Biography: science, technology and medicine Books

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

Book SynopsisA reporter uncovers the secrets behind the scientific scam of the century. The news breaks first as a tale of fear and pity. Doctors at a London hospital claim a link between autism and a vaccine given to millions of children: MMR. Young parents are terrified. Immunisation rates slump. And as a worldwide anti-vax' movement kicks off, old diseases return to sicken and kill. But a veteran reporter isn't so sure, and sets out on an epic investigation. Battling establishment cover-ups, smear campaigns, and gagging lawsuits, he exposes rigged research and secret schemes, the heartbreaking plight of families struggling with disability, and the scientific deception of our time. Here's the story of Andrew Wakefield: a man in search of greatness, who stakes his soul on big ideas that, if right, might transform lives. But when the facts don't fit, he can't face failure. He'll do whatever it takes to succeed.

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisChris McNab has worked as an author and editor for over 20 years. Over the course of his career, he has written more than 100 titles, many on historical and military topics as well as popular culture. His titles for Arcturus include: A History of War, and business biographies of Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates and Elon Musk. In addition to his writing work, Chris has made regular contributions on radio and television.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe quirky and profound international bestseller - a darkly astonishing scientific biography and a guide on how to live well in a world where chaos come for us all'A sumptuous, surprising, dark delight' Carmen Maria Machado'Genre-defying . . . fast-moving, deftly balanced, full of surprises' Guardian's Books of the Day'Her book took me to strange depths I never imagined, and I was smitten' New York Times Book Review'A magical hybrid of science, portraiture and memoir' Susan Orlean'Wholly unique and a true delight' Refinery29__________If fish don't exist, what else do we have wrong?As a child, Lulu Miller's scientist father taught her that chaos will come for us all. There is no cosmic destiny, no plan. Enter David Starr Jordan, 19th-century taxonomist and believer in order. A fish specialist devoted to mapping out the great tree of life, who spent his days pi

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis'Cobb is a rare jewel' Adam RutherfordFrancis Crick was a restless, relentless thinker, as fascinated by Beat poetry and psychedelics as the genetic meaning of life and the inner workings of the brain. Yet for all his drive, he was galvanised by collaboration: with Jim Watson on DNA, with artists in Cambridge and California, and with his wife Odile, who drew the figure of the double helix that illuminated his most famous discovery. It was his debates and conflicts with these collaborators that powered a mind in motion.Meticulously researched and shot through with insight and electrifying detail, Matthew Cobb reveals the man who changed our view of life forever. Crick is the first major biography of one of the twentieth century's most exciting minds.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe #1 New York Times Bestseller ‘Walter Isaacson is not an art historian, he’s simply a lover of Leonardo, who manages to communicate the sheer joy of this remarkable man’Books of the Year - The Times He was history’s most creative genius. What secrets can he teach us? Based on thousands of pages from Leonardo da Vinci's astonishing notebooks and new discoveries about his life and work, Walter Isaacson weaves a narrative that connects his art to his science. He shows how Leonardo’s genius was based on skills we can improve in ourselves, such as passionate curiosity, careful observation, and an imagination so playful that it flirted with fantasy. He produced the two most famous paintings in history, The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa. But in his own mind, he was just as much a man of science and technology. With a passionTrade Review‘In Isaacson, Leonardo gets the biographer he deserves – an author capable of comprehending his often frenetic, frequently weird quest to understand. This is not just a joyful book; it’s also a joy to behold…Isaacson deserves immense praise for this very human portrait of a genius’ * The Times *'A lavish, loving biography of the great Renaissance polymath…this sumptuous, elegantly written and diligently produced offering that perfectly catches the contradictions of the man…[a] splendid work that provides an illuminating guide to the output of one of the last millenium’s greatest minds’ * Observer *‘Walter Isaacson keeps the mortal man to the fore. For all his supernatural gifts as an artist and natural scientist. Leonardo was resolutely human (illegitimate, vegan, in need of patrons) rather than the near deity of legend. Isaacson is an assured guide to Leonardo’s fallibility – so many projects started, so few completed – as well as his extraordinary curiosity and his even more remarkable painterly skills that were sharpened by intense observation' * Sunday Times *'To read this magnificent biography of Leonardo da Vinci is to take a tour through the life and works of one of the most extraordinary human beings of all time in the company of the most engaging, informed, and insightful guide imaginable. Walter Isaacson is at once a true scholar and a spellbinding writer. And what a wealth of lessons there are to be learned in these pages' -- David McCullough'A powerful story of an exhilarating mind and life...a study in creativity: how to define it, how to achieve it' * New Yorker *

Read more less

Book SynopsisA TLS BOOK OF THE YEAR ''Anaximander is a delight and so is this book'' -- James McConnachie, Sunday TimesNow widely available in English for the first time, this is Carlo Rovelli''s first book: the thrilling story of a little-known man who created one of the greatest intellectual revolutions Over two thousand years ago, one man changed the way we see the world.Since the dawn of civilization, humans had believed in the heavens above and the Earth below. Then, on the Ionian coast, a Greek philosopher named Anaximander set in motion a revolution. He not only conceived that the Earth floats in space, but also that animals evolve, that storms and earthquakes are natural, not supernatural, that the world can be mapped and, above all, that progress is made by the endless search for knowledge. Carlo Rovelli''s first book, now widely available in English, tells the origin story of scientific thinking: our rebellious ability to reimagine the world, again and again.Translated by Marion Lignana Rosenberg

Read more less

Book Synopsis‘Women have won their political independence. Now is the time for them to achieve their economic freedom too.’This was the great rallying cry of the pioneers who, in 1919, created the Women’s Engineering Society. Spearheaded by Katharine and Rachel Parsons, a powerful mother and daughter duo, and Caroline Haslett, whose mission was to liberate women from domestic drudgery, it was the world’s first professional organisation dedicated to the campaign for women's rights.Magnificent Women and their Revolutionary Machines tells the stories of the women at the heart of this group – from their success in fanning the flames of a social revolution to their significant achievements in engineering and technology. It centres on the parallel but contrasting lives of the two main protagonists, Rachel Parsons and Caroline Haslett – one born to privilege and riches whose life ended in dramatic tragedy; the other who rose from humble roots to become the leading professional woman of her age and mistress of the thrilling new power of the twentieth century: electricity.In this fascinating book, acclaimed biographer Henrietta Heald also illuminates the era in which the society was founded. From the moment when women in Britain were allowed to vote for the first time, and to stand for Parliament, she charts the changing attitudes to women’s rights both in society and in the workplace.Trade Review 'A fascinating social history' Times Literary Supplement 'Well-written, vigorous... shows how Britain's female engineers were key figures in modernisation' BBC History Magazine 'At its heart, this is a group biography of the Women's Engineering Society... Yet Henrietta Heald also spins her story outward, taking in the ways in which the society's members became pioneers not just in engineering and technology but also politics, suffrage and social reform' History Revealed 'Meticulously researched... provides a fascinating account of a century of change for women' Journal of SMEE

