Bøger af John Gribbin

'Gribbin takes us through the basics with his customary talent for accessibility and clarity' Sunday TimesThe 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.

Even in the third decade of the twenty-first century, it is still harder for women to make a career in science than men. Two centuries ago, however, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, when science as we know it was just getting started, the situation was far worse. Then, the very notion of a female scientist would have been regarded as something of an oxymoron.From bestselling and award-winning science writers John and Mary Gribbin, Against the Odds highlights the achievements of women who overcame hurdles and achieved scientific success (although not always as much as they deserved) in spite of male prejudice, as society changed over about 150 years, from the middle of the nineteenth century to the end of the twentieth century.There is Eunice Newton Foote, who discovered the carbon dioxide greenhouse effect; Chien-Shiung Wu, who discovered the law which allows matter to exist in the Universe today; and Barbara McClintock, who discovered how genes turn on and off.With a foreword from astrophysicist Jocelyn Bell Burnell, this book is not only a cautionary tale about the stifling effects of prejudice against women in science, but is a celebration of those who achieved success against the odds - and an inspiration for the next generation.

In 1972, when James Lovelock first proposed the Gaia hypothesis--the idea that the Earth is a living organism that maintains conditions suitable for life--he was ridiculed by the scientific establishment. Today Lovelock's revolutionary insight, though still extremely controversial, is recognized as one of the most creative, provocative, and captivating scientific ideas of our time. James Lovelock tells for the first time the whole story of this maverick scientist's life and how it served as a unique preparation for the idea of Gaia. Drawing on in-depth interviews with Lovelock himself and unprecedented access to his private papers, John and Mary Gribbin paint an intimate and fascinating portrait of a restless, uniquely gifted freethinker. In a lifetime spanning almost a century, Lovelock has followed a career path that led him from chemistry, to medicine, to engineering, to space science. He worked for the British secret service and contributed to the success of the D-Day landings in World War II. He was a medical experimenter and an accomplished inventor. And he was working with NASA on methods for finding possible life on Mars when he struck upon the idea of Gaia, conceiving of the Earth as a vast, living, self-regulating system. Deftly framed within the context of today's mounting global-warming crisis, James Lovelock traces the intertwining trajectories of Lovelock's life and the famous idea it brought forth, which continues to provoke passionate debate about the nature and future of life on our planet.

Everybody is intrigued by ideas such as the Big Bang and black holes, and we all want to know how we fit into the Universe at large. Scientists now understand better than ever before the scope of the Universe and its origins, and the variety of objects it contains, from quasars and pulsars to galaxies and the inner workings of our own Sun. But such has been the pace of progress, especially in the recent past, that the story has been fragmented, with no single, user-friendly guide to present the broad sweep as well as the detailed discoveries.Companion to the Cosmos tells the whole story of the Universe and the people who made the discoveries. A brilliant science populariser and an award-winning writer, John Gribbin has watched many of these stories develop from the inside. He tells us everything we want to know about the Universe, with the clarity and easy style familiar from his earlier books such as In Search of the Big Bang, Schrödinger's Kittens, and Ice Age.The Companion begins with an extended Introduction where Gribbin sets out the present state of knowledge, and explains the key discovery of current cosmology--that the Universe is evolving and growing. The main A-Z encyclopedic section of the book is a mixture of lengthy feature articles on major subjects (e.g. black holes, gravity, galaxy, life in the Universe, super novae), shorter entries, and biographies of the scientists, complete with over 100 illustrations and photographs. In the final section, `Timelines, ' cosmological discoveries are set out alongside key dates in general history and the history of science, from the time of the ancient astronomers of Greece and Babylon up to the present day.Serious students will find this an essential guide. More casual readers will find it easy to dip into and hard to put down as the interwoven threads lead the reader from one linked topic to another. Companion to the Cosmos is a brilliant tour deforce and a book that nobody interested in the world around us can afford to be without.

