Most Popular Books by John Gribbin

Quantum theory is so shocking that Einstein could not bring himself to accept it. It is so important that it provides the fundamental underpinning of all modern sciences. Without it, we''d have no nuclear power or nuclear weapons, no TV, no computers, no science of molecular biology, no understanding of DNA, no genetic engineering. In Search of Schrodinger''s Cat tells the complete story of quantum mechanics, a truth stranger than any fiction. John Gribbin takes us step by step into an ever more bizarre and fascinating place, requiring only that we approach it with an open mind. He introduces the scientists who developed quantum theory. He investigates the atom, radiation, time travel, the birth of the universe, superconductors and life itself. And in a world full of its own delights, mysteries and surprises, he searches for Schrodinger''s Cat - a search for quantum reality - as he brings every reader to a clear understanding of the most important area of scientific study today - quantum physics. In Search of Schrodinger''s Cat is a fascinating and delightful introduction to the strange world of the quantum - an essential element in understanding today''s world.

Critical acclaim for John Gribbin "The master of popular science." —Sunday Times (London) "Gribbin explains things very well indeed, and there''s not an equation in sight." —David Goodstein, The New York Times Book Review (on Almost Everyone''s Guide to Science) "Gribbin breathes life into the core ideas of complexity science, and argues convincingly that the basic laws, even in biology, will ultimately turn out to be simple." —Nature magazine (on Deep Simplicity) "Gribbin takes us through the basics [of chaos theory] with his customary talent for accessibility and clarity. [His] arguments are driven not by impersonal equations but by a sense of wonder at the presence in the universe and in nature of simple, self-organizing harmonies underpinning all structures, whether they are stars or flowers." —Sunday Times (London) (on Deep Simplicity) "In the true quantum realm, Gribbin remains the premier expositor of the latest developments." —Booklist (on Schrödinger''s Kittens and the Search for Reality)

A Gripping Account Of A Physicist Whose Speculations Could Prove As Revolutionary As Those Of Albert Einstein... It Can Be Consulted As A Clear And Authoritative Guide Through Three Decades Of Hawking S Central Contributions To Cosmology. - Bernard Dixon In The New Statesman & Society Excellent... From The Opening Pages, Which Relate The Occasion When Shirley Maclaine Sought An Audience With Her Hero In A Cambridge Restaurant, To The Final Chapter On Hollywood, Fame And Fortune , The Book Is Well-Nigh Unputdownable... [It] Ought To Be Read Alongside A Brief History Of Time As A Kind Of Explanatory Supplement. - Heather Cooper In The Times Educational Supplement Fascinating... What Makes This Book So Rewarding Is The Way That The Authors Have Blended Their Account Of Hawking S Science With That Of His Life, Giving A Picture Of A Remarkable Scientist As A Remarkable Person. - Tony Osman In The Spectator It S Compulsive Reading, Maybe Because Hawking Towers Above It All, A Complex And Fascinating Character Who Remains Strangely Elusive: Boyish Yet Indomitable, Stubborn Yet Charming, A Private Man Revelling In Fame. - Clare Francis In The Sunday Express [Their Book] Conveys How Scientific Research Is Not Just A Dry Intellectual Pursuit But An Adventure Full Of Joy, Despair And Humour, And Fraught With The Sort Of Inter-Personal Problems And Rivalries Which Mark All Human Endeavours. - Bernard Carr In The Independent On Sunday Few Scientists Become Legends In Their Own Lifetime. Stephen Hawking Is One. It Is Good To Have This Well-Documented And Immensely Readable Biography To Remind Us That The Media-Hyped Mute Genius In The Wheelchair Is In Fact A Sensitive, Humorous, Ambitious And Occasionally Wilful Human Being. - Paul Davies In The Times Higher Education Supplement

''Gribbin takes us through the basics with his customary talent for accessibility and clarity'' Sunday Times The world around us can be a complex, confusing place. Earthquakes happen without warning, stock markets fluctuate, weather forecasters seldom seem to get it right - even other people continue to baffle us. How do we make sense of it all? In fact, John Gribbin reveals, our seemingly random universe is actually built on simple laws of cause and effect that can explain why, for example, just one vehicle braking can cause a traffic jam; why wild storms result from a slight atmospheric change; even how we evolved from the most basic materials. Like a zen painting, a fractal image or the pattern on a butterfly''s wings, simple elements form the bedrock of a sophisticated whole. Synthesizing chaos and complexity theory for the perplexed, Deep Simplicity brilliantly illuminates the harmony underlying our existence.

