Books in First Look: Science series

Everything around us – trees, buildings, food, light, water, air and even ourselves – is composed of minute particles, smaller than a nanometer (a billionth of a meter). Quantum physics is the science of these particles and without it none of our electronic devices, from smartphones to computers and microwave ovens, would exist. But quantum physics also pushes us to the very boundaries of what we know about science, reality and the structure of the universe. The world of quantum physics is an amazing place, where quantum particles can do weird and wonderful things, acting totally unlike the objects we experience in day-to-day life. How can atoms exist in two places at once? And just how can a cat be dead and alive at the same time? Find out more with this entertaining illustrated guide to the fascinating, mysterious world of quantum physics. Topics include: quanta, light, waves and particles, mass, photons, atoms, molecules, spectra, wave-particle duality, matter and antimatter, Schrödinger’s cat, the Uncertainty Principle, probability waves, quantum entanglement, radioactivity and quarks.

It’s never too early to start exploring big ideas. This companion volume to My First Book of Quantum Physics introduces complex science to children through bright illustrations and amusing text. Einstein’s theory of relativity is one of the cornerstones of modern physics but it requires a total rethink of our notions of time and space. Strange things happen in a relative universe: length and time are not fixed and depend upon your frame of reference. If you move at high speed, time slows down, space contracts and weight increases. So a period of time for someone on Earth that lasts for hundreds of years may only be a couple of hours for someone travelling in a rocket close to the speed of light. It’s mind-boggling stuff, but the theory of relativity has a real impact on our world today. A car’s GPS navigation system, for example, uses information received from orbiting satellites and is designed to account for the fact that time ticks at a different rate on these satellites than it does on the ground. Without allowing for relativity’s effects, after just a day, your whereabouts according to GPS could be up to 8km from your actual location. So to find out more about how our universe works and how space and time are connected, look no further than this fascinating, illustrated guide to relativity.