John Gribbin

Buddy Holly was killed at 22 when the plane he was travelling in crashed on 3rd February 1959. John Gribbin presents this biography as a celebration of Holly's all too brief life, and as an introduction, for all those not around in 1959, to the man and his astonishing musical legacy.

Robert Hooke and Edmond Halley were pioneering scientists, whose place in history has been overshadowed by the giant figure of Isaac Newton. Whilst Newton is widely regarded as one of the greatest scientists of all time, and the father of British science, John and Mary Gribbin unearth the truth behind the roles played by Isaac Newton, Robert Hooke and Edmond Halley in the British scientific revolution in the 17th century.

This book captures the science and personality of Richard Feynman, who won a Nobel Prize for his discoveries concerning the behaviour of electrons. For him physics was fun, and he had an extraordinary ability to prove his theory by formulae.

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.

Scientists have found that the laws of nature permit time travel. General relativity and quantum mechanics can be applied to demonstrate the possibility of time travel. This book explains the concepts in simple language for beginners.

Even in the third decade of the 21st century, it is still harder for women to make a career in science than men. Two centuries ago, however, at the beginning of the 19th 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. 'Against the Odds' highlights the achievements of women who overcame hurdles and achieved scientific...