Read more less

Book SynopsisUnique biography of Charles Darwin in the form of a personal notebookTrade ReviewNever having ploughed through 'The Origin of the Species' this beautifully compiled edition with sketches and illustrations is a delightful way of learning more about the genius. -- Janet Suzman

Read more less

Book SynopsisDava Sobel, acclaimed and bestselling author of Longitude, chronicles the life and work of the most famous woman in the history of science and the untold story of the young women who trained in her laboratory.For decades Marie Curie was the only woman in the room at international scientific gatherings, and despite constant illness she travelled far and wide to share the secrets of radioactivity, a term she coined. She is still the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two scientific fields.Her ingenuity extended far beyond the laboratory walls; grieving the death of her husband, Pierre, she took his place as professor of physics at the Sorbonne, devotedly raised two daughters, drove a van she outfitted with x-ray equipment to the front lines of World War I, befriended Albert Einstein and inspired generations of young women to pursue science as a way of life.Approaching Marie Curie from a unique angle, Sobel navigates her remarkable discoveries and fame alongside the women who became her

Read more less

Book SynopsisA FINANCIAL TIMES AND TLS BOOK OF THE YEARAn exhilarating new biography of John von Neumann: the lost genius who invented our world''A sparkling book, with an intoxicating mix of pen-portraits and grand historical narrative. Above all it fizzes with a dizzying mix of deliciously vital ideas. . . A staggering achievement'' Tim HarfordThe smartphones in our pockets and computers like brains. The vagaries of game theory and evolutionary biology. Self-replicating moon bases and nuclear weapons. All bear the fingerprints of one remarkable man: John von Neumann.Born in Budapest at the turn of the century, von Neumann is one of the most influential scientists to have ever lived. His colleagues believed he had the fastest brain on the planet - bar none. He was instrumental in the Manhattan Project and helped formulate the bedrock of Cold War geopolitics and modern economic theory. He created the first ever programmable digital computer. He prophesied the potential of nanotechnology and, from his deathbed, expounded on the limits of brains and computers - and how they might be overcome.Taking us on an astonishing journey, Ananyo Bhattacharya explores how a combination of genius and unique historical circumstance allowed a single man to sweep through so many different fields of science, sparking revolutions wherever he went.Insightful and illuminating, The Man from the Future is a thrilling intellectual biography of the visionary thinker who shaped our century.

Read more less

Book Synopsis***THE INSPIRATION FOR CHRISTOPHER NOLAN'S NEW FILM OPPENHEIMER***THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERWINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR NONFICTION'Reads like a thriller, gripping and terrifying' Sunday TimesPhysicist and polymath, as familiar with Hindu scriptures as he was with quantum mechanics, J. Robert Oppenheimer - director of the Manhattan Project that developed the atomic bomb - was the most famous scientist of his generation. In their meticulous and riveting biography, Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin reveal a brilliant, ambitious, complex and flawed man, profoundly involved with some of the momentous events of the twentieth century.Trade ReviewA riveting account of one of history's most essential and paradoxical figures. -- Christopher NolanReads like a thriller, gripping and terrifying by turns... No more absorbing biography will, I predict, come out this year, nor, given the dangers we face, a more important one. -- John Carey * Sunday Times *I hate to say it, but, if you zip through all six hundred pages of the book before seeing the film, you'll enjoy the ride more. -- Anthony Lane * New Yorker *Fascinating... Enthralling... All previous works on the topic are, in the nicest possible sense, blown out of the sky by a book which is, in both the proper and metaphorical meanings, monumental. -- Mark Lawson * Esquire *No previous biography has... matched the power, range and lucidity of Martin Sherwin and Kai Bird's Life... Its combination of meticulous scholarship and felicitous prose grasps the drama of Oppenheimer's life in all its riveting complexity. * Sunday Telegraph *A giant among biographies, a life story that at times reads like a thriller but which is also deeply authoritative and persuasively informative.... Magisterial. * Observer *This is a magisterial biography: a masterpiece that has taken decades to put together. -- Kathryn Hughes * Mail on Sunday *A tremendous work of scholarship. * Financial Times *Dazzling... Rich in incident and enigma... It wears its scholarship lightly and whisks the reader through the story at thriller-like pace. * New Statesman *Magisterial... There have been many books on Oppenheimer... but American Prometheus is the first to attempt to explore more than a single facet... It is a portrait of the man, the times, the science, and the politics... It is a vaulting ambition, and it is amply rewarded. -- Judith Flanders * Spectator *The definitive biography... Oppenheimer's life doesn't influence us. It haunts us. * Newsweek *A work of voluminous scholarship and lucid insight, unifying its multifaceted portrait with a keen grasp of Oppenheimer's essential nature... It succeeds in deeply fathoming his most damaging, self-contradictory behavior. * New York Times *A masterful account of Oppenheimer's rise and fall, set in the context of the turbulent decades of America's own transformation. It is a tour de force. * Los Angeles Times Book Review *There have been numerous books about Oppenheimer but they can't touch this extraordinary book's impressive breadth and scope. * Miami Herald *The first biography to give full due to Oppenheimer's extraordinary complexity... Stands as an Everest among the mountains of books on the bomb project and Oppenheimer, and is an achievement not likely to be surpassed or equaled. * Boston Globe *Table of Contents1: "He Received Every New Idea as Perfectly Beautiful" 2: "His Separate Prison" 3: "I Am Having a Pretty Bad Time" 4: "I Find Work Hard, Thank God, & Almost Pleasant" 5: "I Am Oppenheimer" 6: "Oppie" 7: "The Nim Nim Boys" 8: "In 1936 My Interests Began to Change" 9: "[Frank] Clipped It Out and Sent it In" 10: "More and More Surely" 11: "I'm Going to Marry a Friend of Yours, Steve" 12: "We Were Pulling the New Deal to the Left" 13: "The Coordinator of Rapid Rupture" 14: "The Chevalier Affair" 15: "He'd Become Very Patriotic" 16: "Too Much Secrecy" 17: "Oppenheimer Is Telling the Truth" 18: "Suicide, Motive Unknown" 19: "Would You Like to Adopt Her?" 20: Bohr Was God, and Oppie Was His Prophet" 21: "The Impact of the Gadget on Civilization" 22: "Now We're All Sons-of-Bitches" 23: "Those Poor Little People" 24: "I Feel I Have Blood on My Hands" 25: "People Could Destroy New York" 26: "Oppie Had a Rash and Is Now Immune" 27: "An Intellectual Hotel" 28: "He Couldn't Understand Why He Did It" 29: "I Am Sure That Is Why She Threw Things at Him" 30: "He Never Let On What His Opinion Was" 31: "Dark Words About Oppie" 32: "Scientist X" 33: "The Beast in the Jungle" 34: "It Looks Pretty Bad, Doesn't It?" 35: "I Fear That This Whole Thing Is a Piece of Idiocy" 36: "A Manifestation of Hysteria" 37: "A Black Mark on the Escutcheon of Our Country" 38: "I Can Still Feel the Warm Blood on My Hands" 39: "It Was Really Like a Never-Never-Land" 40: "It Should Have Been Done the Day After Trinity" Epilogue: "There's Only One Robert"