A comprehensive encyclopedia of quantum physics.Here in one volume, the award-winning science writer and physicist John Gribbin has provided everything you need to know about the quantum world -the place where most of the greatest scientific advances of the last hundred years have been made.This exceptional A to Z reference begins with a thorough introduction setting out the current state of knowledge in particle physics. Throughout, Gribbin includes articles on the structure of particles and their interactions, accounts of the theoretical breakthroughs in quantum mechanics and their practical applications, and entertaining biographies of the scientists who have blazed the trail of discovery. In a special section, "Timelines," key dates in our quest to understand the quantum world are mapped out alongside landmarks in world history and the history of science.An encyclopedia of the fundamental science of the future, Q is for Quantum is an essential companion for anyone interested in particle physics."Gribbin presents an overview of a hundred years of particle physics through a handy, accessible A-Z dictionary of definitions and identifications."-Natural History

Retrospective SF short story collection from the master science writer"A real scientist writing science-fiction with real science - what more could one ask? John Gribbin is a visionary, and one heck of a good storyteller." Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award-winning author of QUANTUM NIGHTJohn Gribbin, widely regarded as one of the best science writers of the 20th century, has also, unsurprisingly, been writing science fiction for many years. While his novels are well-known, his short stories are perhaps less so. He has also written under pseudonyms. Here, for the first time, is the definitive collection of John's short stories. Many were originally published in Analog and other magazines. Some were precursors to John's classic novels Innervisions, Double Planet, The Alice Encounter and Father to the Man. As well as 23 Science Fiction short stories, three of which John wrote with his son Ben, this collection includes two Science Fact essays on subjects beloved of science fiction authors and readers. In one essay, John provides scientifically accurate DIY instructions for creating a time machine; and in the other, he argues that the Moon is, in fact, a Babel Fish! The stories, many written at a time when issues such as climate change were taken less seriously, now seem very relevant again in an age of dubious politicians. What underpins all of them, of course, is a grounding in solid science. But they are also laced with a dry and subtle wit, which will not come as a surprise to anyone who has ever met John at a science fiction convention, or indeed elsewhere. He is, however, not averse to a good pun, as evidenced by a song he co-wrote for the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band: The Holey Cheeses of Nazareth.Despite the exhortation of this collection's title, this is a perfect opportunity to look back at John's short stories. If you've never read any of his fiction before, now you have the chance to acquaint yourself with a body of work that, while being very much of its time, is certainly not in any way out of date.Complementing John's stories is a fantastic cover designed by legendary space artist David A. Hardy.Visit bit.ly/DontLookBackJohnGribbin

"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. White Knight, Red Heat tells the story of this notable figure in book form for the first time in over twenty years"--

The revolution is here. In breakthrough after breakthrough, pioneering physicists are unlocking a new quantum universe which provides a better representation of reality than our everyday experiences and common sense ever could. The birth of quantum computers - which, like Schrödinger's famous dead-and-alive cat, rely on entities like electrons existing in a mixture of states - is starting to turn the computing world on its head.In his fascinating study of this cutting-edge technology (first published as Computing with Quantum Cats and now featuring a new foreword), John Gribbin updates his previous views on the nature of quantum reality, arguing for a universe of many parallel worlds where 'everything is real'. Looking back to Alan Turing's work on the Enigma machine and the first electronic computer, Gribbin explains how quantum theory developed to make quantum computers work in practice as well as in principle. He takes us beyond the arena of theoretical physics to explore their practical applications - from machines which learn through 'intuition' and trial and error to unhackable laptops and smartphones. And he investigates the potential for this extraordinary science to allow communication faster than light and even teleportation, as we step into a world of infinite possibility.

'Gribbin has inspired generations with his popular science writing' Jim Al-KhaliliA scintillating collection of short essays that really does cover 'life, the Universe, and everything'.From the mysteries of the subatomic world to the curious property of water that makes our planet inhabitable, master of popular science John Gribbin delves into the astonishing facts that underlie our existence.Some aspects of the quantum world really do seem impossible to 'common sense', but have been proved correct by experiments. Other features of the Universe appear obvious, such as the fact that atoms are mostly empty space. But this familiarity hides the truly amazing truths underpinning these observations. And some things merely seem improbable but are also hiding a Deep Truth, such as the fact that the Moon and Sun look the same size as viewed from Earth.This book will change forever the way you view the world.

