Brian Clegg

The bestselling 30-Second... series takes a revolutionary approach to learning about those subjects you feel you should really understand. Each title selects a popular topic and dissects it into the 50 most significant ideas at its heart. Each idea, no matter how complex, is explained in 300 words and one picture, all digestible in 30 seconds.30-Second Quantum Theory tackles a mindbendingly mysterious area of physics, introducing the 50 most significant quantum quandaries and ideas. In a world where the quantum physics of electronics is an everyday essential and new quantum developments make headline news, you will visit Parallel Worlds, ride Wave Theory, and learn just enough to talk with certainty about Uncertainty Theory and to untangle the mysteries of quantum entanglement.

An easy-to-understand guide to the complex subject of quantum physics. Quantum physics is how scientists describe the world of the very small. For other people, however, the rules of quantum physics seem to violate all logic: How can a particle be in more than one place at the same time? How can it tunnel through an impenetrable barrier? How can a cat in a box be both alive and dead? This book explains the complexities of quantum physics in bite-sized "lessons" that make it clear and accessible to all readers. The sections and chapters are: 1. Atoms -- quantum; quantum physics in everyday life; the periodic table; atoms and nuclei; isotopes; hydrogen atom (energy levels and spectra) 2. Photons -- photoelectric effect; thermal emission and the Planck distribution; wave particle duality (Young's slit experiment) 3. Quantum devices -- superconductors; transistor, diode; light-emitting diode; laser 4. Spin -- spin; fermions; exclusion principle; Fermi Dirac distribution; Bose-Einstein statistics 5. Wave Mechanics -- Heisenberg uncertainty principle; wave functions; standing waves; wave particle duality 6. Subatomic Particles -- radioactivity; atomic particles; protons; neutrons; electrons 7. Particle Physics -- elementary particles; quarks; leptons; electron and electron neutrino; muon and muon neutrino; tauon and tau neutrino; bosons; photon; W and Z boson; gluon; Higgs boson; composite particles; hadrons; matter-anti-matter 8. Quantum Physics in Medicine and industry -- magnetic resonance imaging; superfluidity; cancer treatment by radiation 9. Into the Future -- quantum physics of space; quantum gravity; graviton; Hawking radiation (grand unified theory); dark matter; strings; dark energy. Throughout the book, there are timelines and profiles about the scientists who developed the theories and made important discoveries in quantum physics, including Dmitri Rutherford, Albert Einstein, Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, William Shockley, Isama Akasaki, Stephen Hawking, Enrico Fermi, and Max Born.

Still new to his parish, vicar Stephen Capel discovers the apparently dead body of his closest friend. In trying to recover it, Capel's girlfriend, Vicky, suffers a head injury. As Capel tries to make sense of what is happening he receives a call, asking if he is dead. A publisher has received a book proposal made up of a collection of death notices. Number one is his friend - number ten is Capel. As the body count rises, he must discover who is targeting people he knows - and avoid suspicion that he himself is the killer.

Is the Brexit vote successful big data politics or the end of democracy? Why do airlines overbook, and why do banks get it wrong so often? How does big data enable Netflix to forecast a hit, CERN to find the Higgs boson and medics to discover if red wine really is good for you? And how are companies using big data to benefit from smart meters, use advertising that spies on you and develop the gig economy, where workers are managed by the whim of an algorithm? The volumes of data we now access can give unparalleled abilities to make predictions, respond to customer demand and solve problems. But Big Brother's shadow hovers over it. Though big data can set us free and enhance our lives, it has the potential to create an underclass and a totalitarian state. With big data ever-present, you can't afford to ignore it. Acclaimed science writer Brian Clegg - a habitual early adopter of new technology (and the owner of the second-ever copy of Windows in the UK) - brings big data to life.

Today's managers are faced with many conflicting demands and situations. This book provides practical ways of achieving the impossible:How can you be a generalist and a specialist? An individual expert and a 'connected' team player? Manage more people with less time and fewer resources and be entrepreneurial at the same time? Complete with its own website, which gives further information and links to other sites. The New Skills Portfolio is a groundbreaking new series, published in association with the Industrial Society, which re-defines the core management skills managers and team leaders need to be competitive. Each title is action-focused blending 20th century management initiatives/trends with a new flexible skills portfolio. The Industrial Society is one of the largest public training providers in the UK. It has over 10,000 member organisations and promotes best practice through its publishing, consultancy, training and advisory services. For more information contact their website on www.indsoc.co.uk

Whatever is needed, from in-depth research material for a report or academic paper, to the telephone number of a company on the other side of the world or what is showing at the local cinema, this guide aims to help readers find the answer on the internet, faster and more easily.

Creativity and Innovation for Managers will appeal to any manager responsible for getting more out of a business. Creative thinking, creative problem solving and creative idea generation have become essential business drivers. This book provides an excellent executive briefing for senior management to understand what business creativity is, how it can benefit the company, and how to get the most out of it. It looks at the pitfalls on the road to innovation and the ways to avoid them, pulling together the experiences of key practitioners in the field both in the UK and the US. By concentrating on the essentials, Creativity and Innovation In Brief is a waffle-free approach to creativity, providing a quick action focused and accessible insight into a complex topic. It provides; - a practical approach to business creativity without the hype;- an agenda for making innovation happen in your business- a real world view.