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe quirky and profound international bestseller - at once a life-affirming memoir on how to live well in a world governed by chaos, and a darkly astonishing scientific biography

Read more less

Book SynopsisA revisionist, completely accessible and radically inclusive history of maths''Lively, satisfying, good at explaining difficult concepts'' The Sunday TimesMathematics shapes almost everything we do. But despite its reputation as the study of fundamental truths, the stories we have been told about it are wrong. In The Secret Lives of Numbers, historian Kate Kitagawa and journalist Timothy Revell introduce readers to the mathematical boundary-smashers who have been erased by history because of their race, gender or nationality.From the brilliant Arabic scholars of the ninth-century House of Wisdom, and the pioneering African American mathematicians of the twentieth century, to the ''lady computers'' around the world who revolutionised our knowledge of the night sky, we meet these fascinating trailblazers and see how they contributed to our global knowledge today.This revisionist, completely accessible and radically inclusive history of mathematics is as entertaining as it is important.

Read more less

Book SynopsisWITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY BILL GATESIn this warm, insightful portrait of the Winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1965, we see the wisdom, humour and curiosity of Richard Feynman through a series of conversations with his friend Ralph Leighton.Winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1965, Richard Feynman was one of the world's greatest theoretical physicists, but he was also a man who fell, often jumped, into adventure. An artist, safecracker, practical joker and storyteller, Feynman's life was a series of combustible combinations made possible by his unique mixture of high intelligence, unquenchable curiosity and eternal scepticism.Over a period of years, Feynman's conversations with his friend Ralph Leighton were first taped and then set down as they appear here, little changed from their spoken form, giving a wise, funny, passionate and totally honest self-portrait of one of the greatest men of our age.

Read more less

Book SynopsisDiscover the exhilarating true story of Ernest Shackleton''s legendary Antarctic expeditionTold through the words of the world''s greatest living explorer, Sir Ranulph Fiennes - one of the only men to understand his experience first-hand . . .''For anyone with a passion for polar exploration, this is a must read'' NEW YORK TIMES''THE definitive book on Shackleton and no one could have done it better . . . an authentic account by one of the few men who truly knows what it''s like to challenge Antarctica'' LORRAINE KELLY_________In 1915, Sir Ernest Shackleton''s attempt to be the first to traverse the Antarctic was cut short when his ship, Endurance, became trapped in ice.He and his crew should have died.Instead, through a long, dark winter, Shackleton fought back: enduring sub-zero temperatures, a perilous lifeboat journey across icy seas, and a murderous march over glaciers to seek help.Trade ReviewAn insider's look into a very select club ... Fiennes' personal asides help to explain the unfathomable - such as how and why humans could and, more inexplicably, would persist with moving their tortured bodies across tortured landscapes in such extreme cold ... For anyone with a passion for polar exploration, this is a must read. * New York Times *THE definitive book on my hero Shackleton and no one could have done it better. "The Boss" would have heartily approved of such an authentic account by one of the few men who truly knows what it's like to challenge Antarctica -- Lorraine KellyFiennes makes a fine guide on voyage into Shackleton's world . . . What makes this book so engaging is the author's own storytelling skills -- Lorna Siggins * Irish Independent *With first-hand experience of polar expeditions, Fiennes relates these tales of exploration and survival, adding insight to Shackleton's journeys unlike any other biographer * Radio Times *An insider's look into a very select club . . . Fiennes' personal asides help to explain the unfathomable - such as how and why humans could and, more inexplicably, would persist with moving their tortured bodies across tortured landscapes in such extreme cold . . . For anyone with a passion for polar exploration, this is a must read * New York Times *Fiennes brings the promised perspective of one who has been there, illuminating Shackleton's actions by comparing them with his own. Beginners to the Heroic Age will enjoy this volume, as will serious polar adventurers seeking advice. For all readers, it's a tremendous story -- Sara Wheeler * The Wall Street Journal *Praise for Ranulph Fiennes' Captain Scott * - *Fiennes' own experiences certainly allow him to write vividly and with empathy of the hell that the men went through. * The Sunday Times *A valuable corrective to the trend of Scott debunking...One by one, and with the commendable attention to detail, Fiennes explodes the accumulated myths. * Sunday Telegraph *Sir Ranulph Fiennes has done Captain Scott's memory some service...he has certainly written a more dispassionate and balanced account than Huntford ever set out to do. -- Simon Courtauld * Spectator *Full of awe-inspiring details of hardship, resolve and weather that defies belief, told by someone of unique authority. No one is more tailor-made to tell [this] story than Sir Ranulph Fiennes * Newsday *

Read more less

Book SynopsisBased on over eighty hours of interviews with Lovelock and unprecedented access to his personal papers and scientific archive, Jonathan Watts has written a definitive and revelatory biography of a fascinating, sometimes contradictory man.James Lovelock is best known as the father of Gaia Theory, the idea that life on Earth is a self-sustaining system in which organisms interact with their environments to maintain a habitable ecosystem.Lovelock''s life was a chronicle of twentieth-century science, and somehow he seemed to have a hand in much of it. During the Second World War he worked at the National Medical Research Institute, where his life-long interest in chemical tracing began. In the 1960s he worked at NASA. He worked for MI5 and MI6 during the Cold War. He was a science advisor to the oil giant Shell, who he warned as early as 1966 that fossil fuels were causing serious harm to the environment. He invented the technology that found the hole in the Ozone layer.

Read more less

Book SynopsisVoted the UK’s Favourite Nature BookThe memoir that inspired Chris Packham's BBC documentary, Asperger’s and MeEvery minute was magical, every single thing it did was fascinating and everything it didn't do was equally wondrous, and to be sat there, with a Kestrel, a real live Kestrel, my own real live Kestrel on my wrist! I felt like I'd climbed through a hole in heaven's fence.An introverted, unusual young boy, isolated by his obsessions and a loner at school, Chris Packham only felt at ease in the fields and woods around his suburban home. But when he stole a young Kestrel from its nest, he was about to embark on a friendship that would teach him what it meant to love, and that would change him forever. In his rich, lyrical and emotionally exposing memoir, Chris brings to life his childhood in the 70s, from his bedroom bursting with fox skulls, birds' eggs and sweaty jam jars, to his feral adventures. But pervading his story is the search for freedom, meaning and acceptance in a world that didn’t understand him.Beautifully wrought, this coming-of-age memoir will be unlike any you've ever read.Trade ReviewFingers in the Sparkle Jar is like nothing else I know - a flickering vat of life itself. A brilliant and remarkable book. -- Robert MacfarlaneIt’s bold and beautiful, both raw and lyrical, and a rather special book. -- Matt Haig * Independent *Incredibly powerful and moving. -- Richard E. GrantA beautiful, riveting and disturbing read. * Guardian *This book is courageous, disturbing, original and at times brilliant. -- Simon Barnes

