Brian Clegg's acclaimed popular science book Inflight Science explored the science experienced on a plane flight. Interstellar Tours takes that concept and goes large. It takes the reader on a tour of our galaxy on the starship Endurance.
That vessel itself is science fiction. But the phenomena you will visit, from the vast nebulae that are birthplaces of stars to stellar explosions in vast supernovas, creating the elements necessary for life - or from the planets of other solar systems to the unbelievably supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way - all reflect the best picture that current science has to offer.
Accompanying Interstellar Tours is an online gallery with over 50 images and videos in full colour, each directly accessible from the page using QR codes.
Interstellar Tours takes the reader on a tour of our galaxy on the starship Endurance.
That vessel itself is science fiction. But the phenomena you will visit, from the vast nebulae that are birthplaces of stars to stellar explosions in vast supernovas, creating the elements necessary for life - or from the planets of other solar systems to the unbelievably supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way - all reflect the best picture that current science has to offer.
Accompanying Interstellar Tours is an online gallery with over 50 images and videos in full colour, each directly accessible from the page using QR codes.
Interstellar Tours takes the reader on a tour of our galaxy on the starship Endurance.
That vessel itself is science fiction. But the phenomena you will visit, from the vast nebulae that are birthplaces of stars to stellar explosions in vast supernovas, creating the elements necessary for life - or from the planets of other solar systems to the unbelievably supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way - all reflect the best picture that current science has to offer.
It may never be possible to undertake a voyage through the stars for real. But in reading Interstellar Tours, you can enjoy the ultimate cruise across the Milky Way galaxy.
An exploration of the transformative ways in which nature has inspired the technological advancement of humankind.
Biomimetics literally means emulating biology - and in a broader sense the term covers technological advances where the original inspiration came from nature. The Earth is a vast laboratory where the mechanisms of natural selection have enabled evolutionary solutions to be developed to a wide range of problems.
Science writer Brian Clegg looks at how humans have piggybacked on natural experimentation, redeploying a solution to create things that make our lives easier. He looks at how the hooks on burdock seeds inspired the creation of Velcro, how the stickiness of the feet of geckos and frogs has been used to create gripping surfaces, such as tyre treads, and how even the most basic optical enhancement in the form of spectacles is itself a form of biomimetics.
Tackling some of the most common scientific myths still believed today, Brian
Clegg blows these widely held misconceptions about the workings of our world
out of the water in this engaging and entertaining book.
You may well be familiar with the fact that lightning, contrary to the popular saying, often
strikes the same place twice. But this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what
many of us wrongly believe about the way the world works. Whether it's word of
mouth, myths you've read about online, or misremembered facts from school, we're
bombarded by misconceptions about the science we come into contact with every day –
this book will uncover the most popular myths to help you avoid contributing to the
perpetuation of these misunderstandings.
Breaking it down into fifty of the most popular misconceptions in science, each
chapter of this book will be headed up with a ‘fact', followed by the real story, providing
the science and theory that debunks the myth. From fears about the exponential growth
of the human population to the embarrassment of always pointing out the north star as
the brightest in the sky, this is the book to read if you want to separate the science
fact from fiction.
Brian Clegg was always fascinated by Isaac Asimov's classic Foundation series of books, in which the future is predicted using sophisticated mathematical modelling of human psychology and behaviour. Only much later did he realise that Asimov's 'psychohistory' had a real-world equivalent: game theory. Originating in the study of probabilistic gambling games that depend on a random source - the throw of a dice or the toss of a coin - game theory soon came to be applied to human interactions: essentially, what was the best strategy to win, whatever you were doing? Its mathematical techniques have been applied, with varying degrees of wisdom, to fields such as economics, evolution, and questions such as how to win a nuclear war. Clegg delves into game theory's colourful history and significant findings, and shows what we can all learn from this oft-misunderstood field of study.
