MARY GRIBBIN

The definitive scientific icon of the twentieth century, Albert Einstein is remember for one equation, E=mc, and the image of a white-haired, pipe-smoking professor who didnt wear socks. But the equation comes from a time when all of his great work was done. The real Albert Einstein the high school drop-out who won the Nobel Prize along with the hearts of so many young women was young, handsome, dark haired and a natty dresser. And his greatest piece of work was so poorly understood at the time that the Nobel Committee, who couldnt understand it, but in a panic felt they ought to give him a prize for something, honoured him for something else. An introduction, afterword and clear chronological table place Einsteins work in the context of the development of scientific knowledge.

Charles Darwin was the epitome of the Victorian gentleman amateur scientist, living entirely off inherited wealth and the income from his books. At the same time, however, he was the most professional scientist of his day.Darwins life is full of contrast. In his youth, he seemed likely to become a wastrel, yet he became a hard-working and renowned scientist. His family life in a small Kentish village was mostly idyllically happy; but the loss of his favourite daughter, Annie, brought him intense misery that lasted long after her death. Darwin shunned publicity; but he became the most famous scientist of his time, for an idea which shook the foundations of Victorian society.Even today, some people reject his idea - evolution by natural selection - without bothering to find out what Darwin said. But it is one of those great achievements of the human intellect with which everyone should be acquainted.

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) was the first scientist in the modern use of the term. Instead of relying on the works of Aristotle, he actually carried out experiments to test theories legend has it that one of his experiments involved throwing weights off the Leaning Tower of Pisa. His astronomical observations with the telescope shattered the idea that the Earth was at the centre of the Universe, and led to his trial for heresy. He had a great lust for life, three children by a woman he never married, a biting, sarcastic with and the friendship of princes and (in spite of his run in with Pope Urban VIII) cardinals. An introduction, afterword and clear chronological table place Galileos work in the context of the development of scientific knowledge.

The amazing true science behind the fiction of His Dark Materials, ideal for fans of the original trilogy and The Book of Dust, with an introduction by Philip Pullman.Award-winning science writers Mary and John Gribbin reveal how the world of Pullmans His Dark Materials trilogy (Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass) is rooted in astonishing scientific truth. Drawing on string theory and spacetime, quantum physics and chaos theory, they answer fascinating questions such as: could parallel worlds like Wills and Lyras really exist? How does the subtle knife cut through anything? Could there be a bomb like the one made with Lyras hair? And, of course, what are the Dark Materials?

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.

Nuevo volumen de la colección "La aventura de la ciencia", una serie de manuales breves destinados a los adolescentes, sobre todo a los alumnos de enseñanza media, pero también a universitarios y a los jóvenes en general. Esta nueva obra, Del átomo al infinito, anima a los jóvenes a emprender un viaje fascinante desde lo más pequeño a lo más grande, pasando por los más importantes descubrimientos y las más geniales ideas de la historia de la humanidad. Los autores, dos de los divulgadores científicos más prestigiosos del mundo, ofrecen a los jóvenes un sinfín de didácticos capítulos, de títulos tan sugerentes como: "La escala del espacio", "Los objetos celestes más remotos en el universo", "En el corazón del sol", "El ser vivo más grande", "La telaraña de la vida", "La respuesta está en el viento", "Superordenadores", "Tsunami: la ola gigante", "Las paradojas del cero", "La estructura del ADN", "En el interior de un átomo"...

Shortlisted for the BSHS Hughes Prize What if Isaac Newton had never lived? Robert Hooke and Edmond Halley, whose place in history has been overshadowed by the giant figure of Newton, were pioneering scientists within their own right, and instrumental in establishing the Royal Society. Whilst Newton is widely regarded as one of the greatest scientists of all time, and the father of the English scientific revolution, John and Mary Gribbin uncover the fascinating story of Robert Hooke and Edmond Halley, whose scientific achievements neatly embrace the hundred years or so during which science as we know it became established in Britain. They argue persuasively that even without Newton science in Britain would have made a great leap forward in the second half of the seventeenth century, headed by two extraordinary men, Hooke and Halley.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt said that Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and Count Rumford are the greatest minds that America has produced, and indeed, Rumford was a peer of theirs, and arguably contributed more to the scientific canon, and yet is nowhere near as well known. Born in the British Americas as Benjamin Thompson, he died a count and a knight, and lived a fascinating, eventful life in between, founding the Royal Institution in London, inventing a better chimney (still in widespread use) for open fires, finding time along the way to invent the coffee percolator and the enclosed oven, and most importantly pioneering our modern understanding of heat. White Knight, Red Heat tells the story of this notable figure in book form for the first time in over twenty years.Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count von Rumford, was an American-born British physicist, government administrator, and a founder of the Royal Institution of Great Britain, London. His investigations of heat overturned the theory that heat is a liquid form of matter and established the beginnings of the modern theory that heat is a form of motion.Loyal to the British crown, he served as a spy after the outbreak of the American Revolution, but in 1776 he was forced to flee to London, leaving his wife and daughter behind. Knighted by King George III in 1784, Thompson introduced numerous social reforms and brought James Watts steam engine into common use... He was created a Count of the Holy Roman Empire in 1791. Interest in gunpowder and weaponry stimulated his physical investigations, and in 1798 he began his studies of heat and friction, making one of the earliest measurements of the equivalence of heat and mechanical energy.

