Gamblers have been trying to figure out how to game the system since our ancestors first made wagers over dice fashioned from knucklebones: in revolutionary Paris, the 'martingale' strategy was rumoured to lead to foolproof success at roulette ; today, professional gamblers are using cutting-edge techniques to tilt the odds in their favour.
Physicist Frank Close takes the reader to the frontiers of science in a vividly told investigation of revolutionary science and enterprise from the seventeenth century to the present.
'One of the most beautiful books you will ever read' Kate MosseIn this powerful memoir, Joanna Cannon tells her story as a junior doctor in visceral, heart-rending snapshots.
Numericon tells the stories of the numbers, mathematical discoveries, oddities and personalities that have shaped the way we understand the world around us.
Science first began as a branch of philosophy, but it has since grown up and moved out of the family home, and its successes have put its parent in the shade.
Science in 100 Key Breakthroughs presents a series of clear and concise essays that explain the fundamentals of some of the most exciting and important science concepts you really need to know.
'The Big Questions' series is designed to let renowned experts confront the 20 most fundamental and frequently asked questions of a major branch of science or philosophy.
From Aristotle's pioneering research into animal biology to Harvey's theory of the circulation of the blood; from Copernicus's theory of the heliocentric universe to Carl Sagan's speculations on extraterrestrial life; and from Einstein's theory of Relativity to Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, Eureka!
This latest book in the bestselling '50 Ideas' series is a wonderfully accessible overview of the only place we know of in the universe that is capable of sustaining life.
The mind behind the infamous Ig Nobel Prizes presents an addictive collection of improbable research all about us and you Marc Abrahams collects the odd, the imaginative and the brilliantly improbable.
An unparalleled introduction to how the science of the small explains the biggest phenomena of lifeFrom the atom to our societies, this is an unparalleled introduction to how the science of the small explains the biggest phenomena of life.
The definitive, behind-the-scenes account of the greatest science story of our time Winner of the Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books A Best Science Book of the Year for the Guardian, Financial Times, and New Scientist It was the universe's most elusive particle, the linchpin for everything scientists dreamed up to explain how physics works.
In her fantastically disgusting international bestseller, Mary Roach dives into the strange wet miracles of science that operate inside us after every meal SHORTLISTED FOR THE ROYAL SOCIETY WINTON PRIZE 2014 ';Almost every page made me laugh out loud.
So the world didn't end on 10 September 2008: but maybe it got you thinkingThe world didn't end on 10 September 2008, but the possibility may have got you thinking: was it worth the risk?
From magic to the Enlightenment; Darwinism to nuclear weaponsWeaving together intellectual history, philosophy, and social studies, Sean Johnston offers a unique appraisal of the history of science and the nature of this evolving discipline.
Meet the players in the most fundamental scientific revolution since Copernicus The Facts of MatterIt is one of the most disturbing aspects of our universe: only four per cent of it consists of the matter that makes up every star, planet, and every book.
Laugh out loud and then think seriously about these outlandish scientific studiesMarc Abrahams, the mind behind the internationally renowned Ig Nobel Prizes, is on a mission: to gather the bizarre, the questionable, the brilliant, the downright funny, the profound everything improbable from the annals of science research.
A journey to uncover the evolution of ideas, from the wheel to the wearing of moustachesAdopting the part of a cultural Darwin, science writer and filmmaker Jonnie Hughes goes on a road trip through the exotic American Midwest to observe the natural history of ideas.
Most cultures tell the tale of a maiden who gives birth untouched by a man, and in the wild there are plenty of creatures turkeys, Komodo dragons, and the Jesus Christ lizard (which even walks on water) that take various approaches to making babies without having sex.
From Stonehenge to beyond the Big Bang, an exhilarating scientific exploration of how we make timeFrom a Palaeolithic farmer living by the sun and stone plinths to the factory worker logging into an industrial punch clock to the modern manager enslaved to Outlook's 15-minute increments, our relationship with time has constantly evolved alongside our scientific understanding of the universe.
The new branch of science which will reveal how to avoid the rush hour, overcome cancer, and find the perfect dateWhat do traffic jams, stock market crashes, and wars have in common?
Gaining notoriety as the science behind the controversial experiments of the Large Hadron Collider, particle physics explores our most fundamental and mind-blowing problems: How did the Universe start?
