Description
Book SynopsisThe next time someone asks you why the government wastes its money on weird research, recall the intriguing stories James has told and tell them the answer.
Trade ReviewCelebration of ingenuity and the scientific process... filled with troves of examples of how scientific research can transform our lives in important yet often unpredictable ways. -- Sid Perkins Science News Possessing a talent for crisp analogies that elucidate complex scientific concepts, the author elaborates on five examples in clear, easily digestible prose. Choice
Table of ContentsPreface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part I: Finding Ourselves
1. A Brief History of Timing
2. Going with the Flow
3. From Principia to Principe
4. The Attraction of Time
5. Fine-tuning Our Clocks
6. Around the World in 80 Hours (Give or Take)
Part II: Identity Crisis
7. One Strand
8. Two Strands
9. The First Rungs of the Ladder
10. Interchangeable Pieces
11. Igniting the Fuse
12. Breaking Down, Building Up
13. A Curious Boy
14. Copycat
15. Molecule of the Year
16. The Genetic Bread Machine
Part III: Finding a Hot Spot
17. A Universal "Hot Spot"
18. Classic Black
19. A Tunnel to Oblivion
20. Chasing Wild Geese
21. Going Wireless
22. Where Credit Is Due
23. Anatomy of a Successful Failure
Part IV: Pick Your Poison
24. Desperate Times, Desperate Measures
25. Barking up the Right Tree
26. The Inside Story on Pain
27. A Bitter Sting
28. A Simple Question
29. The Gift of the Magus
Part V: Dreaming of the Star Treatment
30. Ingredients of the Stars
31. The Sun's Secret Recipe
32. Reading between the Lines
33. Through a Star Darkly
34. The Opacity Project
35. The Iron Lady and the Gold Standard
36. Therapy of the Stars
Afterword
References
Index