Read more less

Book SynopsisMary Anning lived about 200 years ago. A bright girl from a poor family living in a small town on the south coast of England, she became a successful fossil hunter, dealer and self-taught scientist. While not fully recognised in her own lifetime because she was a woman and of the wrong social class, she is now heralded as a leading figure in the science of palaeontology, which at the time did not even have a name Her story is well known but there is only one image of her,painted shortly before her death at age 47. She made many of her important discoveries of 'mythical sea dragons' as a teenager and in her twenties. Now, AI technology enables us to tell Mary's exceptional story with brand-new images - for curious readers of all ages and to help inspire today's young fossil entrepreneurs who follow in her wake.Trade Review"A triumph! Concise, empathetic and meticulously accurate. Powerful AI imagery is perfect for readers to step into Mary's shoes as she makes important fossil finds in her teens and twenties... it's just like being there with her at the birth of palaeontology." Dr Paul Davis, Geology Curator at the Lyme Regis Museum; "An ingenious project to bring Mary Anning to life."; Sir David Attenborough, Renowned naturalist and broadcaster; "Genuinely inspirational. Bravo!" Alastair Poulain, Deputy Head, Sherborne Preparatory School; "Mary Anning: Uncovering the past, inspiring the future." ChatGPT, AI research bot

Read more less

Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE ROYAL SOCIETY TRIVEDI SCIENCE BOOK PRIZE 2024''Fascinating, witty and perspective-shifting . . . I finished it not only better informed about a captivating branch of mathematics, but with an invigorating sense of greater purchase on the world'' OLIVER BURKEMANThomas Bayes was an eighteenth-century Presbyterian minister and amateur mathematician whose obscure life belied the profound impact of his work. Fusing biography, razor-sharp science communication and intellectual history, Everything Is Predictable is a captivating tour of Bayes'' theorem and its impact on modern life. From medical testing to artificial intelligence, Tom Chivers shows how a single compelling idea can have far-reaching consequences.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIntroducing the Collins Modern Classics, a series featuring some of the most significant books of recent times, books that shed light on the human experience classics which will endure for generations to come.Maths is one of the purest forms of thought, and to outsiders mathematicians may seem almost otherworldly'In 1963, schoolboy Andrew Wiles stumbled across the world's greatest mathematical problem: Fermat's Last Theorem. Unsolved for over 300 years, he dreamed of cracking it.Combining thrilling storytelling with a fascinating history of scientific discovery, Simon Singh uncovers how an Englishman, after years of secret toil, finally solved mathematics' most challenging problem.Fermat's Last Theorem is remarkable story of human endeavour, obsession and intellectual brilliance, sealing its reputation as a classic of popular science writing.To read it is to realise that there is a world of beauty and intellectual challenge that is denied to 99.9 per cent of us who are not high-level mathematicians'The TimesTrade Review‘This is probably the best popular account of a scientific topic I have ever read’ Irish Times ‘Reads like the chronicle of an obsessive love affair. It has the classic ingredients that Hollywood would recognise’ Daily Mail ‘To read it is to realise that there is a world of beauty and intellectual challenge that is denied to 99.9 per cent of us who are not high-level mathematicians’ The Times ‘This tale has all the elements of a most exciting story: an impenetrable riddle; the ambition and frustration of generations of hopefuls; and the genius who worked for years in secrecy to realise his childhood dream’ Express

Read more less

Book SynopsisNOW A MAJOR SERIES 'GENIUS' ON NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, PRODUCED BY RON HOWARD AND STARRING GEOFFREY RUSHEinstein is the great icon of our age: the kindly refugee from oppression whose wild halo of hair, twinkling eyes, engaging humanity and extraordinary brilliance made his face a symbol and his name a synonym for genius. He was a rebel and nonconformist from boyhood days. His character, creativity and imagination were related, and they drove both his life and his science. In this marvellously clear and accessible narrative, Walter Isaacson explains how his mind worked and the mysteries of the universe that he discovered. Einstein's success came from questioning conventional wisdom and marvelling at mysteries that struck others as mundane. This led him to embrace a worldview based on respect for free spirits and free individuals. All of which helped make Einstein into a rebel but with a reverence for the harmony of nature, one with just the right blend of imagination and wisdom to transform our understanding of the universe. This new biography, the first since all of Einstein's papers have become available, is the fullest picture yet of one of the key figures of the twentieth century. This is the first full biography of Albert Einstein since all of his papers have become available -- a fully realised portrait of this extraordinary human being, and great genius.Praise for EINSTEIN by Walter Isaacson:- 'YOU REALLY MUST READ THIS.' Sunday Times 'As pithy as Einstein himself.’ New Scientist ‘[A] brilliant biography, rich with newly available archival material.’ Literary Review ‘Beautifully written, it renders the physics understandable.’ Sunday Telegraph ‘Isaacson is excellent at explaining the science. ' Daily Express

Read more less

Book Synopsis“Gripping and true in all ways. This fine, affecting memoir will stay with me for a very long time.”—Meg Wolitzer, author of The Female Persuasion“In this vividly written memoir novelist O’Hara shares a painful but ultimately beautiful account of her daughter Caitlin’s life with cystic fibrosis. . . . Her compelling story will resonate with anyone seeking a light in the darkest depths of grief.”—Library JournalIn the vein of The Year of Magical Thinking and Beautiful Boy, an emotionally raw and inspiring memoir that illuminates a mother’s grief over the loss of her adult child and considers the hope of soulful connections that transcend the boundary of life and death.When their only child was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis (CF) at the age of two, Maryanne O’Hara and her husband were told that Caitlin could live a long lif

Read more less

Book SynopsisTake a trip down memory lane and read about the life of Britain''s most beloved vet, who charmed us all with his bestselling tales of veterinary life in Yorkshire.''A wonderful, glorious insight into the life of the man behind the books'' 5***** Reader Review''Moving . . . A book I shall treasure and read several times'' 5***** Reader Review______ After qualifying as a vet in 1939, Alf Wight, aka James Herriot, moved to a veterinary practice in Thirsk, Yorkshire. It wasn''t until he was over fifty when his first book of stories about life as a Yorkshire vet, If Only They Could Talk, was published, giving birth to some of Yorkshire''s most famous and much-loved literary characters, and later becoming the popular BBC television series All Creatures Great and Small.Not only did his books have great success, but they also inspired many to take up the profession, in what was known as the ''Herriot effect''. A

