaviour, carrying us away with the experience.

This understanding of emotion has been around since Plato. But what if it is wrong? In How Emotions Are Made, pioneering psychologist and neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett draws on the latest scientific evidence to reveal that our common-sense ideas about emotions are dramatically, even dangerously, out of date - and that we have been paying the price. Emotions aren't universally pre-programmed in our brains and bodies; rather they are psychological experiences that each of us constructs based on our unique personal history, physiology and environment.

This new view of emotions has serious implications: when judges issue lesser sentences for crimes of passion, when police officers fire at threatening suspects, or when doctors choose between one diagnosis and another, they're all, in some way, relying on the ancient assumption that emotions are hardwired into our brains and bodies. Revising that conception of emotion isn't just good science, Barrett shows; it's vital to our well-being and the health of society itself.

The Little Book of Planet Earth presents a concise description of the geological evolution of Earth from its formation. Meissner describes in detailed but accessible prose not just the planet's features, but the tools that modern geologists use to explore and track the ever-changing subterranean and surface features of the planet. With a particular gift for expressing how the forces in and around our planet constantly alter the world we live in, the author introduces lay readers to the key topics in modern earth and planetary science: the creation of Earth and its moon (as well as stars and other planets), the role of seismology in analyzing Earth's structure, the formation of mountain ranges and basins, the role of plate tectonics, the significance of Earth's magnetic field, and the complex relationship of our planet's geology to the life forms found there.

A one-stop resource that provides the most frequently needed information on the human genome What are the genes that manke-up the human genome, what do the genes do when they are acting properly, and what happens when these genes are damaged? Designed for today's reader who demands quick answers to a wide range of questions, The Human Genome Sourcebook is intended to offer the non-specialist an accessible but detailed guide to the genome. The information it provides is given context: namely, the basic scientific principles of genome research, the new knowledge unearthed or created by this research, and the social and ethical implications of this knowledge. The Human Genome Sourcebook is organized in several sections to simplify the location of pertinent information: an extensive section that comprises an in-depth catalogue of human genes listed according to the roles they play in life; a chapter that relates genetic diseases to the specific genes that cause the disease; a detailed glossary giving readers a deeper understanding of genetic terms and concepts; an overview or roadmap of the physical layout of the genome sections. provides both information as well as the tools necessary to access that information.. Provides in-depth information on the relationships between our genes and all aspects of our daily lives. Addresses health issues that are related to genetic abnormalities

An expert palaeoarchaeologist reveals how our understanding of the evolution of our species has been transformed by momentous discoveries and technological advancements. Who are we? How do scientists define Homo sapiens, and how does our species differ from the extinct hominins that came before us? This illuminating book explores how the latest scientific advances, especially in genetics, are revolutionizing our understanding of human evolution. Paul Pettitt reveals the extraordinary story of how our ancestors adapted to unforgiving and relentlessly changing climates, leading to remarkable innovations in art, technology and society that we are only now beginning to comprehend. Drawing on twenty-five years of experience in the field, Paul Pettitt immerses readers in the caves and rockshelters that provide evidence of our African origins, dispersals to the far reaches of Eurasia, Australasia and ultimately the Americas. Popular accounts of the evolution of Homo sapiens emphasize biomolecular research, notably genetics, but this book also draws from the wealth of information from specific excavations and artefacts, including the author's own investigations into the origins of art and how it evolved over its first 25,000 years. He focuses in particular on behaviour, using archaeological evidence to bring an intimate perspective on lives as they were lived in the almost unimaginably distant past.

#10 on Amazon Charts, USA Today Bestseller "This book is my best attempt to tell the truth about my research, the culture in science today which is hostile to new ideas, and what science can really do if allowed to pursue promising areas of inquiries."-Dr. Judy Mikovits, PhD This is a story for anybody interested in the peril and promise of science at the very highest levels in our country. On July 22, 2009, a special meeting was held with twenty-four leading scientists at the National Institutes of Health to discuss early findings that a newly discovered retrovirus was linked to chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), prostate cancer, lymphoma, and eventually neurodevelopmental disorders in children. When Dr. Judy Mikovits finished her presentation, the room was silent for a moment, then one of the scientists said, "Oh my God!" The resulting investigation would be like no other in science. For Dr. Mikovits, a twenty-year veteran of the National Cancer Institute, this was the midpoint of a five-year journey that would start with the founding of the Whittemore-Peterson Institute for Neuro-Immune Disease at the University of Nevada, Reno, and end with her as a witness for the federal government against her former employer, Harvey Whittemore, for illegal campaign contributions to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. On this journey Dr. Mikovits would face the scientific prejudices against CFS, wander into the minefield that is autism, and through it all struggle to maintain her faith in God and the profession to which she had dedicated her life.