Recently ordained vicar Stephen Capel is settling well into his village parish. But his discovery of a dead lab technician, pushed from a high window at the local school, involves him in a musical mystery. As Capel discovers links to a girl who went missing 20 years before, he must untangle a complex past before more lives are lost.

An in-depth but always fun exploration of the history of numbers and their applications in life and science. Brian Clegg shows how maths has become more and more detached from reality, despite driving the development of modern physics.

Newly ordained vicar Stephen Capel takes a holiday in the seaside town of Brighton with his girlfriend, Vicky Denning. Taking a stroll on the beach, Capel sees a woman fall from the ruined pier. He rescues her, but discovers that she is dead - stabbed - and soon finds himself suspected of her murder. Each day, as Capel tries to untangle himself from suspicion, another woman dies. The race is on to prevent another death.

Organizing A Murder contains twelve different mysteries to solve with your friends - and it makes a great resource, containing answer sheets, clues, evidence and much more, all ready to be cut out to set the scene for your crime. There's huge variety. Not all the mysteries are murders, and the events are graded on three different levels, from those suitable for children from around 9, up to complex mysteries that need all the cunning of an adult player. Settings vary too, from a traditional country house to a starship in deep space. Unlike the party kits, there's a lot more variation in the way the each mystery is played out, from a simple treasure hunt, to a complex mystery with witness statements, clues and evidence to sift through. And because the players are all detectives, as individuals or teams, it's much simpler to organize as there's no need for costumes and embarrassing role-play. This approach means that any number of players can take part in one of these events. Whether you want to spice up a dinner party, keep the kids busy over the summer, or set a challenge for your team at work, Organizing a Murder can provide the answer.

As Christmas approaches and Stephen Capel finds his feet in his new parish, an unlikely confession of murder throws him into a complex and dangerous investigation. A software developer has been killed just before the launch of a make or break new product. While trying to help those left behind, Capel is pulled into the mystery of who really killed Mark Nelson. As Capel attempts to cope with an upheaval in his private life and to help those whose lives are torn apart by a second murder, he must search the snow-covered streets of Bath for answers before another victim dies.

In Science for Life acclaimed science writer Brian Clegg cuts through the vested interests and confusing contradictory statements that litter the media and the internet, to give a clear picture of what science is telling us right now about changing our lives for the better. Discover the much-advertised antioxidants that aren't good for you, the truth about fat and sugar and why one of the healthiest foods contains carcinogens and 21 E-numbers. Find out what does and what doesn't enhance brainpower - from the failure of playing Mozart to babies to the surprising abilities of caffeine and nicotine. Understand the tools that advertisers use to persuade us and how to turn the psychological pressure back on them. From the shortcomings of the five second rule to the truth about phone masts and nuclear power, kept up-to-date on a partnering website, Science for Life is your guide to surviving and thriving in the modern world.

Why did Uuq become Fl? Why is the sky blue? Why is the sky black? What is spaghettification? There's a problem with the typical quiz. It always features far too much sport, 1980s pop and celebrity gossip - and not nearly enough science. How Many Moons Does the Earth Have? is the ultimate solution. Test your knowledge to the limit with a sizzling collection of brain-stretching, science-based questions in two eight-round quizzes. Turn the page to get the answer immediately - and as each answer page explores the subject in more depth, this the only quiz that's just as entertaining to read from beginning to end as it is to play competitively. Where was the Big Bang? What links the elephant Tusko and Timothy Leary? What is the significance of 6EQUJ5? Science explainer extraordinaire Brian Clegg tells all.

The intriguing lives and key works of the ten physicists who most profoundly transformed our understanding of the physical world in which we live

When Stephen Capel moved to his first parish in a rural village after four years as a prison chaplain he expected a quiet life. Not to discover a drowned man in the ruined tower on top of Glastonbury Tor. Dealing with an increasingly complicated relationship with the local police, Capel begins to suspect that there is a link between this death and the murder of a famously eccentric photographer in Glastonbury Abbey the year before. His quest takes him to the sophisticated streets of Bath and up onto the ancient white horse at Uffington. In the end, though, it's Capel's understanding of people that will make or break the case. The Stephen Capel Mysteries bring the classic British detective story into the twenty-first century.

The stone age, the iron age, the steam and electrical ages all saw the reach of humankind transformed by new technology. Now we are living in the quantum age, a revolution in everyday life led by our understanding of the very, very small. Quantum physics lies at the heart of every electronic device from smartphones to lasers; quantum superconductors allow levitating trains and MRI scanners, while superfast, ultra-secure quantum computers may soon be a reality. Yet quantum particles such as atoms, electrons and photons remain mysterious, acting totally unlike the objects we experience directly. With his trademark clarity and enthusiasm, acclaimed popular science author Brian Clegg reveals the amazing world of the quantum that lies all around us.

The bestselling 30-Second... series takes a revolutionary approach to learning about those subjects you feel you should really understand. Each title selects a popular topic and dissects it into the 50 most significant ideas at its heart. Each idea, no matter how complex, is explained in 300 words and one picture, all digestible in 30 seconds.30-Second Quantum Theory tackles a mindbendingly mysterious area of physics, introducing the 50 most significant quantum quandaries and ideas. In a world where the quantum physics of electronics is an everyday essential and new quantum developments make headline news, you will visit Parallel Worlds, ride Wave Theory, and learn just enough to talk with certainty about Uncertainty Theory and to untangle the mysteries of quantum entanglement.