Read more less

Book Synopsis‘Outstanding’ Bonnie Garmus, bestselling author of Lessons in ChemistryThe remarkable untold story of how a group of sixteen determined women used the power of the collective and the tools of science to inspire ongoing radical change. This is a triumphant account of progress, whilst reminding us that further action is needed. These women scientists entered the work force in the 1960s during a push for affirmative action. Embarking on their careers they thought that discrimination against women was a thing of the past and that science was a pure meritocracy. Women were marginalized and minimized, especially as they grew older, their contributions stolen and erased. Written by the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who broke the story in 1999 for The Boston Globe, when the Massachusetts Institute of Technology made the astonishing admission that it discriminated against women on its faculty, The Exceptions Trade Review‘The Exceptions tells the infuriating, inspiring story of the sexism faced by female scientists at M.I.T. — and how they fought back… Thanks to Zernike, we see the personal toll unconscious bias takes — not just in time lost or talent discarded, but on the greater good. Maybe the reason we’re still running for the cure is because systemic discrimination continues to run even faster. The good news is, Zernike’s book will inspire a host of non-renegades to do something about it. Rules are indeed made to be broken. Have at it.' -- Bonnie Garmus * New York Times *'What Nancy Hopkins achieved is exceptional - in science of course, but more broadly in society. What Kate Zernike has achieved in this brilliant book is also excpetional - a condemnation of the treatment of women in science and a riveting story about the drive to purse science' -- Siddhartha Mukherjee, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winner The Emperor of All Maladies'Excellent and infuriating' * New York Times *'A story I wouldn't believe except that it's true, told by the reporter who broke it first' -- Angela Duckworth, author of Grit'A gripping page-turner backed up with extensive research by Zernike, The Exceptions traces how Nancy Hopkins and a group of astounding women at MIT came together to catalyse change. Their story is angering, at times depressing and, above all, inspiring, but this book also remains timely in reminding us that we have not made as much progress as we think we have and that there is still much work to be done. As when Zernicke first broke the story for The Boston Globe in 1999, creating waves across the international scientific community, I hope this book will inspire the next generation of scientists to continue shaping a fair and inclusive culture in research' -- Alain Goriely, Royal Society Science Book Prize

Read more less

Book Synopsis'A witty, gossipy, sparkling history, full of bright jewels of anecdote... Magnificent Rebels is a triumph' THE TIMES, Book of the Week'Extraordinary... A thrilling intellectual history that reads like a racy, intelligent novel, with a cast of unforgettable characters' SUNDAY TIMES'Magnificent Rebels is a magnificent book: a revelation which could easily become an obsession' SPECTATOR'A thrilling page-turner, by turns comical & tragic... My book of the year so far' TOM HOLLAND'Elegantly written, deeply researched and totally gripping' SIMON SEBAG MONTEFIOREIn the 1790s an extraordinary group of friends changed the world. Disappointed by the French Revolution's rapid collapse into tyranny, what they wanted was nothing less than a revolution of the mind. The rulers of Europe had ordered their peoples how to think and act for too long. Based in the small German town of Jena, through poetry, drama, philosophy and science, they transformed the way we think about ourselves and the world around us. They were the first Romantics.Their way of understanding the world still frames our lives and being.We're still empowered by their daring leap into the self. We still think with their minds, see with their imagination and feel with their emotions. We also still walk the same tightrope between meaningful self-fulfilment and destructive narcissism, between the rights of the individual and our role as a member of our community and our responsibilities towards future generations who will inhabit this planet. This extraordinary group of friends changed our world. It is impossible to imagine our lives, thoughts and understanding without the foundation of their ground-breaking ideas.Trade ReviewThis is ridiculous. No book about German philosophy has any right to be this fun. This witty, gossipy, sparkling history . . . fizzed with creative energy * The Times, Book of the Year *Magnificent Rebels is - well - magnificent. This is how such books should be written, with clarity, passion and delight. A thrilling intellectual adventure -- John Banville, Book of the YearThis is indeed an electrifying book, in its illuminated portraits, its dynamic narrative and its sparking ideas * Observer *A witty, gossipy, sparkling history, full of bright jewels of anecdote . . . Magnificent Rebels is a triumph * The Times *In a gripping account of what she calls the "Jena Set" (which was intellectually and emotionally as complex as the Bloomsbury Group), Wulf brings the dramatis personae compellingly to life * Financial Times *An ambitious, engaging and effusive account . . . a considerable achievement * Times Literary Supplement *Magnificent Rebels is a magnificent book: a revelation which could easily become an obsession * Spectator *Magnificent Rebels is a thrilling intellectual history that reads more like a racy but intelligent novel or even a very superior soap opera where the characters are almost all oddballs, but geniuses * Sunday Times *Andrea Wulf is that rare historian who makes the past feel present and turns distant lives into gripping stories of the human heart. Magnificent Rebels is an absolute masterpiece: mesmerising, heartbreaking and incredibly timely, it is an important reminder that the desire to be true to oneself transcends time and borders -- AMANDA FOREMANThis is a magnificent book, fascinating in its focus and breathtaking in its scope and sweep. It is a work of formidable scholarship worn lightly; of complex intellectual history told evocatively, absorbingly, compellingly. Wulf's superb prose draws us deeply into the lives and minds of this remarkable circle of people, who together explored the breathtaking possibilities - and tremendous risks - of free will, individual creativity and liberty -- ROBERT MACFARLANEThe Jena Set was a group of philosophers, artists, and thinkers so earthquakingly brilliant that we feel the tremors that their ideas set off under our feet today. Nobody but Andrea Wulf, with her exquisite grasp of ideas and personalities, with her meticulous, sensitive and acutely observed prose, could make the reader feel as if they were in the room with them, bearing personal witness to their insights and their vanities and rages. Her storytelling had me immediately in her thrall -- LAUREN GROFF, bestselling author of MatrixTruly extraordinary, an intellectual history, group portrait, and elegy to Romanticism, which reads at times like a prizewinning novel. You feel you're there in turn-of-the-nineteenth-century Germany, experiencing the debates, disputations, and deep emotional interconnections between the most profound philosophers and greatest writers of the era, as they grapple with the birth of the modern -- ANDREW ROBERTSThrumming with all the red-hot frenzy, wild passion and radical ideas of a free new world created out of poetry, sex and Romanticism, Magnificent Rebels, Andrea Wulf's superb group biography is elegantly written, deeply researched and totally gripping -- SIMON SEBAG MONTEFIOREA big, thrilling and constantly surprising book . . . Brilliantly orchestrating a mass of original letters, diaries, and archival documents, Wulf revives a whole world of intense friendships, shifting intellectual alliances, furious philosophical arguments, inspirational suppers (including the cooking), theatrical first nights, seductive carriage journeys, hypnotic candlelit lectures and, of course, non-stop love affairs and betrayals (including the ecstatic love-making and equally ecstatic rows) . . . It is a glorious piece of work, both thought-provoking and magical, and I loved it -- RICHARD HOLMESMagnificent Rebels is a beautiful group biography, celebrating the lives and loves of Germany's most brilliant minds: Goethe, Schiller, Fichte, Novalis, Schlegel, Schelling and Hegel. At the centre of their group in the small university town of Jena was a free-spirited, thrice married, single-mother named Caroline Michaelis-Böhmer-Schlegel-Schelling. She carried her father's and husbands' names but her life was entirely her own. Caroline is Andrea Wulf's soulmate. This is a perfect pairing of author and subject - a joyful, life-affirming, freedom-loving tour de force -- RUTH SCURR, author of Napoleon: A Life Told in Gardens and ShadowsDelightful and invigorating... a worthy successor to [Wulf's] acclaimed study of Von Humboldt, The Invention of Nature... Magnificent Rebels is a triumph of unseen toil, hardly suspected by the reader, in the midst of the sociable whirl of the main narrative... This delightful history captures the "vibe" of 1790s Jena where parties, feuds and gossip fuelled a great intellectual flowering * The Times *Andrea Wulf advances the argument that the very birth of modern individuality . . . took place in those houses and narrow streets, in those taverns and university lecture halls. It is a bold claim. The remarkable thing about the book is that Wulf not only stands it up but in the process weaves a thrilling page-turner of a story * New Statesman *Wulf's book is a magnificent achievement. It is a testament to the powers of the mind, certainly, but also to the power of friendship, free will and the possibility of snatching delight from the jaws of despair * BBC History Magazine *Magnificent Rebels is a revelation. For it shows how one small group of intellectuals paved the way for much of modernity * The Week *Bringing... neglected thinkers vividly to life * The Economist *Drawn from meticulously detailed research . . . Wulf weaves the stories of these individuals together, showing (sometimes exactly - there are maps) where their paths crossed and how these individuals rubbed off on each other . . .It is details such as this that bring Wulf's story of the 'Jena Set' - their lives and legacy - so vividly to life * History Today *Andrea Wulf's substantial yet pacey new book concerns itself with a dazzling generation of German philosophers, scientists and poets who between the late 18th and early 19th centuries gathered in the provincial town of Jena and produced some of the most memorable works of European romanticism * Prospect *I greatly admired Magnificent Rebels, about the intellectual powerhouse ofJena that exploded like a firework in the late 1790s. History writing at its best. -- Peter Frankopan * Spectator, Books of the Year II *A rollicking romp . . . enormous fun * Sunday Times, Book of the Year *A buoyant work of intellectual history. Wulf's chronicle of the German Romantics is written as what was once termed 'the higher gossip' * New Yorker, Book of the Year *Arresting . . . It reads as if Iris Murdoch had set a novel during an especially muddy phase of German metaphysics * Economist, Books of the Year *

