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Sign up todayThe One Thing You Need to Know
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Learn moreRather than trying to bend your mind around all the vast and confounding details of things such as gravitational waves, electricity, and black holes, wouldn't it be easier to understand just one central concept from which everything else follows?
If you've ever found yourself fascinated by the idea of quantum computing but feel a little overwhelmed by the mind-blowing subject of quantum mechanics or concerned by climate change but haven't been able to get to grips with the details of global warming, this book is for you. Let's take atoms, for exampleโwhat on earth are they? Well, if you start to think of them less like things you can't see with complex little nuclei and more like the alphabet of nature, they might start to feel a little more understandable. Or gravitational wavesโwhy are they creating so much excitement? Think of them as the voice of space, vibrations on the drumskin of space-timeโbefore delving into all their complexities.
Chown explains the one thing you need to know to understand some of the most important scientific ideas of our time. Packed full of astounding facts, scientific history, and the entertaining personalities at the heart of the most pivotal discoveries about the workings of our universe, this is an accessible guide to all the tricky stuff you've always wanted to understand more about.
Marcus Chown is an award-winning writer and broadcaster. Formerly a radio astronomer at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, he is a Royal Literary Fund Fellow at Brunel University. His books include Breakthrough, The Ascent of Gravity, which was the Sunday Times 2017 Science Book of the Year; Infinity in the Palm of Your Hand; What A Wonderful World; Quantum Theory Cannot Hurt You; and We Need to Talk to Kelvin and Afterglow of Creation, both of which were runners-up for the Royal Society Book Prize. Marcus has also won The Bookseller's Digital Innovation of the Year for Solar System for iPad.
Peter Noble is an Audie Award-winning narrator who has recorded hundreds of audiobooks and audio dramas, including the 2021 Booker Prize winner, as well as Audible and New York Times bestsellers. Peter is a brain injury survivor, and has a unique understanding of the music of language. He was born in South Africa, in a valley Alan Paton called "lovely beyond any singing of it." He grew up traveling and studied music and drama at the University of Cape Town. In South Africa, Peter worked in the theater, touring the country with a small repertory company, as well as appearing on radio, TV, and film. Peter moved to London to study classical acting at LAMDA. He went on to train as a singer at the Royal Academy of Music, where he was part of the second graduating cohort of the legendary RAM Musical Theatre program. He also has an MA in creative writing from the University of East Anglia. He lives just outside of London, in Hertfordshire.