One Thing You Need to Know: The Simple Way to Understand the Most Important Ideas in Science
One Thing You Need to Know: The Simple Way to Understand the Most Important Ideas in Science
One Thing You Need to Know: The Simple Way to Understand the Most Important Ideas in Science
Description
Description
From gravity to black holes, special relativity to global warming, this authoritative and entertaining book from bestselling author Marcus Chown breaks down complex science into manageable chunks, explaining the one thing you really need to know to get to grips with the subject.
Rather than trying to bend your mind around all the vast and confounding details of things such as gravitational waves, electricity and black holes, wouldn't it be easier to understand just one central concept from which everything else follows? If you've ever found yourself fascinated by the idea of quantum computing but feel a little overwhelmed by the mindblowing subject of quantum mechanics or concerned by climate change but haven't been able to get to grips with the details of global warming, this book is for you. Let's take atoms, for example - what on earth are they? Well, if you start to think of them less like things you can't see with complex little nuclei and more like the alphabet of nature, which in different configurations can make a rose, a galaxy or a newborn baby, they might start to feel a little more understandable. Or gravitational waves - they sound poetic, but why are they creating so much excitement? Think of them as the voice of space, vibrations on the drumskin of space-time - before delving into all their complexities. In twenty-one short and engaging chapters, Chown explains the one thing you need to know to understand some of the most important scientific ideas of our time. Packed full of astounding facts, scientific history and the entertaining personalities at the heart of the most pivotal discoveries about the workings of our universe, this is an accessible guide to all the tricky stuff you've always wanted to understand more about.
About the Author
About the Author
Marcus Chown is an award-winning writer and broadcaster. Formerly a radio astronomer at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, he is a Royal Literary Fund Fellow at Brunel University. His books include Breakthrough, The Ascent of Gravity, which was the Sunday Times 2017 Science Book of the Year; Infinity in the Palm of Your Hand; What A Wonderful World; Quantum Theory Cannot Hurt You; We Need to Talk About Kelvin and Afterglow of Creation, the latter two of which were runners-up for the Royal Society Book Prize. Marcus has also won the Bookseller's Digital Innovation of the Year Award for Solar System for iPad.
Critical Reviews
Critical Reviews
Praise for The One Thing You Need to Know: "The book's charm is that it breaks down well-known scientific concepts into small, digestible chunks, and Chown's humor helps hold the reader's attention. Recommended for those who love science and are looking for a summary read." - Booklist"Getting a new Marcus Chown book is like receiving a warm science hug." - Brian Clegg, Author of Lightning Often Strikes Twice (Popular Science Books Blog)"Chown packs in considerable amount of information in those short sections, often bringing in stories of the discovery or development of the science to humanise it and make it more approachable." - Brian Clegg, Author of Lightning Often Strikes Twice (Popular Science Books Blog)"A brilliant, highly simplified and approachable introduction to some of the biggest topics in science." - Brian Clegg, Author of Lightning Often Strikes Twice (Popular Science Books Blog)"I enjoyed that the book focuses on many different areas of science rather than just one specific field, and I learnt quite a lot from it." - @_forbookssake for @lovebookstour on Instagram"The One Thing You Need to Know is a road map to all of those scientific questions you wish you knew the answer to." - Howard Hughes, The Unexplained Podcast on Talk TV"Twenty-one great chapters!" - George Noory, Coast to Coast AM, iHeart Podcast Network Praise for Marcus Chown: "Marcus Chown rocks!" - Brian May, Queen "Finest cosmology writer of our day." - Matt Ridley"Chown writes as if he were addressing his fellow human beings." - New Scientist"Of all the top-rank science writers, he has the most friendly style, making complex science as simple and approachable as possible." - Brian Clegg"Whether you are the general public a student or an academic who just wants a primer on the topic, Chown writes wonderfully, telling a history of how black holes became a topic of science." - Davis Bullock"Whether you are the general public a student or an academic who just wants a primer on the topic, Chown writes wonderfully, telling a history of how black holes became a topic of science." - The Space Page
Publishing Information
Publishing Information
Publisher:
Michael O'Mara Books US
Pub date:
2025-10-28
Length:
256 pages
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