Read more less

Book SynopsisWinner of the Moore Prize for Human Rights Writing in 2023 "This book will stay with me for years." ADAM KAY, author of This is Going to Hurt "Black puts a human and profoundly humane face on what it's like to be a doctor." FORBES A brilliant, painful and honest book. Read it. MARY HARPER, BBC Africa Editor Benjamin Black has the most amazing gift for telling a story. I could not put the book down. VICTORIA MACDONALD, Channel 4 News Courage meets crisis in a doctor''s extraordinary true account on the frontlines of maternal healthcare during a deadly epidemic in Sierra Leone. In May 2014, as the country grapples with the highest maternal mortality rate globally, a new, invisible threat emerges: Ebola. Dr. Benjamin Black finds himself at the centre of the outbreak. From the life-and-death decisions on the maternity ward to moral dilemmas in the Ebola Treatment Centers, every moment is a crossroads where a single choice could tip the balance between survival and catastrophe. The tension is palpable, and the stakes are unimaginably high. One mistake, one error of judgment, could spell disaster. Belly Woman is a powerful piece of reportage and advocacy that draws parallels between two global outbreaks of infectious diseases: Ebola and COVID-19. Black''s firsthand experience on the frontlines of a global health crisis bears witness to the raw emotions, tough decisions, such as the need to carry out medically-mandated abortions to save lives, and the unwavering dedication that defines the lives of those who step up when the world needs them most. Compelling for readers with an interest in medical memoirs, social justice, and humanitarianism, as well as healthcare professionals and maternal health caregivers.

Read more less

Book Synopsis''Fascinating and vivid'' CARLO ROVELLIDROPOUT, PACIFIST, PHYSICIST, CASANOVA, REFUGEE, GENIUS . . . WHO WAS ALBERT EINSTEIN?The Nobel Prize-winning physicist who discovered relativity, black holes and E = mc2, Einstein was also a high-school failure with an FBI file 1,400 pages long. From his lost daughter to escaping the Nazis, from dining with Charlie Chaplin to refusing the Presidency of Israel, Einstein in Time and Space tells 99 unexpected stories of the man who redefined how we view our universe and our place within it.''Unforgettable'' the i, Book of the Month''Compelling'' Wall Street Journal

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisGreat Lives in Graphics: Marie Curie is a graphic retelling of Curie's story which gives children a visual snapshot of her life and the world she grew up in, while educating them on everything from how radioactivity works to the importance of self-belief. You may already know that Marie Curie was a scientific genius who pioneered the study of radioactivity, but did you know that she changed her name to Marie to sound more French? Or that her body's so radioactive she had to be buried in a lead coffin? Great Lives in Graphics reimagines the lives of extraordinary people in vivid technicolor, presenting 250+ fascinating facts in a new and exciting way. It takes the essential dates and achievements of each person's life, mixes them with lesser-known facts and trivia, and uses infographics to show them in a fresh visual way that is genuinely engaging for children and young adults. The result is a colorful, fascinating and often surprising representation of that person's life, work and legacy. Using timelines, maps, repeated motifs and many more beautiful and informative illustrations, readers learn not just about the main subject of the book but also about the cultural background of the time they lived in. AGES: 8 to 12 SELLING POINTS: . 250+ fascinating facts about scientific genius Marie Curie . Covers important issues in an innovative format which is accessible for young children . Fact-packed infographics capture the key information about each person's life and work . Builds into a colour-coded library of collectible biographies . Aimed at children aged 8-12

Read more less

Book Synopsis'Indecently entertaining.' A Daily Mail Book of the WeekAn Amazon US Best Book of 2022''A fascinating tale of poisons and poisonous deeds which both educates and entertains.'' Kathy ReichsAs any reader of murder mysteries can tell you, poison is one of the most enduring and popular weapons of choice for a scheming murderer. It can be slipped into a drink, smeared onto the tip of an arrow or the handle of a door, even filtered through the air we breathe. But how exactly do these poisons work to break our bodies down, and what can we learn from the damage they inflict?In a fascinating blend of popular science, medical history, and narrative crime nonfiction, Dr Neil Bradbury explores this most morbidly captivating method of murder from a cellular level. Alongside real-life accounts of murderers and their crimes some notorious, some forgotten, some still unsolved are the equally compelling stories of the poisons involved: eleven molecules of death that work their way through the humanTrade Review‘This very splendid book is essentially a detailed primer on how to dispose of your enemies. … A winning mixture of hard science and true crime stories, is almost indecently entertaining.’ Daily Mail ‘Lively … Bradbury is an engaging, cheerful tour guide.’ New York Times Book Review ‘Captivating in its storytelling and just enough science for the geeks. A tremendously entertaining dip into the dark and compelling world of death.’ Professor Dame Sue Black, author of All That Remains: A Life in Death ‘We’ve all seen Colonel Mustard dead in the library from poisoning. Instead of telling us why, in this original and invigorating book, Neil Bradbury focuses on how, exploring the workings of crime from a scientific basis. Fascinating.’ Judith Flanders, author of The Invention of Murder 'Neil Bradbury writes with wit, flair, and authority.' Lindsey Fitzharris, bestselling author of The Butchering Art ‘An engrossing history of poisons, poisonings and poisoners. Alongside the very human stories of the people who fall victim to these deadly substances, it’s packed with quirky detail and easily digestible (pun intended) science.’ Kate Morgan, author of Murder: The Biography 'Weaves jaw-dropping true stories and spellbinding histories behind the most infamous poisons.' Lydia Kang, bestselling author of Quackery: A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything 'An unselfconsciously jaunty work of horror. Its stories may leave you eyeing your housemates and sniffing your coffee.' Judy Melinek, M.D. and T.J. Mitchell, bestselling authors of Working Stiff ‘An accessible and fascinating study.’ Publishers Weekly starred review ‘Appealing to any true crime fan … genre-bending.’ Booklist ‘A frightening romp … fascinating, edifying, and terrifying.’ Library Journal

