The Universe at Large
The Big Bang – The Origin Of The Universe
Planets Beyond Our Solar System
The Origin, Nature and Future of the Universe
Seeing The Invisible – The Search For Black Holes
The Solar System and the Earth
The Planets in our Solar System
Time and Tides – Messages from a Receding Moon
The Earth’s Reversible Magnetic Field
Recommended Further Reading:
- The Whole Shebang: A State-of-the-Universe Report, Timothy Ferris (Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1997).
- Almost Everyone’s Guide to Science, John Gribbin (Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1998).
- Before the Beginning: Our Universe and Others, Martin Ress (Touchstone, 1998).
- Cosmos, Car Sagan (Abacus, 1995).
- The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence: Listening for Life in the Cosmos, Thomas R. McDonough (Wiley, 1987).
- Creation Revisited: The Origin of Space, Time and the Universe, Peter Atkins (Penguin, 1994).
- Life of Star, by Nigel Henbrest (Inside Science No. 11, New Scientist, June 2, 1988).
- Dust in Space, by Nigel Henbest (Inside Science No. 45, New Scientist, 18 May, 1991).
- Dark Matter and the Universe, by John Gribbin (Inside Science No. 70, New Scientist, 19 March, 1994).
Some Laws of Physics
Absolute Zero Temperature & the Third Law of Thermodynamics
Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity
Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity
The Most Famous Equation in the World
The Nature of the Very Small: is it a Wave or is it a Particle?
Recommended Reading:
- The Laws of Physics, Isaac Asimov (Barnes and Noble, 1993).
- Five in The Mind: Science, Faith and the Search for Order, George Johnson (Viking, 1996).
- Was Einstein Right?, C. Will (Basic Books, 1986).
- Subtle is The Lord, A. Pais (Oxford University Press, 1988).
- Schrödinger’s Kittens and the Search for Reality, John Gribbin (Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1995).
- ‘A Special Theory of Relativity’ John Gribbin, New Scientist (Inside Science, No. 49), 21 September 1991.
- ‘A Theory of Some Gravity’ John Gribbin, New Scientist (Inside Science, No. 31), 24 February, 1990.
The Origin of Life
The Spontaneous Generation of Life: a History of Ideas
Was Life Seeded on Earth from Elsewhere in the Universe?
The Origin of Life: Did it Begin in a Frozen Ocean?
The Anthropic Principle: is the Universe Specially Designed to Support Life
The Theory of Evolution
The Explanatory Power of the Theory of Evolution
Man the Hunter of Man the Scavenger?
What Form will Future Human Evolution Take?
Recommended Further Reading:
- The Fifth Miracle: The Search for the Origin of Life, Paul Davies (Penguin, 1998).
- River Out of Eden, Richard Dawkins (Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1995).
- Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History, Stephen Jay Gould (Hutchinson Radius, 1989).
- Lifelines, Steven Rose, (Penguin, 1997).
- Microcosmos: Four Billion Years of Microbial Evolution, Lynn Margulis and Dorian Segan (Allen and Unwinn, 1987).
- Darwin’s Dangerous Idea: Evolutin and the Meanings of Life, Daniel C. Dennett (Allen Lane, 1995).
- To Utopia and Back’ Norman Horoqitz (W.H. Freeman and Co., 1986)
Modern Genetics
The Work of Gregor Mendel, the Father of Genetics
Deciphering the Structure of the Hereditary Material
The Potential of Genetic Engineering
Ethical Issues Raised by Genetic Manipulation
Sexual and Asexual Reproduction and Clones
The Nature and Power of Genetic Fingerprinting
Genetically Modified Plants: Fact, Fiction and Perception
Medicine and Disease
Why is Human Life Expectancy Greater Now than in the Past?
Human Ageing and Human Lifespan
Cancer: Prevention is Better than Cure
Cancer and Chemicals in the Environment
Cynicism is Bad for your Health
Recommended Further Reading:
- The Language of the Genes, Steve Jones (Flamingo, 1993).
- Genetic Engineering, Dreams and Nightmares, Enzo Russo and David Love (Oxford University Press, 1998).
- Clone, Gina Kolate (Penguin, 1997).
- Why We Age, Steven N. Auslad (Wiley, 1997).
- Cancer Wars: How Politics Shapes What We Know and Don’t Know about Cancer, Robert N. Proctor (Basic Books, 1995).
- The Phychology of Health (2nd Edition), Marian Pitts and Kiety Philips (Eds.) (Routledge, 1998).
Diet and Nutrition
Why Exercise is Good for the Heart
Do Synthetic Chemicals in Our Environment Threaten Our Future?
Science and Society
Understanding Criminal Behaviour: Beyond ‘Red Dragon’
Aspects of the Environment
Does Conservation Save or Squander?
Do Synthetic Chemicals in our Environment Threaten or Future?
How Dangerous is Ionising Radiation?
Ionising Radiation and the Atomic Bomb
Radon, the Silent Natural Menace
Radiation from Electrical Power is Not a Significant Cause of Cancer
Health Risks from Microwave Radiation
A Green Future with Technology
Does the Enhanced Greenhouse Effect Threaten our Future?
The Ultimate Safe and Efficient Traffic System
ENFO Briefing Sheet – Ionising Radiation
Biodiversity – What’s all the Fuss About?
The Tropical Box Jellyfish: the World’s Deadliest Creature
Recommended Further Reading:
- Environmental Science – A Global Concern, William P. Cunningham and Barbara W. Saigo (Wm. C. Brown, 1990).
- Our Stolen Future, Theo Colborn, John P. Myers and Dianne Dumanoski (Little, Brown, 1996).
- The True State of The Planet, Ronald Bailey (ed.) (The Free Press, 1995).
- Nuclear Radiation, Risks and Benefits, Edward Pochin (Oxford University Press, 1985).
Science and Religion
Recommended Further Reading:
- God, Chance and Necessity, Keith Ward (One World Publications, 1996).
- God, Faith and The New Millennium: Christian Belief in an Age of Science, Kieth Ward (One World Publications, 1998).
- Belief in God in an Age of Science, John Polkinghorne (Yale University Press, 1998).
Technology
Pharmaceuticals Through The Looking Glass
The Intelligent Web: The Future of the Internet
Nanotechnology – The Science Of The Very Small
Recommended Reading: How Stuff Works Website