Elemental, Fundamental, Astronomical - Tim James Audiobook

Written by Tim James
Read by Tim James, Roger Davis
Format: Mixed
Bitrate: Mixed

Elemental: How the Periodic Table Can Now Explain (Nearly) Everything

Selected as one of the best books of 2018 by the Daily Mail.

In 2016, with the addition of four final elements - nihonium, moscovium, tennessine and oganesson - to make a total of 118 elements, the periodic table was finally complete, rendering any pre-existing books on the subject obsolete.

Tim James, the secondary-school science teacher we all wish we’d had, provides an accessible and wonderfully entertaining ‘biography of chemistry’ that uses stories to explain the positions and patterns of elements in the periodic table. Many popular science titles tend to tell the history of scientific developments, leaving the actual science largely unexplained; James, however, makes use of stories to explain the principles of chemistry within the table, showing its relevance to everyday life.

Filled with humour, this is the perfect audiobook for students wanting to learn chemistry or for parents wanting to help, but it is also for anyone who wants to understand how our world works at a fundamental level. The periodic table, that abstract and seemingly jumbled graphic, holds (nearly) all the answers.

As James puts it, elements are ‘the building blocks nature uses for cosmic cookery; the purest substances making up everything from beetroot to bicycles.’

Whether you’re studying the periodic table for the first time or are simply interested in the fundamental building blocks of the universe - from the core of the sun to the networks in our brains - Elemental is the perfect guide.

“A hugely entertaining tour of the periodic table and the 118 elements that are the basic building blocks of everything.” (Daily Mail)

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Fundamental: How Quantum and Particle Physics Explain Absolutely Everything (Except Gravity)

Fundamental does for physics what Tim’s first book, Elemental, does for chemistry: it demystifies the topic in his trademark humorous, engaging style, including the most recent developments in the field.

At the start of the 20th century, science appeared complete and the laws of nature were almost all discovered, but then we woke a sleeping giant - we discovered quantum mechanics.

In the quantum realm, objects can be in two places at once. It’s a place where time travel is not only possible, but necessary. It’s a place where cause and effect can happen in reverse and observing something changes its state. From parallel universes to antimatter, quantum mechanics has revealed that when you get right down to it, the laws of nature are insane. The scientist J. B. S. Haldane once said, ‘Reality is not only stranger than we imagine…it’s stranger than we can imagine.’ Never is this more true than with quantum mechanics; our best, most recent attempt to make sense of the fundamental laws of nature.

Fundamental is a comprehensive beginner’s guide to quantum mechanics, explaining not only the weirdness of the subject but the experiments that proved it to be true. Using a humorous and light-hearted approach, Fundamental tells the story of how the most brilliant minds in science grappled with seemingly impossible ideas and gave us everything from microchips to particle accelerators.

Fundamental gives clear explanations of all the quantum phenomena known to modern science, without requiring an understanding of complex mathematics; tells the eccentric stories of the scientists who made these shattering discoveries and what they used them for; and explains how quantum field theory (a topic not covered in detail by any other popular-science book) gave rise to particle physics and why the Higgs boson isn’t the end of the story.

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Astronomical: From Quarks to Quasars, the Science of Space at Its Strangest

Does the big bang prove the existence of God? What’s the universe expanding into? Is Earth the only planet which supports life? Why did the greatest astronomer in history murder his pet moose?

Space is the biggest, oldest, hottest, coldest, strangest thing a human can study. It’s no surprise then, that the weirdest facts in science (not to mention the weirdest scientists themselves) are found in astrophysics and cosmology.

If you’re looking for instructions on how to set up your grandad’s telescope this book probably isn’t for you. In Astronomical, Tim James takes us on a tour of the known (and unknown) universe, focusing on the most mind-boggling stuff we’ve come across, as well as unpacking the latest theories about what’s really going on out there.

Guiding us through Einstein’s relativity, quantum mechanics and string theory, Astronomical delves into the baffling corners of the cosmos and tackles the biggest mysteries we face: from alien life to the zodiac, from white holes to wormholes, from quasars to quark stars. This is the science of space at its absolute strangest!

From the creation of the universe out of nothing to the Large Hadron Collider and the universe’s ongoing expansion, Tim explores our planetary neighbours, where it snows metal on Venus, there are underground lakes on Mars and rivers of petrol on Titan.

He then looks beyond our solar system: to exoplanets which could support life, rogue planets, quark stars, quasars, neutron stars and more. Tim looks at black holes (and how to survive in one), wormholes, white holes as well as dark energy, dark matter and even a bit of string theory thrown in for good measure. He explains the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence, including the discovery of Martian fossils in the Alan Hills meteorite and the tantalising ‘Wow signal’ transmission earth received in 1973 - still unexplained.

He also rebuts resurgent anti-science movements, including the Flat Earth Society and discusses what’s really going on inside Area 51.

To close, Tim finishes by looking at human achievements in space including how rockets work, how faster-than-light warp-drives (currently being investigated by NASA) work and how we plan to colonise both the moon and Mars.

“In the same light-heartedly informative spirit as his previous, Elemental, Tim James gives us an entertaining gallop through light years of space science, from the big bang to UFOs.” (Andrew Crumey, author of The Great Chain of Unbeing)

“Who said science was dry? Certainly not Tim James.” (New York Post)