"What's the brightest light on Earth? The coldest corner of the universe? The blackest material ever made? The most poisonous substance in nature? Ka-boom! probes extremes of size and speed, depth and density, and reveals the stickiest, sweetest, smelliest and nastiest substances known to science. In an unabashed celebration of the exceptional, David Darling takes an enlightening journey through the universe's weirdest and most wonderful extremes. Travel to far-flung galaxies in pursuit of habitable planets and extra-terrestrial life. Journey to the rainforests of South America and discover the top-speed of the notoriously sluggish sloth. Find out how Earth's hardiest creatures - tardigrades or 'water bears' - ended up living on the moon. And meet the scientists and engineers using these quirks of nature to design faster computers, produce greener energy and revolutionise space travel."
"From cells in our bodies to measuring the universe, big numbers are everywhere
We all know that numbers go on forever, that you could spend your life counting and never reach the end of the line, so there can’t be such a thing as a ‘biggest number’. Or can there?
To find out, David Darling and Agnijo Banerjee embark on an epic quest, revealing the answers to questions like: are there more grains of sand on Earth or stars in the universe? Is there enough paper on Earth to write out the digits of a googolplex? And what is a googolplex?
Then things get serious.
Enter the strange realm between the finite and the infinite, and float through a universe where the rules we cling to no longer apply. Encounter the highest number computable, infinite kinds of infinity and ask whether one infinity can be greater than another. At every turn, a cast of wild and wonderful characters threatens the status quo with their ideas, and each time the numbers get larger."
