Physics at work
Colloids are also immensely important in a range of industries. Although the products themselves are low-tech – paint, mayonnaise, toothpaste and ice cream, for instance – the physics unde...
How molecules defy the demon
It was in 1867, in a letter to his friend and colleague Peter Tait, that James Clerk Maxwell first stated his renowned “demon paradox”. He imagined a vessel with two compartments, separate...
How to rebuild Russian science
Transforming the Soviet Union’s highly centralized communist regime into an open, democratic society based on free-market principles has proved to be much harder than people at first thought. Li...
Nuclear tales
Every year we pump 60 million tons of nitrogen oxides, 100 million tons of sulphur dioxide and 20 000 million tons of carbon dioxide into the Earth’s atmosphere by burning fossil fuels. Surely n...
Problems or prophecies?
There is a spectre haunting this book – the spectre of John Horgan, the journalist whose successful book The End of Science tweaked the collective nose of the scientific community when it was pu...
How to write a best-seller
Every morning Caroline Davidson goes into her office in west London and rifles through her “slush pile”. Like all literary agents, she hopes that buried deep within the daily deluge of boo...
Post-genome physics
Once upon a time the news that the budget for particle physics and astronomy in the UK was going to keep pace with inflation for three years (see Physics fails to keep pace in the UK) would have been ...
Clock-watching since the start of time
If you want to learn about atomic clocks or the sophisticated construction of an atomic timescale, then Jo Ellen Barnett’s book is not the right place. However, if you are fascinated about disco...
Hard facts for hard science
Here are two related problems. First, the number of applicants to UK university courses in the physical sciences has fallen by 26% over the last three years. Second, there is an increasing tide of opi...
What revolution?
Physicists tend to shy away from philosophy (and religion, although there are some exceptions). Any dealings with philosophy – other than those concerning quantum theory – tend to be super...
