The acclaimed science writer "curates a visually striking, riotously colorful photographic display…of physical patterns in the natural world" ( Publishers Weekly, starred review).Though at first glance the natural world may appear overwhelming in its diversity and complexity, there are regularities running through it, from the hexagons of a honeycomb to the spirals of a seashell and the branching veins of a leaf. Revealing the order at the foundation of th...

A journey into the mysteries and meaning of quantum theory: "Gorgeously lucid text . . . easily the best book I've read on the subject." — The Washington Post"Anyone who is not shocked by quantum theory has not understood it." Since Niels Bohr said this many years ago, quantum mechanics has only been getting more shocking. We now realize that it's not really telling us that "weird" things happen out of sight, on the tiniest level, in the atomic wor...

"A very fun, largely chronological journey through invisibility, beginning with myth and early magicians, ending with quantum physics." — The New YorkerIn this lively look at a timeless idea, Ball provides the first comprehensive history of our fascination with the unseen. This sweeping narrative moves from medieval spell books to the latest nanotechnology, from fairy tales to telecommunications, from camouflage to ghosts to the dawn of nuclear physics and ...

This "fascinating and illuminating account" explores how we might perceive the mind if we didn't put humans at the center of our understanding ( The Guardian Observer).Popular science writer Philip Ball explores a range of sciences to map our answers to a huge, philosophically rich question: How do we even begin to think about minds that are not human?Taking a uniquely broad view of minds and where to find them—including in plants, aliens, and God—Ph...

"A rewarding read" this political, social and cultural history of water management in China "puts water beautifully back at the heart of China's story" ( Economist).From the Yangtze to the Yellow River, China is traversed by great waterways, which have defined its politics and ways of life for centuries. In The Water Kingdom, renowned writer Philip Ball opens that window to offer an epic and powerful new way of thinking about Chinese civilization....

The award-winning science writer shares "a winding romp through advances in cell biology [that] pushes readers to ponder the boundaries of life" ( Science).In the summer of 2017, scientists removed a tiny piece of flesh from Philip Ball's arm and turned it into a rudimentary "mini-brain." The skin cells, removed from his body, did not die but were instead transformed into nerve cells that independently arranged themselves into a dense network and communicat...

“Bold and intriguing.”—Wall Street Journal • “Penetrating. . . . Provocative and profound.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review) • “Offers plenty of food for thought.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)**“Ball’s marvelous book is both wide-ranging and deep. . . . I could not put it down.”—Siddhartha Mukherjee, author of The Song of the Cell and the Pulitzer Prize–winning The Emperor of All MaladiesA new, cutting-edge ...

This historical analysis of Heisenberg, Planck, Debye, and other German physicists during WWII "is a stunning cautionary tale, well researched and told" ( Choice).After World War II, most scientists in Germany maintained that they had been apolitical or actively resisted the Nazi regime, but the true story is much more complicated. In Serving the Reich, Philip Ball takes a fresh look at that controversial history, contrasting the career of Peter D...

With the recent landing of the Mars rover Curiosity, it seems safe to assume that the idea of being curious is alive and well in modern science—that it's not merely encouraged but is seen as an essential component of the scientific mission. Yet there was a time when curiosity was condemned. Neither Pandora nor Eve could resist the dangerous allure of unanswered questions, and all knowledge wasn't equal—for millennia it was believed that there were some things we should not try to know. In ...

"[A] lively biography of Chartres Cathedral . . . Ball's account of its construction reveals fascinating details." — The New YorkerChartres Cathedral, south of Paris, is revered as one of the most beautiful and profound works of art in the Western canon. But what did it mean to those who constructed it in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries—and why was it built at such immense height and with such glorious play of light, in the soaring manner we now call ...

From Bach fugues to Indonesian gamelan, from nursery rhymes to rock, music has cast its light into every corner of human culture. But why music excites such deep passions, and how we make sense of musical sound at all, are questions that have until recently remained unanswered. Now in The Music Instinct, award-winning writer Philip Ball provides the first comprehensive, accessible survey of what is known--and still unknown--about how music works its magic, and why, as much as eating and sl...

A “visual tour through the under-appreciated chemical beauty that surrounds us”—with astonishing photographs of the scientific processes that create snowflakes, bubbles, flames, and other natural wonders (WIRED)Chemistry is not just about microscopic atoms doing inscrutable things; it is the process that makes flowers and galaxies. We rely on it for bread-baking, vegetable-growing, and producing the materials of daily life. In stunning images and illuminat...