A mind-expanding, revolutionary journey across time that shows how our biology has determined human history for the first time. This book will change how you see the world.

We’re a wonder of evolution, capable of incredible feats. But we’re also deeply flawed. Our bodies and minds often break, fail, and hinder us. To be human is to live with this extraordinary contradiction. So, to understand the course humanity has taken – from prehistoric times through the age of empire and into the modern era – we must understand who, and what, we are.

Being Human is history made flesh. From the epidemic that brought Europe’s peasants freedom, to the health deficiency which gave rise to the world’s largest criminal organisation, to the cognitive biases that led to military catastrophes in Crimea and Iraq, we see how our unique nature shaped our relationships, economies and societies – and, importantly, how it continues to impact human progress today.

Our biology will change how you see the world. Lewis Dartnell explores how human biology has shaped relationships, societies, economies and wars across the globe

How did haemophilia bring down the Russian royal family? And scurvy give rise to the Mafia?

We are a wonder of evolution. Our exceptional abilities created life as we know it, but we're also deeply flawed. This extraordinary contradiction between our faculties and frailties is the essence of what it means to be human. And history has played out in the balance between them.

Here, Lewis Dartnell tells our story through the lens of this uniquely fragile nature for the first time. From cognitive biases to endemic diseases, he explores how human biology has shaped relationships, societies, economies and wars across the globe - and considers how, importantly, it continues to challenge and define our progress.

Read the Sunday Times bestseller that reveals the Earth’s awesome impact on the shape of human civilisations.

‘Stands comparison with Sapiens… Thrilling’ Sunday Times

Human evolution in East Africa was driven by geological forces. Ancient Greece developed democracy because of its mountainous terrain. Voting behaviour in the United States today follows the bed of an ancient sea.

Professor Lewis Dartnell takes us on an astonishing journey into our planet’s past to tell the ultimate origin story. Blending science and history, Origins reveals the Earth’s awesome impact on the shape of human civilisations – and helps us to see the challenges and opportunities of the future.

If the world as we know it ended tomorrow, how would you survive? A nuclear war, viral pandemic or asteroid strike. The world as we know it has ended. You and the other survivors must start again. What knowledge would you need to start rebuilding civilisation from scratch? How do you grow food, generate power, prepare medicines, or get metal out of rocks? Could you avert another Dark Ages, or take shortcuts to accelerate redevelopment? Living in the modern world, we have become disconnected from the basic processes and key fundamentals of science that sustain our lives. Ingenious and groundbreaking, The Knowledge explains everything you need to know about everything, revolutionising your understanding of the world. 'A glorious compendium of the knowledge we have lost in the living...the most inspiring book I've read in a long time' Independent 'A terrifically engrossing history of science and technology' Guardian http://the-knowledge.org/

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.

Astrobiology, the study of life and its existence in the universe, is now one of the hottest areas of both popular science and serious academic research, fusing biology, chemistry, astrophysics, and geology. In this masterful introduction, Lewis Dartnell explores its latest findings, and delves into some of the most fascinating questions in science. What actually is 'life'? Could it exist on other planets? Could alien cells be based on silicon rather than carbon, or need ammonia instead of water? Introducing some of the most extreme lifeforms on Earth - those thriving in boiling acid or huddled around deep-sea volcanoes - Dartnell takes us on a tour of the universe to reveal how deeply linked we are to our cosmic environment, and shows why the Earth is so uniquely suited for the development of life.