A GUARDIAN, ECONOMIST AND PROSPECT BOOK OF THE YEAR 'A superb book' Simon Sebag Montefiore 'An empowering story of human ingenuity' Economist 'Full of curious facts' The Times Causes of death have changed irrevocably across time. In the course of a few centuries we have gone from a world where disease or violence were likely to strike anyone at any age, and where famine could be just one bad harvest away, to one where in many countries excess food is more of a problem than a lack of it. Why have the reasons we die changed so much? How is it that a century ago people died mainly from infectious disease, while today the leading causes of death in industrialised nations are heart disease and stroke? And what do changing causes of death reveal about how previous generations have lived? University of Manchester Professor Andrew Doig provides an eye-opening portrait of death throughout history, looking at particular causes - from infectious disease to genetic disease, violence to diet - who they affected, and the people who made it possible to overcome them. Along the way we hear about the long and torturous story of the discovery of vitamin C and its role in preventing scurvy; the Irish immigrant who opened the first washhouse for the poor of Liverpool, and in so doing educated the public on the importance of cleanliness in combating disease; and the Church of England curate who, finding his new church equipped with a telephone, started the Samaritans to assist those in emotional distress. This Mortal Coil is a thrilling story of growing medical knowledge and social organisation, of achievement and, looking to the future, of promise.

Do you know your arsole from your electron? Whether tritium or trivium, this periodically puzzling collection of over 400 different quiz questions, word games and brain teasers will challenge the chemist in you. Drawing on an illustrated cornucopia of chemicals with subjects ranging from the sub-atomic to the astronomic, stories of scientists, their quirks, discoveries, and inventions will delight and inspire you. Journey through tales of how chemistry and other sciences have touched all our lives, from the food we eat to the air that we breathe, from the novels that we read to the movies that we watch. Elementary! is compiled by the Royal Society of Chemistry's puzzler Paul Board, with each chapter concentrating on a particular branch of science or facet of life. Explore scientists and superpowers, particles, places, plants, planets and poisons, and more. Get your thinking cap on!

A brief look at a complex and intriguing topic, this book takes a look at bees from a variety of perspectives, from the physiology of individual bees of different species to analysis of their complex behaviors and social interactions. Written by an eminent entomologist and apiculturist.

The follow-on to the best-selling That's Not in My American History Book explains in everyday language both the ordinary and the bizarre technological marvels that we take for granted and the laws of nature that serve as the baseline for life on earth. Beginning with clear, concise, and entertaining descriptions of the important discoveries that form the basis of our scientific knowledge--Newtonian mechanics, Einstein's theory of relativity, evolution, and germ theory, to name a few--the book goes on to tell scientific stories that "are lost between the pages." These include the discovery of the periodic table of elements (and why it matters), the development of miracle drugs such as aspirin and penicillin, the invention of television, the prospects for earthquake prediction, and the genesis of the Internet. Whether it's a fascinating anecdote about the role of zebrafish as stand-in patients for humans or the history of the computer, That's Not in My Science Book will prove to be an engaging read for armchair scientists and students alike.

Imagine algebra class meets The Hitchhiker 's Guide to the Galaxy

Meet JJ, an unusual character with a unique vantage position from which he can measure and monitor humanity 's progress. Armed with a device that compels all around it to tell the truth, JJ offers a satirical evaluation of our attitudes to numeracy and logic, touching upon several aspects of life on Earth along the way, from the criminal justice system and people 's use of language to highway driving and modern art.

A collection of mathematically-flavored stories and jokes, interlaced with puzzles, paradoxes and problems, fuse together in an entertaining, free-flowing narrative that will engage and amuse anyone with an interest in the issues confronting society today. JJ demonstrates how a lack of elementary mathematical knowledge can taint our work and general thinking and reflects upon the importance of what is arguably our most valuable weapon against ignorance: a sound mathematical education.

What’s the truth behind the old adage that goldfish have a three-second memory? Do fishes think? Can they recognize the humans who peer back at them from above the surface of the water? Myth-busting biologist and animal behaviour expert Jonathan Balcombe takes us under the sea, through streams and estuaries to the other side of the aquarium glass to answer these questions and more. He upends our assumptions, revealing that fish are far from the unfeeling, dead-eyed feeding machines so many of us assume them to be. They are, in fact, sentient, aware, social and even Machiavellian – in other words, rather like us.

What a Fish Knows draws on the latest science to present a fresh look at these remarkable creatures in all their breathtaking diversity and beauty. Teeming with insights and exciting discoveries, it offers a thoughtful appraisal of our relationships with fish and inspires us to take a more enlightened view of the planet’s increasingly imperilled marine life. What a Fish Knows will forever change how we see our aquatic cousins – the pet goldfish included.