On 14 September 2015, after 50 years of searching, gravitational waves were detected for the first time and astronomy changed for ever. Until then, investigation of the universe had depended on electromagnetic radiation: visible light, radio, X-rays and the rest. But gravitational waves ripples in the fabric of space and time are unrelenting, passing through barriers that stop light dead. At the two 4-kilometre long LIGO observatories in the US, scientists developed incredibly sensitive detectors, capable of spotting a movement 100 times smaller than the nucleus of an atom. In 2015 they spotted the ripples produced by two black holes spiralling into each other, setting spacetime quivering. This was the first time black holes had ever been directly detected and it promises far more for the future of astronomy. Brian Clegg presents a compelling story of human technical endeavour and a new, powerful path to understand the workings of the universe.
The ultimate non-technical guide to the fast-developing world of quantum computing. Computer technology has improved exponentially over the last 50 years. But the headroom for bigger and better electronic solutions is running out. Our best hope is to engage the power of quantum physics. 'Quantum algorithms' had already been written long before hardware was built. These would enable, for example, a quantum computer to exponentially speed up an information search, or to crack the mathematical trick behind internet security. However, making a quantum computer is incredibly difficult. Despite hundreds of laboratories around the world working on them, we are only just seeing them come close to 'supremacy' where they can outperform a traditional computer. In this approachable introduction, Brian Clegg explains algorithms and their quantum counterparts, explores the physical building blocks and quantum weirdness necessary to make a quantum computer, and uncovers the capabilities of the current generation of machines.
In Ten Short Lessons in Time Travel, Brian Clegg takes us on a fascinating and up-to-date tour of the workings of the universe that suggest the possibility of journeying back and forth through time.
Einstein's special theory of relativity made time travel to the future a possibility, and later his general theory of relativity showed us that loops in spacetime could exist, meaning that we might be able to bend time backwards, too. But what are the practicalities of making time travel possible? What do we still need to know? How do we deal with any paradoxical twists in time - and could quantum physics hold the answer?
About the series: The Pocket Einstein series is a collection of essential pocket-sized guides for anyone looking to understand a little more about some of the most important and fascinating areas of science in the twenty-first century. Broken down into ten simple lessons and written by leading experts in their field, discover the ten most important takeaways from those areas of science you've always wanted to know more about.
In 2003, Russian physicists Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov found a way to produce graphene the thinnest substance in the world by using sticky tape to separate an atom-thick layer from a block of graphite.
Their efforts would win the 2010 Nobel Prize for Physics, and now the applications of graphene and other two-dimensional substances form a worldwide industry.
Graphene is far stronger than steel, a far better conductor than any metal, and able to act as a molecular sieve to purify water. Electronic components made from graphene are a fraction of the size of silicon microchips and can be both flexible and transparent, making it possible to build electronics into clothing, produce solar cells to fit any surface, or even create invisible temporary tattoos that monitor your health.
Ultra-thin materials give us the next big step forward since the transistor revolutionised electronics. Get ready for the graphene revolution.
All the matter and light we can see in the universe makes up a trivial 5 per cent of everything. The rest is hidden. This could be the biggest puzzle that science has ever faced. Since the 1970s, astronomers have been aware that galaxies have far too little matter in them to account for the way they spin around: they should fly apart, but something concealed holds them together. That 'something' is dark matter - invisible material in five times the quantity of the familiar stuff of stars and planets. By the 1990s we also knew that the expansion of the universe was accelerating. Something, named dark energy, is pushing it to expand faster and faster. Across the universe, this requires enough energy that the equivalent mass would be nearly fourteen times greater than all the visible material in existence. Brian Clegg explains this major conundrum in modern science and looks at how scientists are beginning to find solutions to it.
"'Clear and compact ... It's hard to fault as a brief, easily digestible introduction to some of the biggest questions in the Universe" - GILES SPARROW
'Gets right to the heart of what makes us what we are. Read it!' Angela Saini, author of Inferior and Superior: The Return of Race Science
Popular science master Brian Clegg’s new book is an entertaining tour through the science of what makes you you. From the atomic level, through life and energy to genetics and personality, it explores how the billions of particles which make up you – your DNA, your skin, your memories – have come to be.
It starts with the present-day reader and follows a number of trails to discover their origins: how the atoms in your body were created and how they got to you in space and time, the sources of things you consume, how the living cells of your body developed, where your massive brain and consciousness originated, how human beings evolved and, ultimately, what your personal genetic history reveals.
