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Slightly off-mint.

Although predicted by Einstein’s general relativity, it was not until 2015 that gravitational waves – ripples in space and time – were first detected. This accessible introduction to their discovery explains how the technology required to record movements 100 times smaller than the nucleus of an atom was developed, and how, with their ability to travel through barriers that stop light, the waves offer a new way to investigate the universe.

By building and populating a virtual universe, Clegg demonstrates that reality is not a system of immovable absolutes; instead, the ever-shifting world of relativity is what provides the frame of reference that allows us to understand both the universe and humanity’s place within it.

James Clerk Maxwell’s famously challenging thought experiment in which a Demon controls a door between hot and cold gases, suggests that the second law of thermodynamics can be broken. In this very accessible biography, the Demon as a narrator helps Brian Clegg argue that Maxwell’s work in fields such as electricity and magnetism not only laid the groundwork for much modern physics, but put him on a par with Newton and Einstein.

Brian Clegg’s quiz book-cum-science compendium explores surprising facts about physics, biology, chemistry, mathematics, technology and the history of science in over 100 questions ranging from ‘Why do hands and feet go wrinkly in the bath?’ to ‘What is Sagittarius A*?’ Related facts and anecdotes accompany each question and, on the following page, the answer is explained and discussed.

During the 20th century it became clear that our traditional understanding of cosmology was too simplistic, since there must be not only some invisible material holding together galaxies but also an unknown phenomenon that is driving the universe’s accelerating expansion. Brian Clegg describes how the existence of this ‘dark matter’ and ‘dark energy’ was discovered and explains the different theories and experiments that researchers have been employing as they seek knowledge about this challenging aspect of modern science.

By building and populating a virtual universe Clegg demonstrates that reality is not a system of immovable absolutes; instead, the ever-shifting world of relativity is what provides the frame of reference that allows us to understand both the universe and humanity’s place within it.

The strongest substance ever discovered, a better conductor than any metal and able to act as a molecular sieve to purify water, graphene is set to revolutionize technology. This guide explores the properties and potential uses of this remarkable new material.

Brian Clegg explores a question fundamental to science: would numbers still exist without people to think about them, or is mathematics just a tool to help us understand the universe? Beginning with the devising of a new system to count goats, he traces the history of numbers, explaining their application to our everyday lives and asking whether the direction of contemporary physics has become too influenced by mathematics.

Although HG Wells’s Victorian time machine would not have worked, there is no law of physics that prevents travel through the fourth dimension. Brian Clegg combines his enthusiasm for science fiction with his insights as a writer on real science to explore ways in which time travel could theoretically be achieved. He also traces the development of our modern understanding of time, from Einstein’s first daydreams about the speed of light to neutrino experiments and the latest theories about wormholes.