Book
Real Lives: John Snow
John Snow was a Victorian physician who helped to establish that cholera was spread by contaminated water (not bad air, as theory had it). He traced the source of a deadly cholera outbreak to one pump and was able to have it closed, ending the outbreak, despite deep resistance from the local authorities, who did…
The Elements: An Interactive Guide to the Building Blocks of our Universe
Published by Carlton Books in 2012, this book took a great deal of effort and research. I was given a certain amount of creative freedom, and I relished it like never before. I am proud of this book. The Elements: An Interactive Guide to the Building Blocks of our Universe is an illustrated reference book…
The Story of Science
Weldon Owen, 2012. The publishers of this book were in Australia, and I was working on it from home in Bristol, England. The (wonderful) editor found an illustrator, Dave Smith, who was great, and I set about sending rough sketches and other reference materials to Australia by email. After a couple of months, I discovered…
Amazing Weather Facts and Trivia
Like its sibling, Amazing Body Facts and Trivia, this book was great fun to research and write, and I’m really proud of the result. I really like the design, by Hugh Schermuly. From the publisher: “Each book in the Amazing Facts and Trivia series is beautifully illustrated and contains hundreds of colourful pieces of artwork,…
Amazing Body Facts and Trivia
Like its sibling, Amazing Weather Facts and Trivia, this book was great fun to research and write, and I’m really proud of the result. I really like the design, by Hugh Schermuly. From the publisher: “Each book in the Amazing Facts and Trivia series is beautifully illustrated and contains hundreds of colourful pieces of artwork, photographs,…
GENIUS – Inventors Who Changed the World
This lovely book was published by Carlton Books, in association with the Science Museum (I used to work there, and I wrote their souvenir guide in 2013). The book’s innovative design features flaps and removable parts that make the experience of reading it more engaging. For example, in the entry about the invention of photography,…
1001 Inventions that Changed the World
This weighty tome is part of the hugely successful 1001 series, by Cassell Illustrated, now part of Octopus. Other titles in the series included 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die, 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die and 1001 Buildings You Must See Before You Die. The preface to this book was…
Desirable Future? Consumer Electronics in Tomorrow’s World
Published by Wiley, and written as part of the Science Museum’s Tech Know series, this book was a joy to research and write. From the publisher: “With the pace of current development in consumer electronics, it is tempting to picture a future in which everyone carries miniature gadgets whose batteries never run out, and which…
The Science of Aliens
From the publisher: “Are we alone? The idea of life existing elsewhere in the Universe has been put forward by philosophers since the time of Ancient Egypt. Today, through science fiction literature, films and television we have all had close encounters with aliens. Now The Science of Aliens examines the possibilities of alien life in…
Essential Science: Artificial Intelligence
Well, this one was a bit ahead of its time … and by now, with all the recent rapid developments in AI, is very much out of date! Still, I feel it presents a really good history and basic idea of the theory and technologies behind certain kinds of artificial intelligence. I really enjoyed writing…