John Gribbin

Buddy Holly was killed at 22 when the plane he was travelling in crashed on 3 February 1959. Although this was less than two years after Holly's first hit record, Don McLean described this as 'the day the music died.' But Sonny Curtis, Holly's friend and musical colleague, told us that the music didn't die, because 'Buddy Holly lives every time you play rock'n'roll.' Fifty years after Holly's death his lasting influence on pop is clear; a musical based on his life seems set to run for longer than Holly was alive. The Beatles chose That'll Be the Dayby Buddy's group The Crickets as their first attempt at recording, as well taking inspiration for their name. Clearly, the music didn't die! John Gribbin, an ardent fan since he was 12 presents this labour of love written in the spirit of Sonny Curtis' lyric, as a celebration of Holly's all too brief life, and as an introduction, for all those not around in 1959, to the man and his astonishing musical legacy. It also includes - uniquely - a full and detailed account of every Holly recording session, which any Buddy fan will devour.

We once had to abandon the idea of earth being at the centre of the universe. Now, we need to confront an even more profound possibility: the universe itself might just be one universe among many. In Search of the Multiverse takes us on an extraordinary journey, examining the most fundamental questions in science. What are the boundaries of our universe? Can there be different physical laws from the ones we know? Are there in fact other universes? Do we really live in a multiverse? This book is the ultimate search and Gribbin guides us through the different competing theories revealing what they have in common and what we can come to expect.

One hundred years on from his birth, and 30 since his death, Richard Feynmans discoveries in modern physics are still thoroughly relevant. Magnificently charismatic and fun-loving, he brought a sense of adventure to the study of science. His extraordinary career included war-time work on the atomic bomb at Los Alamos, a profoundly original theory of quantum mechanics, for which he won the Nobel prize, and major contributions to the sciences of gravity, nuclear physics and particle theory. Interweaving personal anecdotes and recollections with clear scientific narrative, acclaimed science writers John and Mary Gribbin reveal a fascinating man with an immense passion for life a superb teacher, a wonderful showman and one of the greatest scientists of his generation.

Gribbin has inspired generations with his popular science writingJim Al-KhaliliA scintillating collection of short essays that really does cover life, the Universe, and everything. From the mysteries of the subatomic world to the curious property of water that makes our planet inhabitable, master of popular science John Gribbin delves into the astonishing facts that underlie our existence. Some aspects of the quantum world really do seem impossible to common sense, but have been proved correct by experiments. Other features of the Universe appear obvious, such as the fact that atoms are mostly empty space. But this familiarity hides the truly amazing truths underpinning these observations. And some things merely seem improbable but are also hiding a Deep Truth, such as the fact that the Moon and Sun look the same size as viewed from Earth. This book will change forever the way you view the world.

Excelente y asequible historia de la creación de nuestro universo en la que Gribbin, a través de la narración apasionada de todos los acontecimientos astrofísicos que han originado la aparición de vida en la Tierra, refuta cualquier posibilidad de existencia de civilización inteligente en otros planetas. Una reivindicación científica del valor extraordinario que tiene la vida en nuestro planeta.

Time travel is a familiar theme of science fiction but is it really possible Surprisingly time travel is not forbidden by the laws of physics and John Gribbin argues that if it is not impossible then it must be possible Gribbin brilliantly illustrates the possibilities of time travel by comparing familiar themes from science fiction with their real world scientific counterparts including Einstein s theories of relativity black holes quantum physics and the multiverse illuminated by examples from the fictional tales of Robert Heinlein Larry Niven Carl Sagan and others The result is an entertaining guide to some deep mysteries of the Universe which may leave you wondering whether time actually passes at all and if it does whether we are moving forwards or backwards A must read for science fiction fans and anyone intrigued by deep science

Galaxies are the building blocks of the Universe standing like islands in space each is made up of many hundreds of millions of stars in which the chemical elements are made around which planets form and where on at least one of those planets intelligent life has emerged Our own galaxy the Milky Way is just one of several hundred million other galaxies that we can now observe through our telescopes Yet it was only in the 1920s that we realised that there is more to the Universe than the Milky Way and that there were in fact other islands out there In many ways modern astronomy began with this discovery and the story of galaxies is therefore the story of modern astronomy Since then many exciting discoveries have been made about our own galaxy and about those beyond how a supermassive black hole lurks at the centre of every galaxy for example how enormous forces are released when galaxies collide how distant galaxies provide a window on the early Universe and what the formation of young galaxies can tell us about the mysteries of Cold Dark Matter In this Very Short Introduction renowned science writer John Gribbin describes the extraordinary things that astronomers are learning about galaxies and explains how this can shed light on the origins a

The revolution is here In breakthrough after breakthrough pioneering physicists are unlocking a new quantum universe which provides a better representation of reality than our everyday experiences and common sense ever could The birth of quantum computers which like Schrodinger s famous dead and alive cat rely on entities like electrons existing in a mixture of states is starting to turn the computing world on its head In his fascinating study of this cutting edge technology first published as Computing with Quantum Cats and now featuring a new foreword John Gribbin updates his previous views on the nature of quantum reality arguing for a universe of many parallel worlds where everything is real Looking back to Alan Turing s work on the Enigma machine and the first electronic computer Gribbin explains how quantum theory developed to make quantum computers work in practice as well as in principle He takes us beyond the arena of theoretical physics to explore their practical applications from machines which learn through intuition and trial and error to unhackable laptops and smartphones And he investigates the potential for this extraordinary science to allow communication faster than light and even teleportation as we step into a world of

Erwin Schrödinger was an Austrian physicist famous for his contribution to quantum physics. He won the Nobel Prize in 1933 and is best known for his thought experiment of a cat in a box, both alive and dead at the same time, which revealed the seemingly paradoxical nature of quantum mechanics. Schrödinger was working at one of the most fertile and creative moments in the whole history of science. By the time he was starting university in 1906, Einstein had already published his revolutionary papers on relativity. Now the baton of scientific progress was being passed to a new generation: Werner Heisenberg, Paul Dirac, Niels Bohr, and of course, Schrödinger himself. In this riveting biography John Gribbin takes us into the heart of the quantum revolution. He tells the story of Schrödinger's surprisingly colourful life (he arrived for a position at Oxford University with both his wife and mistress). And with his trade mark accessible style and popular touch explains the fascinating world of quantum mechanics, which underpins all of modern science.