Forces of Nature

Why is the Earth a Sphere? (#ulink_bf1b0e11-c86f-56d9-95a9-2013db8bea36)

Why does Life Come in So Many Shapes and Sizes? (#ulink_b4de39ca-0d37-5979-a839-7f94238b07c6)

Symmetry and Symmetry Breaking in Biology (#ulink_26edede6-7e9c-5a34-9ccc-9069cb781757)

The Universe in a Snowflake (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 2 (#litres_trial_promo)

MOTION

Somewhere in Spacetime (#litres_trial_promo)

Life on an Orbiting Planet: The Seasons (#litres_trial_promo)

The Formation of the Earth and Moon (#litres_trial_promo)

Life on an Orbiting Planet: Storms (#litres_trial_promo)

Life on an Orbiting, Spinning Planet: The Tides (#litres_trial_promo)

Einstein’s Theory of Special Relativity (#litres_trial_promo)

Somewhere in Spacetime (#litres_trial_promo)

Spacetime Calculations (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 3 (#litres_trial_promo)

ELEMENTS

The Moth and the Flame (#litres_trial_promo)

Chemistry is all About the Movement of Electrons (#litres_trial_promo)

Frankenstein’s Monsters (#litres_trial_promo)

On the Origin of Species: A Framework to Make Sense of Life on Earth (#litres_trial_promo)

The Oldest Life on Earth (#litres_trial_promo)

A Warm Little Pond? (#litres_trial_promo)

Life, Thermodynamics and Entropy (#litres_trial_promo)

The Moth and the Flame (#litres_trial_promo)

A Very Different Eden (#litres_trial_promo)

Life Beyond Earth (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 4 (#litres_trial_promo)

COLOUR

Pale Blue Dot (#litres_trial_promo)

The Rainbow Connection (#litres_trial_promo)

Why does the Sun Shine? (#litres_trial_promo)

The Nuclear Physics of the Sun (#litres_trial_promo)

Why do Hot Things Shine?: Part 1: James Clerk Maxwell and the Golden Age of Wireless (#litres_trial_promo)

Why do Hot Things Shine?: Part 2: Max Planck and the Quantum Revolution (#litres_trial_promo)

A Serendipitous Aside; The Solar Neutrino Problem (#litres_trial_promo)

Pale Blue Green Planet: Part 1: The Oceans (#litres_trial_promo)

Pale Blue Green Planet: Part 2: The Sky (#litres_trial_promo)

Pale Blue Green Planet: Part 3: The Land (#litres_trial_promo)

Pale Coloured Dots (#litres_trial_promo)

Plate Section

Picture Credits

Index

By the Same Author (#litres_trial_promo)

Acknowledgements (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Authors (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

SEARCHING FOR THE DEEPEST ANSWERS TO THE SIMPLEST QUESTIONS

‘What beauty. I saw clouds and their light shadows on the distant dear Earth... The water looked like darkish, slightly gleaming spots... When I watched the horizon, I saw the abrupt, contrasting transition from the Earth’s light-coloured surface to the absolutely black sky. I enjoyed the rich colour spectrum of the Earth. It is surrounded by a light blue aureole that gradually darkens, becoming turquoise, dark blue, violet, and finally coal black.’– Yuri Gagarin

Taking a different perspective

This is a book about science. What is science? That’s a good question, and there may be as many answers as there are scientists. I would say that science is an attempt to understand the natural world. The explanations we discover can often seem abstract and separate from the familiar, but this is a false impression. Science is about explaining the everyday minutiae of human experience. Why is the sky blue? Why are stars and planets round? Why does the world keep on turning? Why are plants green? These are questions a child might ask, but they are certainly not childish; they generate a chain of answers that ultimately lead to the edge of our understanding.