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe definitive, internationally bestselling biography of Albert Einstein from the author of The Innovators, Steve Jobs and Benjamin Franklin.**Now the basis of Genius, the ten-part National Geographic series on the life of Albert Einstein, starring the Oscar, Emmy, and Tony Award-winning actor Geoffrey Rush** How did Einstein’s mind work? What made him a genius? Isaacson’s biography shows how Einstein’s scientific imagination sprang from the rebellious nature of his personality. His fascinating story is a testament to the connection between creativity and freedom. Isaacson explores how an imaginative, impertinent patent clerk – a struggling father in a difficult marriage who couldn't get a teaching job or a doctorate – became the locksmith of the mysteries of the atom, and the universe. His success came from

Read more less

Book SynopsisShortlisted for the Baillie Gifford PrizeThe Top Ten BestsellerWaterstones Non-Fiction Book of the MonthA Sunday Times Paperback of the Year ‘If you want to read a book that moves you both at the level of sentence and the quality of language and with the emotional depth of its subject matter, then A Fortunate Woman is definitely the book you should be reading’ - Samanth Subramanian, Baillie Gifford judgeWhen Polly Morland is clearing out her mother’s house she finds a book that will lead her to a remarkable figure living on her own doorstep: the country doctor who works in the same remote, wooded valley she has lived in for many years. This doctor is a rarity in contemporary medicine – she knows her patients inside out, and their stories are deeply entwined with her own.In A Fortunate Woman, with its beautiful photographs by Richard Baker, Polly Morland has written a profoundly moving love letter to a landscape, a community and, above all, to what it means to be a good doctor.‘Morland writes about nature and the changing landscape with such lyrical precision that her prose sometimes seems close to poetry’ - Christina Patterson, The Sunday Times‘Timely . . . compelling . . . a delicately drawn miniature’ - Financial Times‘This book deepens our understanding of the life and thoughts of a modern doctor, and the modern NHS, and it expands movingly to chronicle a community and a landscape’ - Kathleen Jamie, New StatesmanTrade ReviewMorland writes about nature and the changing landscape with such lyrical precision that her prose sometimes seems close to poetry . . . There has been no shortage in recent years of books about healthcare . . . With this gem, Morland has done something similar for general practice. Let’s just hope the policymakers listen. -- Christina Patterson * Sunday Times *The doctor's kindly, holistic approach - she makes time to investigate her patients' social as well as physical needs - seems to evoke a lost world . . . Morland's book contains a profound message for the future at a critical moment for general practice and us all. -- Wendy Moore * TLS *This book deepens our understanding of the life and thoughts of a modern doctor, and the modern NHS, and it expands movingly to chronicle a community and a landscape – “the valley” itself is a defining feature of people’s lives. -- Kathleen Jamie * New Statesman *Polly Morland and Richard Baker have more than done justice to the original John Berger book - and produced a work that stimulates the eye and mind in equal measure. -- Alain de BottonI was consoled and compelled by this book’s steady gaze on healing and caring. The writing is beautiful. -- Sarah Moss, author of Summerwater and Ghost WallSuperb - beautiful, enthralling, careful, tender, a humanitarian act in itself, deeply moral, moving, lucid and loving. -- Laura Cumming, James Tait Black-winner and bestselling Costa-shortlisted author of The Vanishing Man and On Chapel SandsAll human life is here in this evocative portrayal of the challenges and joys of rural family doctoring in modern times. Enthralling and uplifting. -- James LeFanu, author The Rise & Fall of Modern MedicineA Fortunate Woman is the best book I’ve read about general practice for a long time. Astonishingly perceptive, it shows how a committed GP can keep human values alive in an increasingly impersonal NHS – and why we urgently need more like her. -- Professor Roger Neighbour OBE. Past President, Royal College of General PractitionersA vibrant and authentic portrait of the rural family doctor in these difficult contemporary times. -- Trisha Greenhalgh, Professor of Primary Care at the University of OxfordOne of the best books about medicine that I have read. The patients' stories are vivid, moving, often unforgettable. Polly Morland has written with incredible sensitivity, appreciation and descriptive ability about the valley and the people who live there -- Professor Roger Jones OBEA Fortunate Woman is grounded in a legacy of care and compassion for the community served, shared though a compelling narrative based on patient stories. I loved it. -- Prof Dame Helen Stokes-LampardI thought it was stunning in style and content and I hope it encourages all readers to reflect on what I agree is your key message – the importance of relationship-base care and the fact that it is under threat. -- Professor Martin Marshall, Chair of the Royal College of General PractitionersBeautifully and tenderly written, [A Fortunate Woman] also serves as a topical reminder of what is possible with continuity of care. -- Caroline Sanderson, 'Editor's Choice' * Bookseller *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis visual celebration of the world''s most celebrated thinkers tells the fascinating stories of their lives and pioneering ideas.Philosophers Who Changed History places well-known philosophers in their historical and cultural context, showing you how they came to influence philosophy as we know it today.This illustrated guide is ideal for those interested in philosophy, politics, history, and literature or who would like to broaden their general understanding of philosophy and the lives of philosophers.Inside this book on philosophers, you'll find: -An overview of the lives and works of around 80 of the world''s most influential philosophers - from the Classical era to the present-Eight pages of brand-new content with 12 new entries, including Frederick Douglass and Luce Irigaray-Lavishly illustrated portraits of each philosopher, alongside photographs of their homes, studies and personal artefactsIn this philoso

