Books about popular science

Bill Bryson describes himself as a reluctant traveller, but even when he stays safely in his own study at home, he can't contain his curiosity about the world around him. This book is his quest to understand everything that has happened from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization.

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.

String theory proclaims that all of the wondrous happenings in the universe are reflections of one grand physical principle and manifestations of one single entity: microscopically tiny vibrating loops of energy. This text relates the scientific story and the human struggle behind this theory.

This book brings together all the work in a new field of physics, the chaos theory, an extension of classical mechanics. The author shows how computers have been able to help researchers, by mapping the whole plane of solutions of non-linear equations.

The 30th anniversary edition of the million copy international bestseller, with a new introduction from the author. As relevant and influential today as when it was first published, this classic exposition of evolutionary thought, widely hailed for its stylistic brilliance and deep scientific insights, stimulated whole new areas of research.

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.

Offers an accessible introduction to one of the most important scientific discoveries of all time. This book demonstrates that evolution by natural selection - the unconscious, automatic, blind, yet essentially non-random process discovered by Darwin - is the only answer to the biggest question of all: why do we exist?

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.

A collection of the best questions that have appeared in New Scientist including: why can't we eat green potatoes? Why do airliners suddenly plummet? Does a compass work in space? Why do all the local dogs howl at emergency sirens? How can a tree grow out of a chimney stack? And why do bruises go through a range of colours?

The story of 15 billion years of cosmic evolution, transforming matter and life into consciousness, how science and civilization grew up together and the forces and individuals who helped shape modern science. The book aims to make scientific ideas accessible and exciting.

Describes various facets of human language - its biological origin, its uniqueness to humanity, it acquisition by children, its grammatical structure, the production and perception of speech, the pathology of language disorders and the unstoppable evolution of languages and dialects.

In his work of popular science, Sir Roger Penrose takes us on a fascinating roller-coaster ride through the basic principles of physics, cosmology, mathematics, and philosophy to show that human thinking can never be emulated by a machine.

Why do memories fade? Why do we lose our tempers? Why do fools fall in love? This work explores the nature and history of the human mind. It looks at the computations and evolutions, and then considers how the mind lets us see, think, feel, interact, and pursue higher callings like art, religion and philosophy.

Winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1965, Richard Feynman was one of the world's greatest theoretical physicists, but he was also a man who fell, often jumped, into adventure. This work presents the taped conversations that Feynman's had with his friend Ralph Leighton over a period of years.

'What is a self, and how can a self come out of inaminate matter?' This book examines this riddle. Linking together the music of J S Bach, the graphic art of Escher and the mathematical theorems of Godel, as well as ideas drawn from logic, biology, psychology, physics and linguistics, it reveals the mysteries of human thought processes.