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 "Darwin¿s dangerous idea." In this riveting new book, bestselling science writers John and Mary Gribbin explore the history of the idea of evolution, showing how Darwin's 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 mind-warping excursion into the wildly improbable truths of science.Echoing Sherlock Holmes' famous dictum, John Gribbin tells us: 'Once you have eliminated the impossible, whatever is left, however improbable, is certainly possible, in the light of present scientific knowledge.' With that in mind, in his sequel to the hugely popular Six Impossible Things and Seven Pillars of Science, Gribbin turns his attention to some of the mind-bendingly improbable truths of science. For example:We know that the Universe had a beginning, and when it was - and also that the expansion of the Universe is speeding up. We can detect ripples in space that are one ten-thousandth the width of a proton, made by colliding black holes billions of light years from Earth.And, most importantly from our perspective, all complex life on Earth today is descended from a single cell - but without the stabilising influence of the Moon, life forms like us could never have evolved.

A short guide to the six theories that try to explain the wild world of the quantum.

A wonderfully readable account of scientic development over the past ve hundred years, focusing on the lives and achievements of individual scientists, by the bestselling author of In Search of Schrdinger's CatIn this ambitious new book, John Gribbin tells the stories of the people who have made science, and of the times in which they lived and worked. He begins with Copernicus, during the Renaissance, when science replaced mysticism as a means of explaining the workings of the world, and he continues through the centuries, creating an unbroken genealogy of not only the greatest but also the more obscure names of Western science, a dot-to-dot line linking amateur to genius, and accidental discovery to brilliant deduction.By focusing on the scientists themselves, Gribbin has written an anecdotal narrative enlivened with stories of personal drama, success and failure. A bestselling science writer with an international reputation, Gribbin is among the few authors who could even attempt a work of this magnitude. Praised as ';a sequence of witty, information-packed tales' and ';a terric read' by The Times upon its recent British publication, The Scientists breathes new life into such venerable icons as Galileo, Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein and Linus Pauling, as well as lesser lights whose stories have been undeservedly neglected. Filled with pioneers, visionaries, eccentrics and madmen, this is the history of science as it has never been told before.

The seven fundamental - and surprising - scientific truths of our existence.

Critical acclaim for John Gribbin"e;The master of popular science."e;-Sunday Times (London)"e;Gribbin explains things very well indeed, and there's not an equation in sight."e;-David Goodstein, The New York Times Book Review (on Almost Everyone's Guide to Science)"e;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."e;-Nature magazine (on Deep Simplicity)"e;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."e;-Sunday Times (London) (on Deep Simplicity)"e;In the true quantum realm, Gribbin remains the premier expositor of the latest developments."e;-Booklist (on Schrodinger's Kittens and the Search for Reality)

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.

THE QUANTUM WORLD FROM A TO ZHere in one volume, the award-winning science writer and physicist John Gribbin has provided everything you need to know about the quantum world -- the place where most of the greatest scientific advances of the twentieth century have been made.This exceptional A to Z reference begins with a thorough introduction setting out the current state of knowledge in particle physics. Throughout, Gribbin includes articles on the structure of particles and their interactions, accounts of the theoretical breakthroughs in quantum mechanics and their practical applications, and entertaining biographies of the scientists who have blazed the trail of discovery. In a special section, "Timelines," key dates in our quest to understand the quantum world are mapped out alongside landmarks in world history and the history of science.An encyclopedia of the fundamental science of the future, Q is for Quantum is an essential companion for anyone interested in particle physics.

During the middle and late 1960s, concern about the way the world might be going began to move out of the arena of academic debate amongst specialists, and became a topic of almost everyday interest to millions of people.