Read more less

Book SynopsisSigmund Freud was no stranger to controversy. He shocked many with his revolutionary theories on human development, desires and sexuality, and transformed the way we think about ourselves today. Starting with a brilliant foreword from renowned psychologist Edward de Bono, the book is then divided into two parts: a biographical essay that provides a concise overview of Freud's life, achievements, theories and controversies; and a Q&A dialogue based on rigorous research and incorporating Freud's actual spoken or written words whenever possible. D.M. Thomas carefully guides us through Freud's life and theories that would lead to him become the father of psychoanalysis. In frank conversation, full of energy and spiced with cynicism and wit, he'll interpret your wildest fantasies and strangest dreams, and even let you in on a few family secrets.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThoroughly revised and expanded from the 2012 edition (twice the number of pages, almost double the number of illustrations) this book pays tribute to the man and his diverse works and achievements. James Hutton (1726-1797) was one of the first environmentalists, a man ahead of his time. He developed a grand theory of the Earth in which he tried to make sense of a lifetime of observation and deduction about the way in which our planet functions. For example, he connected temperature with latitude. His measurements, with rudimentary thermometers, of temperature changes between the base and summit of Arthur’s Seat, were remarkably accurate and he studied climate data from other parts of the world. A leading figure in the eighteenth-century Scottish Enlightenment, he was also an innovative farmer, successful entrepreneur and a man with endless intellectual curiosity. The year 2026 will be the tercentenary of his birth. There will be many special events leading up to and in that year organised by The James Hutton Institute, Scotland’s premier environmental and agricultural research organisation.Trade Review' … For anyone interested in the history and personalities of the Scottish Enlightenment, McKirdy's book must be essential reading, and will gently initiate those readers into the glories of Scottish geology. The book is equally valuable as a contribution to the history of science more generally. Even for those who think they know all about Hutton and his works, I guarantee a few surprises … ' Scottish Journal of Geology 'James Hutton was one of the first environmentalists ... ' Arran Banner Table of ContentsDedication Forewords Introduction 1. Hutton's early life and studies 2. Hutton the traveller 3. Hutton the farmer 4. Permanent return to Edinburgh 5. Hutton and the Scottish Enlightenment 6. Theory of the Earth 7. Trial of Hutton's Theory of the Earth by fieldwork 8. Hutton's final years 9. Hutton's legacy 10. Places to visit Further reading and watching Acknowledgements and image credits Index

Read more less

Book Synopsis''A monumental achievement - one of the great scientific biographies.'' Michael FraynThe Strangest Man is the Costa Biography Award-winning account of Paul Dirac, the famous physicist sometimes called the British Einstein. He was one of the leading pioneers of the greatest revolution in twentieth-century science: quantum mechanics. The youngest theoretician ever to win the Nobel Prize for Physics, he was also pathologically reticent, strangely literal-minded and legendarily unable to communicate or empathize. Through his greatest period of productivity, his postcards home contained only remarks about the weather.Based on a previously undiscovered archive of family papers, Graham Farmelo celebrates Dirac''s massive scientific achievement while drawing a compassionate portrait of his life and work. Farmelo shows a man who, while hopelessly socially inept, could manage to love and sustain close friendship.The Strangest Man is an extraordinary and moving human story, as well as a study of one of the most exciting times in scientific history.''A wonderful book . . . Moving, sometimes comic, sometimes infinitely sad, and goes to the roots of what we mean by truth in science.'' Lord Waldegrave, Daily Telegraph

Read more less

Book Synopsis'Enchanting to the point of escapism.' – Simon Ings, Spectator'Hugh Aldersey-Williams rescues his subject from Newton's shadow, where he was been unjustly confined for over three hundred years.' – Literary ReviewFilled with incident, discovery, and revelation, Dutch Light is a vivid account of Christiaan Huygens’s remarkable life and career, but it is also nothing less than the story of the birth of modern science as we know it. Europe’s greatest scientist during the latter half of the seventeenth century, Christiaan Huygens was a true polymath. A towering figure in the fields of astronomy, optics, mechanics, and mathematics, many of his innovations in methodology, optics and timekeeping remain in use to this day. Among his many achievements, he developed the theory of light travelling as a wave, invented the mechanism for the pendulum clock, and discovered the rings of Saturn – via a telescope that he had also invented.A man of fashion and culture, Christiaan came from a family of multi-talented individuals whose circle included not only leading figures of Dutch society, but also artists and philosophers such as Rembrandt, Locke and Descartes. The Huygens family and their contemporaries would become key actors in the Dutch Golden Age, a time of unprecedented intellectual expansion within the Netherlands. Set against a backdrop of worldwide religious and political turmoil, this febrile period was defined by danger, luxury and leisure, but also curiosity, purpose, and tremendous possibility.Following in Huygens’s footsteps as he navigates this era while shuttling opportunistically between countries and scientific disciplines, Hugh Aldersey-Williams builds a compelling case to reclaim Huygens from the margins of history and acknowledge him as one of our most important and influential scientific figures.Trade ReviewThis book, soaked like the Dutch Republic itself 'in ink and paint', is enchanting to the point of escapism . . . One of the best things about this absorbing book (and how many 500-page biographies feel too short when you finish them?) is the interest it shows in everyone else. -- Simon Ings * Spectator *Here’s early modern Europe by way of one of its most energetic minds. * Times Literary Supplement Books of the Year *Hugh Aldersey-Williams rescues his subject from Newton's shadow, where he was been unjustly confined for other three hundred years . . . a fresh and absorbing vision of 17th-century experimentation that sheds welcome light on wider European culture. * Literary Review *A clever and comprehensive portrait of a unique mind prospering on the border between Renaissance humanism and Enlightenment empiricism. -- Chris Allnutt * Financial Times *Hugh Aldersey-Williams reclaims the 17th-century polymath Christiaan Huygens from relative obscurity in an excellent biography that is also a story about the birth of modern science. Among other things, Huygens invented the mechanism for the pendulum clock and discovered the rings of Saturn through a telescope he had invented. -- Ruth Scurr * Spectator 'Books of the year' *Fascinating . . . an impressive piece of scholarship. I learned a lot -- John Gribbin, author of Six Impossible Things and In Search of Schrödinger's CatAt last – a scintillating biography of Christiaan Huygens, the Dutch mathematician, astronomer and inventor whose splendour has been unjustly eclipsed by the aura of Isaac Newton. After scouring archives, art galleries and museums in both the Netherlands and the UK, Hugh Aldersley-Williams has evocatively illuminated this brilliant polymath who laid the foundations of modern European science. -- Dr Patricia Fara, Emeritus Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge.

Read more less

Book Synopsis“A rare gift: an inspiring tale about trees, trauma and the very purpose of life.” —Andrew Nikiforuk, author of Empire of the Beetle Diana Beresford-Kroeger—a world-recognized botanist and medical biochemist—has revolutionized our understanding of the natural world with her startling insights into the hidden life of trees. In this riveting memoir, she uncovers the roots of her discoveries in her extraordinary childhood in Ireland. Soon after, her brilliant mind bloomed into an illustrious scientific career that melds the intricacies of the natural world with the truths of traditional Celtic wisdom. To Speak for the Trees uniquely blends the story of Beresford-Kroeger’s incredible life and her outstanding achievement as a scientist. It elegantly shows us how forests can not only heal us as people but can also help save the planet.

Read more less