Seven Pillars of Science
The Incredible Lightness of Ice, and Other Scientific Surprises
Published on 24. September 2020
160 pages
978-1-78578-657-0 (ISBN)
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.
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John Gribbin
Seven Pillars of Science
The Incredible Lightness of Ice, and Other Scientific Surprises
Book
09/2020
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€32.37
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John Gribbin's numerous bestselling books include In Search of Schrödinger'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.
Content
- Intro
- Praise
- Title Page
- Contents
- About the Author
- Acknowledgements
- List of Illustrations
- Epigraph
- PREFACE: Seven Pillars of Wisdom
- PROLOGUE: Worlds Beyond: Maybe We Are Not Alone
- PILLAR 1: Solid Things Are Mostly Empty Space
- PILLAR 2: The Stars Are Suns and We Know What They Are Made Of
- PILLAR 3: There is No Life Force
- PILLAR 4: The Milky Way is a Warehouse Stocked with the Raw Ingredients of Life
- PILLAR 5: The Carbon Coincidence
- PILLAR 6: The Book of Life is Written in Three-letter Words
- PILLAR 7: The Incredible Lightness of Ice
- EPILOGUE: Bottlenecks: Maybe We Are Alone
- Notes
- Further Reading
- Also by John Gribbin
- Copyright
