Brian Clegg

Physics informs our understanding of how the world works - but more than that, key breakthroughs in physics have transformed everyday life. We journey back to ten separate days in history to understand how particular breakthroughs were achieved, meet the individuals responsible and see how each breakthrough has influenced our lives. It is a unique selection. Focusing on practical impact means there is no room for Stephen Hawking's work on black holes,...

"How It All Works is a unique and unprecedented demonstration of our universe and how it works. Starting in the home, and moving through ever more complex scenes of street, city and landscape, all the way to the solar system and the whole universe, Adam Dant's exquisite illustrations reveal where scientific laws apply and where the phenomena they create are to be found. A rigorous reference section includes all these in alphabetical order for ease...

All the matter and light we can see in the universe makes up a trivial 5 per cent of everything. The rest is hidden. This could be the biggest puzzle that science has ever faced. Since the 1970s, astronomers have been aware that galaxies have far too little matter in them to account for the way they spin around: they should fly apart, but something concealed holds them together. That 'something' is dark matter — invisible material in five times...

Brian Clegg was always fascinated by Isaac Asimov's classic Foundation series of books, in which the future is predicted using sophisticated mathematical modeling of human psychology and behavior. Only much later did he realize that Asimov's "psychohistory" had a real-world equivalent: game theory. Originating in the study of probabilistic gambling games that depend on a random source - the throw of a dice or the toss of a coin - game theory soon...

In 2003, Russian physicists Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov found a way to produce graphene-the thinnest substance in the world-by using sticky tape to separate an atom-thick layer from a block of graphite. Their efforts would win the 2010 Nobel Prize for Physics, and now the applications of graphene and other two-dimensional substances form a worldwide industry. Graphene is far stronger than steel, a far better conductor than any metal, and able...

Entertaining and enlightening, this collection is an insightful guide to how computer science shapes and influences not just our day-to-day lives but also our future. Quantum Computing Computer technology has improved exponentially over the last fifty years, but the headroom for bigger and better electronic solutions is running out. Our best hope is to engage the power of quantum physics. In this approachable introduction, Brian Clegg explains algorithms...