Book
What’s the Big Idea: Alien Life
“The answer is in here” suggests the subtitle of this book! Like its sibling title, ‘What’s the Big Idea: Artificial Intelligence’, this book was great fun to write. Working closely with the brilliant illustrator, Andrew McLynn, was a real pleasure, and explaining the history of attempts to make computers intelligent was a challenge I took…
Magnets Detective File (activity pack)
This was an unusual project. Working closely with the editors on this book was a great experience, because we had to decide what physical components we could realistically include with the book. We decided on a few small magnets, some wires and even an electric motor. This was a real creative endeavour, with illustrations, stories…
Visual Dictionary of Chemistry
I had to spend a great deal of time in the photographic studio for this one, with the editors and a very patient photographer. Getting chemical reactions to occur under careful photographable conditions was tricky, and it took a great deal of organisation to make sure we had the right equipment and chemicals. From the…
Start-up Science (a series of eight books)
The eight books in this series are: Fast and Slow; Wet and Dry; Floating and Sinking; Hot and Cold; Push and Pull; Big and Small; Loud and Quiet; Light and Dark.
Visual Dictionary of Physics
I had to spend a great deal of time in the photographic studio for this one, with the editors and a very patient photographer. Setting up and carrying out classic physics demonstrations under careful photographable conditions was tricky, and it took a great deal of organisation to make sure we had the right equipment. From the…
Young Scientist (Activity Pack)
This was quite a challenge to make so early on in my career. The box contained a book and a collection of items needed to carry out the scientific demonstrations – and deciding what to put into it was tricky. The result was great, though, and I still have a copy to this day!
The Explorer’s Handbook
Just after I stopped working for the Science Museum, and became a full time writer, I was asked to write this book. It is filled with information about the Science Museum and packed with related activities to do at home.
Eyewitness Science: Energy
This was the one that made me leave my job at the Science Museum in London. I was enjoying writing books, and I thought I could make a career of it. It was a privilege to write a title in the prestigious Eyewitness series, and this was a great introduction to illustrated information books.
My First Batteries and Magnets Book
This was only the second book I wrote, so I was thrilled to receive a handwritten letter from Peter Kindersley, the director and founder of the publishing company DK, expressing how much he liked the book and wished he had had a copy of it when he was growing up. I used my creative powers…
The Science Book of Numbers
Well, this was the first book I ever wrote. I was working at London’s Science Museum at the time, and I had been working as a consultant on this series of books, which was conceived by the great Neil Ardley, who also wrote the other books in this ‘The Science’ series. It turned out that…