'Jackie Higgins's lyrical, literate style will charm you while her book stuns your imagination with strange, other-worldly truths' Richard Dawkins Sentient assembles a menagerie of zoological creatures - from land, air, sea and all four corners of the globe - to understand what it means to be human. Through their eyes, ears, skins, tongues and noses, the furred, finned and feathered reveal how we sense and make sense of the world, as well as the untold scientific revolution stirring in the field of human perception. The harlequin mantis shrimp can throw a punch that can fracture aquarium walls but, more importantly, it has the ability to see a vast range of colours. The ears of the great grey owl have such unparalleled range and sensitivity that they can hear twenty decibels lower than the human ear. The star-nosed mole barely fills a human hand, seldom ventures above ground and poses little threat unless you are an earthworm, but its miraculous nose allows it to catch those worms at astonishing speed - as little as one hundred and twenty milliseconds. Here, too, we meet the four-eyed spookfish and its dark vision; the vampire bat and its remarkable powers of touch; the bloodhound and its hundreds of millions of scent receptors, as well as the bar-tailed godwit, the common octopus, giant peacocks, cheetahs and golden orb-weaving spiders. Each of these extraordinary creatures illustrates the sensory powers that lie dormant within us. In this captivating book, Jackie Higgins explores this evolutionary heritage and, in doing so, enables us to subconsciously engage with the world in ways we never knew possible.

We live in a world that's more interconnected than ever before. Our lives are shaped by outbreaks - of disease, of misinformation, even of violence - that appear, spread and fade away with bewildering speed. To understand them, we need to learn the hidden laws that govern them. From 'superspreaders' who might spark a pandemic or bring down a financial system to the social dynamics that make loneliness catch on, The Rules of Contagion offers compelling insights into human behaviour and explains how we can get better at predicting what happens next.

Along the way, Adam Kucharski explores how innovations spread through friendship networks, what links computer viruses with folk stories - and why the most useful predictions aren't necessarily the ones that come true.

Now revised and updated with content on Covid-19.

During the past few years science and medicine have been converging with common sense, confirming a widespread belief that everything―especially the mind and the body―is far more connected than traditional physics ever allowed.

The Field establishes a new biological paradigm: it proves that our body extends electromagnetically beyond ourselves and our physical body. It is within this field that we can find a remarkable new way of looking at health, sickness, memory, will, creativity, intuition, the soul, consciousness, and spirituality.

The Field helps to bridge the gap that has opened up between mind and matter, between us and the cosmos. Original, well researched, and well documented by distinguished sources, this is the mind/body book for a new millennium.

Uncover the mysteries, wonders and natural history of Mars: as close as you'll get to an eye-witness perspective of the incredible 'Red Planet'. 'Impassioned and thought-provoking, it's a highly readable work of popular science' The Observer 'A book of titanic clashing elements, stupendous impacts, cataclysmic eruptions, devastating forces, planet-wrenching seisms... You'll never look at that red dot in the sky the same way again.' Ian McDonald, author of Luna: Moon Rising The history of Mars is drawn not just on its surface, but also down into its broken bedrock and up into its frigid air. Most of all, it stretches back into deep time, where the trackways of the past have been obliterated and there is no discernible trace of where they started from or how they travelled, only where they ended up. From the planet's formation 4.5 billion years ago, through eras that featured cataclysmic meteor strikes, explosive volcanoes and a vast ocean that spanned the entire upper hemisphere, to the long, frozen ages that saw its atmosphere steadily thinning and leaking away into space, planetary geologist Dr Simon Morden presents a tantalising vision of our nearest neighbour, its dramatic history and astonishing present. 'Full of intrigue, like a beautifully narrated adventure detective story - which left a satisfying thirst of wanting to know more.' Professor Lucy Rogers, author of It's Only Rocket Science 'fascinating' Alexis Conran, Times Radio 'step aside dry textbooks and jargon-stuffed research papers [...] The Red Planet is a benchmark in digestible space education for the masses' How it Works

This book provides a vivid account of the early history of molecular simulation, a new frontier for our understanding of matter that was opened when the demands of theoretical physicists were met by the availability of the modern computers. Since their inception, electronic computers have enormously increased their performance, thus making possible the unprecedented technological revolution that characterizes our present times. This obvious technological advancement has brought with it a silent scientific revolution in the practice of theoretical physics. In particular, in the physics of matter it has opened up a direct route from the microscopic physical laws to observable phenomena. One can now study the time evolution of systems composed of millions of molecules, and simulate the behaviour of macroscopic materials and actually predict their properties. Molecular simulation has provided a new theoretical and conceptual tool that physicists could only dream of when the foundations of statistical mechanics were laid. Molecular simulation has undergone impressive development, both in the size of the scientific community involved and in the range and scope of its applications. It has become the ubiquitous workhorse for investigating the nature of complex condensed matter systems in physics, chemistry, materials and the life sciences. Yet these developments remain largely unknown outside the inner circles of practitioners, and they have so far never been described for a wider public. The main objective of this book is therefore to offer a reasonably comprehensive reconstruction of the early history of molecular simulation addressed to an audience of both scientists and interested non-scientists, describing the scientific and personal trajectories of the main protagonists and discussing the deep conceptual innovations that their work produced.

