Presents an account of an English childhood, with a childish passion for science, told from the perspective of one of the most important and humane writers on psychology.

This text covers topics such as: genetic determinism and gene selectionism; constraints on perfection; the active germ-line replicator; outlaws and modifiers; selfish DNA, jumping genes, and a lamarckian scare; the genetic evolution of animal artefacts; and host phenotypes of parasite genes.

A collection of Albert Einstein's writings, drawn from his books and letters, speeches and articles, that reveal the thinking, personality and philosophy of the world's most famous scientist.

Tells the great story of how life on earth evolved. This work describes how the species of the world became diverse, and why the threat to this diversity is beyond the scope of anything we have known before. It also addresses the explosion of the field of conservation biology and takes a look at the work still to be done.

It is fast becoming clear that our lives revolve around the powers of emergence. Order arrives from the bottom-up, not top-down. This work looks at the cities we inhabit, the media frenzies we suffer and the games we play, showing how individual actions without central planning often create a wonderfully adaptive communal intelligence.

Professor Bryan Sykes provides a first-hand account of his research into a gene which passes undiluted from generation to generation through the maternal line and shows how it is being used to track our genetic ancestors.

A stunning defence of faith from one of the world's leading scientists: the long-time head of the Human Genome Project.

Chronicling a revolution in our understanding of genes, Matt Ridley recounts the hundred years' war between the partisans of nature and nurture to explain how this paradoxical creature, the human being, can be simultaneously free-willed and motivated by instinct and culture.

Launched the Intelligent Design movement: the argument that nature exhibits evidence of design, beyond Darwinian randomness. This book includes an afterword on the state of the debate.

Explores the questions of modern physics such as why does maths, an abstract system of logic invented by man prove to be so useful in understanding the laws of nature?

A follow-up to the bestseller Cryptonomicon , this book presents a cast of characters in a time of genius and discovery, men and women whose exploits defined the age of the High Baroque. It travels from the infant American colonies to the Tower of London, the glittering courts of Louis XIV, and all manner of places in between.

The famous, unconditionally guaranteed, durable paperback edition with high-quality paper and binding.

Every year, readers send in thousands of questions to New Scientist magazine in the hope that the answers to them will be given in the 'Last Word' column. This title presents a collection of the best that have appeared, including: why can't we eat green potatoes; why do airliners suddenly plummet; and, does a compass work in space.

Presents a series of lectures, delivered in 1960 and recorded for the BBC. This work presents the author's take on the problems and puzzles that lie at the heart of physical theory - with Newton's Law of Gravitation; on whether time can ever go backwards; and on maths as the supreme language of nature.

Intuition is not some magical property that arises unbidden from the depths of our mind. This book shows us how we can hone our instinctive ability to know in an instant, helping us to bring out the best in our thinking and become better decision-makers in our homes, offices and in everyday life.

Gives us a glimpse into our future. This book allows the reader to understand the questions that scientists deal with at the frontiers of research. It explains the kind of problems that extra dimensions might solve and the kind of speculation that is needed even to imagine them.

Chronicles the destruction of Indonesian island of Krakatoa in 1883. This book describes how one island and its inhabitants were blasted out of existence and how colonial society was turned upside-down in a cataclysm.

A synthesis of ideas uniting quantum theory, and the theories of computation, knowledge and evolution. It explores the connections between these strands which reveal the fabric of reality in which human actions and ideas play essential roles.

Getting a grip on the creation and ultimate fate of the universe is one of the great scientific stories of the twentieth century. In the twenty-first, the story is expanding to enfold many universes. This book tells this story. Using astronomical data, the author explores the Big Bang, theories of everything, and our cosmic future.

Few forces in the world are as potent as religion: it comforts people in their suffering and inspires them to both magnificent and terrible deeds. This book seeks to uncover the origins of religion and discusses how and why different faiths have shaped so many lives, whether religion is an addiction or a genuine human need.