Invisible Worlds: Exploring The Unseen - Hardcover

Bizony, Piers

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0297843427 ISBN 13: 9780297843429

Publisher: WNWeidenfeld & Nicolson, 2004

Synopsis

Take an amazing and truly awe-inspiring visual voyage, courtesy of 100 incredible images made from the most sophisticated, cutting-edge technology, and see what can’t be seen with the naked eye.

It’s an eye-opening experience: from the smashing of atoms to the diffraction of X-rays skimming through a crystal of DNA, the deepest patterns of nature’s building blocks are revealed to thrilling effect thanks to revolutionary technology. These thoroughly breathtaking images delve deep into the invisible world, letting us peer into the hidden secrets of heat, sound, and all manner of exotic energies and radiations. View the human body as seen in a colored Magnetic Resonance Imaging scan; a photo of a huge solar prominence, taken by an Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope; an enhanced electron scan of tiny dust mites; and striking spots of light from the distant galaxies. Computer simulations, powered by 21st-century mathematics, hint that there are still greater truths out there. It’s as unbelievable as the best science fiction—and it’s all true.

About this title

About the Author

Dr Jim al-Khalili is a theoretical physicist and senior lecturer in the Department of Physics at the University of Surrey. He has twice been nominated for the Royal Society's Michael Faraday Award for the Public Understanding of Science and is the Institute of Physics Schools and Colleges lecturer. He is the author of BLACK HOLES, WORMHOLES AND TIME MACHINES and has appeared on Radio 4's LEADING EDGE and the BBC's TOMORROW'S WORLD and HORIZON programmes. Piers Bizony is a science writer and television producer. He is a regular contributor to FOCUS magazine, THE INDEPENDENT, the EVENING STANDARD and WIRED. He is the author of five previous books on film and space. Dr Jim Al-Khalili is a theoretical physicist at the University of Surrey. He has twice been nominated for the Royal Society's Michael Faraday Award for the Public Understanding of Science and is the Institute of Physics Schools and Colleges lecturer. He is the author of the acclaimed BLACK HOLES, WORMHOLES AND TIME MACHINES and QUANTUM.

Review

'Argh! Where am I? Hold on to your head, this is going to be a twister. Humans can see about 1/5000,000 of stuff out there, a statistic we just made up to illusrate how good this book is. It's full of photos of atoms exploding, microscopic insects eating human bum flakes, the sun farting out a spume of boiling plasma larger than Earth, a map of the entire universe... it supplies you with an incredibly diverse spectrum of all the things that are there, but you'll never see...' FRONT - Book of the Month 'In this collection of stunning images, science writer and television producer Piers Bizony takes his readers on a journey through the electromagnetic spectrum, of which visible light is but a narrow band, and beyond...His accessible descriptions and imaginative analogies, interspersed with historical references, makes complex science enjoyable and informative. This is a coffe-table science book you can dip into again and again.' GEOGRAPHICAL 'In Invisible Worlds, Piers Bizony looks beyond feeble human vision to reveal some truly glorious sights... a real eye-opener.' FOCUS 'The book takes us on a staggering visual journey through scenes that are not visible to the naked eye... stunning... fascinating... very topical... This is most definitely a coffee-table book but it is not without considerable educational value... the quality of the photographs and the printing make it excellent value for money.' CHEMISTRY WORLD

Edition details

• Publisher: WNWeidenfeld & Nicolson
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0297843427
• ISBN 13: 9780297843429
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 231