From Poe's Dupin and Doyle's Holmes to the television hits Quincy and CSI, the public's fascination with science employed to solve crimes continues and grows. But this understanding of how science works in the forensic laboratory is filtered through the fictional worlds of books and television. How is science really used to fight crime? What techniques are used to catch criminals and free the innocent? Forensic scientists work with police, investigators, medical personnel, attorneys, and others to uphold justice, but their methods are often misunderstood, overestimated, underestimated, revered, or disputed. Here, the author answers many common questions about forensic science: How is the science conducted and by whom? What are the real limits, and real benefits, of forensic science? What new techniques are emerging to catch 21st-century criminals? Readers are treated to an insider's overview of the realties of forensic science. Forensic Science: Modern Methods of Solving Crime covers the basic concepts of forensic science and how it assists in criminal investigations. Starting with a brief history of forensic science, from its early days in Europe to the modern advances of today, the book describes each method and presents cases that highlight the applications of the methods. Houck profiles pioneers in forensic science, offers an overview of such forensic topics as DNA, fibers, fingerprints, and firearms, takes readers through the collection and processing of evidence, and uses frequent examples and anecdotes to illustrate all the major areas of forensic science. This introduction to the field is a useful starting point for anyone wishing to learn more about the real world of forensicscience.

In 1901 divers salvaging antiquities from a Hellenistic shipwreck serendipitously recovered the shattered and corroded remains of an ancient Greek gear-driven device, now known as the Antikythera Mechanism. Since its discovery, scholars relying on direct inspection and on increasingly powerful radiographic tools and surface imaging have successfully reconstructed most of the functions and workings of the Mechanism. It was a machine simulating the cosmos as the Greeks understood it, with a half dozen dials displaying coordinated cycles of time and the movements of the Sun, Moon, and planets. A Portable Cosmos presents the Antikythera Mechanism as a gateway to understanding Greek astronomy and scientific technology and their place in Greco-Roman society and thought. Although the Mechanism has long had the reputation of being an object we would not have expected the ancient world to have produced, the most recent researches have revealed that its displays were designed so that an educated layman would see how astronomical phenomena were intertwined with one's natural and social environment. It was at once a masterpiece of the genre of wonder-working devices that mimicked nature by means concealed from the viewer, and a mobile textbook of popular science.

"Science is fun " Is the motto of this fun-filled book by Prof Reinhard Renneberg. Do you know that in Japan, washing machines have no "cooking program" thanks to enzyme detergents? How to make German-style beer from rice? How do you make real snow with dead frost-bacteria? Is using bio-ethanol as a car fuel going against our environment? How can you clone your neighbor's beautiful cat? How to eliminate breast cancer genes before a baby girl is born? Can the financial crisis be solved by breeding better stock market traders? How to measure the fitness of students? The questions are endless.
Cartoonists Manfred Bofinger (Germany) and Ming Fai Chow (Hong Kong) here together with Prof Renneberg, created a fireworks of stories with funny cartoons, which are easily digestable for the layman reader but at the same time will interest even the specialists. Through this collection of inspirational short stories, you will get a complete picture of the latest advances in modern biotechnology with no technical jargons, no equations and no animals harmed

How Bad Are Bananas? was a groundbreaking book when first published in 2009, when most of us were hearing the phrase 'carbon footprint' for the first time. Mike Berners-Lee set out to inform us what was important (aviation, heating, swimming pools) and what made very little difference (bananas, naturally packaged, are good!). This new edition updates all the figures (from data centres to hosting a World Cup) and introduces many areas that have become a regular part of modern life - Twitter, the Cloud, Bitcoin, electric bikes and cars, even space tourism. Berners-Lee runs a considered eye over each area and gives us the figures to manage and reduce our own carbon footprint, as well as to lobby our companies, businesses and government. His findings, presented in clear and even entertaining prose, are often surprising. And they are essential if we are to address climate change.

In his first book ever, the father of string theory reinvents the world's concept of the known universe and man's unique place within it. Line drawings. Leonard Susskind has been the Felix Bloch Professor in theoretical physics at Stanford University since 1978. The author of The Cosmic Landscape, he is a member of the National Academy of Science and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the recipient of numerous prizes including the science writing prize of the American Institute of Physics for his Scientific American article on black holes. He lives in Palo Alto, California.