From gravity to black holes special relativity to global warming this authoritative and
entertaining book from bestselling author Marcus Chown breaks down complex science into
manageable chunks explaining the one thing you really need to know to get to grips with the
subject. Rather than trying to bend your mind around all the vast and confounding details of
things such as gravitational waves electricity and black holes wouldn't it be easier to
understand just one central concept from which everything else follows? If you've ever found
yourself fascinated by the idea of quantum computing but feel a little overwhelmed by the
mindblowing subject of quantum mechanics or concerned by climate change but haven't been able
to get to grips with the details of global warming this book is for you. Let's take atoms
for example - what on earth are they? Well if you start to think of them less like things you
can't see with complex little nuclei and more like the alphabet of nature which in different
configurations can make a rose a galaxy or a newborn baby they might start to feel a little
more understandable. Or gravitational waves - they sound poetic but why are they creating so
much excitement? Think of them as the voice of space vibrations on the drumskin of space-time
- before delving into all their complexities. In twenty-one short and engaging chapters Chown
explains the one thing you need to know to understand some of the most important scientific
ideas of our time . Packed full of astounding facts scientific history and the entertaining
personalities at the heart of the most pivotal discoveries about the workings of our universe
this is an accessible guide to all the tricky stuff you've always wanted to understand more
about.