La asombrosa historia Fitz Roy, uno de los mejores navegantes del siglo XIX, cuya obra mejoró la seguridad de todos los navegantes que vendrían después de él, y que fué indispensable para que Darwin desarrollara su teoria de la evolucion. Nacido en 1805, Fitz Roy se enrolo en la armada a los 12 años, y a los 23 ya estaba al mando de un velero de 90 pies de eslora, enfrentandose a los peores temporales invernales para realizar un levantamiento hidrografico del extremo meridional de America del Sur. Tres años mas tarde regresaria al Cabo de Hornos como uno de las estrellas pujantes de la Armada y capitan del Beagle. Habia decidido que lo acompañara un joven naturalista llamado Charles Darwin, cuyos estudios tendrian un impacto revolucionario.

A history of science distilled into 100 notable experiments epic moments that have fuelled our understanding of Earth and the Universe beyond. The history of science is a fascinating and long one, covering thousands of years of history. The development of scientific experiments involves some of the most enlightened cultures in history, as well as some great scientists, philosophers and theologians. As the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman said, If it disagrees with experiment, it is wrong, the simplest summary of what science is all about. And science is nothing without experiments. Everything in the scientific world view is based on experiment, including observations of phenomena predicted by theories and hypotheses, such as the bending of light as it goes past the Sun. From the discovery of microscopic worlds to weighing the Earth, from making electricity to the accelerating Universe and gravitational waves, this stunning book by renowned science writers John and Mary Gribbin tells the fascinating history of science through the stories of 100 groundbreaking experiments.

The theory of evolution by natural selection did not spring fully formed and unprecedented from the brain of Charles Darwin. The idea of evolution had been around, in various guises, since the time of Ancient Greece. And nor did theorizing about evolution stop with what Daniel Dennett called "Darwins dangerous idea." In this riveting new book, bestselling science writers John and Mary Gribbin explore the history of the idea of evolution, showing how Darwins theory built on what went before and how it was developed in the twentieth century, through an understanding of genetics and the biochemical basis of evolution, into the so-called "modern synthesis" and beyond. Darwin deserves his recognition as the primary proponent of the idea of natural selection, but as the authors show, his contribution was one link in a chain that extends back into antiquity and is still being forged today.

A Waterstones Best Book of 2020 The theory of evolution by natural selection did not spring fully formed and unprecedented from the brain of Charles Darwin. Rather it has been examined and debated by philosophers the world over for thousands of years. This lively history traces the evolution of the idea of evolution, showing how it has changed and been changed by different societies over time. It will put Darwins Dangerous Idea into its proper context, showing how it built on what went before and how it was developed in the twentieth century, through an understanding of genetics and the biochemical basis evolution. None of this diminishes the achievement of Darwin himself in perceiving the way evolution works at the level of individuals and species, but his contribution was one link in a chain that extends back into antiquity, and is still being forged today.

La ciencia es magia explicable. Philip Pullman concibió la trilogía La Materia Oscura partiendo de esa base. Pero, ¿cuánto hay de verdad en Luces del Norte, La daga y El catalejo lacado?¿Realmente son posibles otros mundos paralelos al nuestro?¿ Seria posible saltar en el tiempo? ¿Que es la materia oscura?. Las preguntas que la imaginativa obra de Pullman nos suscita tienen una respuesta tan asombrosa como cierta. Muchas cosas parecen magia en su trilogia, pero no lo son: este libro ofrece la explicacion cientifica real de elementos tan sorprendentes como el aletiometro, los daimonions o el Polvo.