|    Login    |    Register

Seven Pillars of Science: The Incredible Lightness of Ice, and Other Scientific Surprises

(Hardback)

Available Formats


Publishing Details

Full Title:

Seven Pillars of Science: The Incredible Lightness of Ice, and Other Scientific Surprises

Contributors:

By (Author) John Gribbin

ISBN:

9781785786563

Publisher:

Icon Books

Imprint:

Icon Books

Publication Date:

1st December 2020

UK Publication Date:

24th September 2020

Country:

United Kingdom

Classifications

Readership:

General

Fiction/Non-fiction:

Non Fiction

Main Subject:
Dewey:

500

Physical Properties

Physical Format:

Hardback

Number of Pages:

160

Weight:

270g

Description

John Gribbin, author of Six Impossible Things, shortlisted for the Royal Society Insight Investment Science Book Prize, presents a tour of seven fundamental scientific truths that underpin our very existence.

These 'pillars of science' also defy common sense. For example, solid things are mostly empty space, so how do they hold together There appears to be no special 'life force', so how do we distinguish living things from inanimate objects And why does ice float on water, when most solids don't You might think that question hardly needs asking, and yet if ice didn't float, life on Earth would never have happened.

The answers to all of these questions were sensational in their day, and some still are. Throughout history, science has been able to think the unthinkable - and Gribbin brilliantly shows the surprising secrets on which our understanding of life is based.

Reviews

[In] the last couple of years we have seen a string of books that pack bags of science in a digestible form into a small space. John Gribbin has already proved himself a master of this approach with his Six Impossible Things, and he's done it again ... [Seven Pillars of Science is] light, to the point and hugely informative. ... It packs in the science, tells an intriguing story and is beautifully packaged. * Brian Clegg, popularscience.co.uk *

Author Bio

John Gribbin's numerous bestselling books include In Search of Schrodinger's Cat and Six Impossible Things, which was shortlisted for the 2019 Royal Society Science Book Prize. He has been described as 'one of the finest and most prolific writers of popular science around' by the Spectator.

See all

Other titles by John Gribbin

See all

Other titles from Icon Books