MAGIC UNIVERSE: The Oxford Guide To Modern Science.

Calder, Nigel

ISBN 10: 0198507925 / ISBN 13: 9780198507925

Published by Oxford UK etc~. 2003. Oxford Univ. Press, 2003

About this Item

big thick black hardbound 8vo. 8º (octavo). dustwrapper in protective plastic book jacket cover. very fine cond. mint cond. looks new. like new. as new. binding square & tight. covers clean. edges clean. contents free of all markings. dustwrapper in fine cond. not worn or torn or price clipped(no price listed). nice clean copy. no library markings or store stamps, no stickers or bookplates, no names, no inking , no underlining, no remainder markings etc ~. first edition. first printing ( # 1 in # line).illustrated endpapers. xii+756p. sources of quotes. name index. subject index. history of science. physics. biology. chemistry. cosmology. astronomy. medicine. genetics. ~ Magic Universe brings current science to the general reader in an imaginative and wholly original way. It offers an exhilarating tour of the horizons of knowledge, from quarks to linguistics, climate change to cloning, and chaos to superstrings, presented as a set of self~contained stories. The stories are arranged as A~Z entries, but this is not a conventional encyclopedia: each story unfolds in a totally unpredictable way, seamlessly crossing disciplines, and told in engaging, accessible language. Here is a celebration of the reunion of the many subdivisions of science now in progress. "The magic of the Universe reveals itself in the interconnections," Calder tells us. "A repertoire of tricks let loose in the Big Bang will make you a planet or a parakeet. In same sense only dimly understood so far, the magic works for our benefit overall, whilst it amazes and puzzles us in the particulars. Natural conjuring that links comets with life, genomes with continental drift, iron ore with dementia, and particle physics with cloudiness, mocks the specialists". Nigel Calder began his writing career on the original staff of New Scientist, in 1956. He was Editor of the magazine from 1962 to 1966, when he left to beeome an independent science writer. His subsequent career has involved spotting, reporting, and explaining to the general publie the big scientific diseoveries of Dur time. The stories can be read and enjoyed in any order. Perhaps you will start with Alcohol~'genetic revelations of when yeast invented booze". Or "Prions~from cannibals and mad cows to new modes of heredity and evolution". Or maybe Higgs bosons~"the muti~billion dollar quest for the mass~maker."Wherever you begin~and you can begin anywhere~you can be sure of an engrossing and a surprising voyage of discovery. As Nigel Calder puts it, the best of science is romantically exciting, and also illuminating~so why trouble busy readers with anything that isn't?

Seller Inventory # 12781605

Bibliographic Details

• Title: MAGIC UNIVERSE: The Oxford Guide To Modern Science.
• Publisher: Oxford UK etc~. 2003. Oxford Univ. Press
• Publication Date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0198507925
• ISBN 13: 9780198507925
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included

About this title

Synopsis

As a prolific author, BBC commentator, and magazine editor, Nigel Calder has spent a lifetime spotting and explaining the big discoveries in all branches of science. In Magic Universe, he draws on his vast experience to offer readers a lively, far-reaching look at modern science in all its glory, shedding light on the latest ideas in physics, biology, chemistry, medicine, astronomy, and many other fields.
What is truly magical about Magic Universe is Calder's incredible breadth. Migrating birds, light sensors in the human eye, black holes, antimatter, buckyballs and nanotubes--with exhilarating sweep, Calder can range from the strings of a piano to the superstrings of modern physics, from Pythagoras's theory of musical pitch to the most recent ideas about atoms and gravity and a ten-dimensional universe--all in one essay. The great virtue of this wide-ranging style--besides its liveliness and versatility--is that it allows Calder to illuminate how the modern sciences intermingle and cross-fertilize one another. Indeed, whether discussing astronauts or handedness or dinosaurs, Calder manages to tease out hidden connections between disparate fields of study. What is most wondrous about the "magic universe" is that one can begin with stellar dust and finish with life itself.
Drawing on interviews with more than 200 researchers, from graduate students to Nobel prize-winners, Magic Universe takes us on a high-spirited tour through the halls of science, one that will enthrall everyone interested in science, whether a young researcher in a high-tech lab or an amateur buff sitting in the comfort of an armchair.

About the Author

Nigel Calder is the author of dozens of books on science, including Einstein's Universe, Restless Earth, Nuclear Nightmares, Spaceship Earth, and The Manic Sun. The former editor of New Scientist, he has conceived and scripted many special science documentaries for BBC Television. He lives in the United Kingdom.