Big Bang: The Most Important Scientific Discovery of All Time and Why You Need to Know About it

The story of a puzzle that every child can understand but has baffled mathematicians for 300 years. Aged ten, Andrew Wiles stumbled across the puzzle, leading to a lifelong obsession with solving the world's greatest mathematical problem. A story of human endeavour and intellectual brilliance, for all readers. First published in 1997.

Britain is the only country in the world to have cancelled its space programme just as it put its first rocket into orbit. Starting with this forgotten episode, The Backroom Boys tells the bittersweet story of modern British engineers and inventors. Sad, inspiring, funny and ultimately triumphant, it follows the technologists whose work kept Concorde flying, created the computer game, conquered ..

How was it that a single genesis event could create billions of galaxies, stars and planets? This book demonstrates how just six numbers, imprinted in the Big Bang, determine the essential features of the physical cosmos.

Was there a beginning of time?, Could time run backwards? and Is the universe infinite are just some of the questions considered in this book for the non-scientific layman. The author begins by reviewing the great theories of the cosmos from Newton to Einstein and then delves into the secrets which lie at the heart of space and time.

In this revised edition, Stephen Hawking includes recent developments in the field of cosmology. Explaining his theories through a visual dimension, the book is designed to help the lay reader to understand abstract ideas, such as the big bang , black holes, and particle physics.

A retitled and revised edition of Ian Stewart's The Problems of Mathematics, this is the perfect guide to today's mathematics. Read about the latest discoveries, including Andrew Wiles's amazing proof of Fermat's Last Theorem, Chaos Theory, and fake four-dimensional spaces; and see how simple concepts from probability theory can help you maximize your National Lottery winnings.

A biography of the mathematical genius Paul Edros originally published in 1998. Edros travelled constantly, mainly with his mother, keeping his few possessions in a plastic bag. Edros set out to prove as many theorems as possible by visiting other mathematicians. Hoffman provides a portrait of Edros as an eccentric genius with a sense of fun.

Simon Singh brings a story of puzzles, codes, languages and riddles; revealing the continual pursuit to disguise and uncover, and to work out the secret languages of others. Aimed for children of more than 10 years; the author also talks about the 'Science of Secrecy', from Ancient Egypt to quantum cryptography .

Codes have influenced events throughout history. The betrayal of Mary Queen of Scots and the cracking of the enigma code that helped the Allies in World War II are major episodes. Singh investigates codes, the unravelling of genes and the rediscovery of ancient languages and the Beale ciphers.

The paperback of the popular science book by a writer who is becoming a celebrity mathematician.