We are made of stardust--and so is all life as we know it. All the chemical elements on earth except hydrogen--including the ones in our bodies--have been processed inside stars, scattered across the universe in great stellar explosions, and recycled to become new stars, planets, and parts of us.
In this engrossing book, John and Mary Gribbin relate the developments in twentieth-century astronomy that have led to this shattering realization. They begin their account in the 1920s, when astronomers discovered that the oldest stars are chiefly composed of the primordial elements hydrogen and...

Since Einstein's time, a "theory of everything" -- one coherent mathematical model that would encompass all the forces and particles of nature -- has become the Holy Grail of physics, and its pursuit has resulted in some of the most extraordinary ideas in the history of science.
This invaluable primer at last enables all of us to understand these ideas. John Gribbin provides a brief, succinct, accessible overview of the hundred-year saga of particle physics, explaining everything from the basics (how subatomic particles work) to the cutting-edge research that has produced dazzling new...

In this eagerly anticipated sequel to the classic bestseller In Search of Schrodinger's Cat, John Gribbin digs even deeper into the mysterious and confounding world of quantum mechanics. Gribbin takes infinitely complex, mind-bending experiments, brings them to life, and makes them accessible to the lay reader. Under his deft guidance, we can begin to grasp the fundamental riddle of today's quantum mechanics: how a single photon can be seen going in two directions at once. Along the way, Gribbin reveals some fascinating discoveries: how quantum particles could one day be used in a Star...

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...

Over the past two decades, no field of scientific inquiry has had a more striking impact across a wide array of disciplines-from biology to physics, computing to meteorology-than that known as chaos and complexity, the study of complex systems. Now astrophysicist John Gribbin draws on his expertise to explore, in prose that communicates not only the wonder but the substance of cutting-edge science, the principles behind chaos and complexity. He reveals the remarkable ways these two revolutionary theories have been applied over the last twenty years to explain all sorts of phenomena-from...

Winner of a 2004 Jerwood Photography Award, Naglaa Walker trained as a scientist and worked briefly as a physics researcher before taking an MA at the Royal College of Art. Drawing on her background, Walker juxtaposes images of chalked equations with carefully staged photographs to connect the abstraction of physical laws and the reality of experience.

With essays by John Gribbin, award-winning popular science author, and Sacha Craddock, leading art critic, writer, and curator.