13 Things That Don't Make Sense: The Most Intriguing Scientific Mysteries of Our Time - Softcover

Brooks, Michael

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1861978170 ISBN 13: 9781861978172

Publisher: Profile Books, 2009

Synopsis

In 2008, science can only really account for four percent of our universe, and the rest, well, just seems to be missing. The effects of homeopathy don't go away under rigorous scientific conditions. Thirty years on, no one has an explanation for a seemingly intelligent signal received from outer space. The speed of light seems to have changed over the lifetime of the universe. The US Department of Energy is re-examining cold fusion (a nuclear reaction in which atoms release more energy than they consume) because the evidence is too solid to ignore. The placebo effect is put to work in medicine while doctors can't agree on whether it even exists...

In an age when science is supposed to be king, scientists are beset by experimental results they simply cannot explain. But, if the past is anything to go by, these anomalies contain the seeds of future scientific revolutions.

This mind-boggling but entirely accessible survey of the outer-limits of human knowledge is based on a short article Michael Brooks wrote for the New Scientist in 2005. It became the most circulated New Scientist feature ever. He has now dug deeply into these mysteries, and the results of his investigations point to an exciting future for scientific discovery.

About this title

About the Author

Michael Brooks is the author of the bestselling non-fiction title 13 Things That Don't Make Sense [9781861976475]. He holds a PhD in quantum physics, is a consultant at New Scientist and writes a weekly column for the New Statesman.

Edition details

• Publisher: Profile Books
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1861978170
• ISBN 13: 9781861978172
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 265