Carl Linnaeus - Joseph Banks - Francis Masson - Carl Peter Thunberg - David Douglas - William Lobb - Thomas Lobb - Robert Fortune - Marianne North - Richard Spruce - Joseph Dalton Hooker.

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 started 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 trademark accessible style and popular touch, he explains the fascinating world of quantum mechanics, which underpins all of modern science.

Because of the length of time that a voyage takes, knowledge of the purpose and nature of the universe often becomes lost to the succeeding generations of starship occupants. Through the experiences of a woman, and the people she encounters in a journey, the truth of their existence is revealed.

Nobel Prize-winning scientist Richard Lee has stirred up fanatical religious hatred with his controversial theory that chimpanzees and humans may have shared a common ancestor as little as three million years ago. When this hatred loses him both his reputation and his beloved colleague Marjorie, Lee retreats into hiding with his experiments and with Adam, an apelike creature thought by some to be Lee''s own deformed love-child, or even a kind of Frankenstein''s monster. But Adam is growing up, and the astonishing secret of his genetic parentage cannot remain secret forever, especially once investigative journalist Louise Henderson scents a story in the remote Norfolk village where Lee has gone to earth.

Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy is renowned for its mystery and magic. What’s the truth behind it all? Is the golden compass actually based in science? How does the subtle knife cut through anything? Could there be a bomb like the one made with Lyra’s hair? How do the Gallivespians’ lodestone resonators really work? And, of course, what are the Dark Materials? Drawing on string theory and spacetime, quantum physics and chaos theory, award-winning science writers Mary and John Gribbin reveal the real science behind Philip Pullman’s bestselling fantasy trilogy in entertaining and crystal-clear prose. Don''t miss Philip Pullman''s epic new trilogy set in the world of His Dark Materials! ** THE BOOK OF DUST ** La Belle Sauvage The Secret Commonwealth

Studie over het leven en de theorieën van de natuurkundige (1879-1955)

The Dragon, an enormous comet, is on a trajectory that will bring it perilously close to an Earth that is still suffering from the scars of a nuclear incident, and from the problems of the Greenhouse Effect. For the optimists - those that remain - it is a sign of change for the better; for others, the comet foreshadows humanity''s final doom. But to Francis Reese and the hard-pressed astronauts of the depleted space programme, the Dragon presents a third outrageous, yet irresistible possibility - the transformation of a barren world into a new home for the beleaguered peoples of Earth.

"Clear and elegant . . . Anyone who has tried to get through one of the many books on quantum theory, superstrings, and such, ought to give this book a try." — American Way No one is more successful than John Gribbin when it comes to making the cutting edge of physics more accessible to a broad lay audience. In Schrodinger''s Kittens, he took readers to the eerie world of subatomic particles & waves. Now, he explores the most exciting area of research in physics today: string theory. Following a series of major breakthroughs in the 1990s, physicists are putting together a clearer picture of how subatomic particles work. By hypothesizing particles as a single loop of vibrating "string," they are on the brink of discovering a way to explain all of nature''s forces in a single theory. Grandly named "superstrings," and incorporating the ideas of "supersymmetry," these models are the prime candidate for the long sought-for "Theory of Everything." Written in clear & accessible language, The Search for Superstrings, Symmetry, and the Theory of Everything brings to life the remarkable scientific research that is on the cusp of radically altering our conception of the universe. "One of England''s best-known science writers . . . Gribbin is an optimist, believing that we are ever closer to another ''Deep Truth'' about the universe . . . For those who want the story up to now, this is a fine place to begin." —David Williams, The Seattle Times "A clear and comprehensive popular treatment of the cutting edge of physics." — Kirkus Reviews "A thorough yet palatable primer . . . an exciting tour de force." — Publishers Weekly

Continuing their successful series of biographies of famous scientists, the authors present a lucid and accessible account of Darwin''s life and work. This work is an enlightening synthesis of biography and science that reveals the personality and scientific contributions of a great and controversial modern figure.

One hundred years on from his birth, and 30 since his death, Richard Feynman''s 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.

The Gribbins relate the developments in 20th-century astronomy that have led to the shattering realization that all life is made of stardust scattered across the universe in great stellar explosions from supernovae. The authors eloquently explain how the physical structure of the universe has produced conditions ideal for life. 22 illustrations.