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The World According to Physics

• Jim Al-Khalili

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Physics & Astronomy

Quantum physicist, New York Times bestselling author, and BBC host Jim Al-Khalili offers a fascinating and illuminating look at what physics reveals about the world

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Shining a light on the most profound insights revealed by modern physics, Jim Al-Khalili invites us all to understand what this crucially important science tells us about the universe and the nature of reality itself. Al-Khalili begins by introducing the fundamental concepts of space, time, energy, and matter, and then describes the three pillars of modern physics—quantum theory, relativity, and thermodynamics—showing how all three must come together if we are ever to have a full understanding of reality. Using wonderful examples and thought-provoking analogies, Al-Khalili illuminates the physics of the extreme cosmic and quantum scales, the speculative frontiers of the field, and the physics that underpins our everyday experiences and technologies, bringing the reader up to speed with the biggest ideas in physics in just a few sittings. Physics is revealed as an intrepid human quest for ever more foundational principles that accurately explain the natural world we see around us, an undertaking guided by core values such as honesty and doubt. The knowledge discovered by physics both empowers and humbles us, and still, physics continues to delve valiantly into the unknown. Making even the most enigmatic scientific ideas accessible and captivating, this deeply insightful book illuminates why physics matters to everyone and calls one and all to share in the profound adventure of seeking truth in the world around us.

Q&A with Jim Al-Khalili

An interview with jim al-khalili, awards and recognition.

• One of Waterstones' Books of the Year 2020: Popular Science
• Shortlisted for the Royal Society Insight Investment Prize for Science Books
• One of the Financial Times' Summer Books of 2020: Science
• One of the Financial Times' Best Books of 2020: Science
• One of Symmetry Magazine's Top Physics Books of 2020

"Many distinguished physicists have set out to explain their weird and wonderful world to lay readers but few have done so with the simple elegance of Al-Khalili, a physics professor at the University of Surrey best known for his radio and television programmes about science. He calls this book 'an ode to physics'; it is also an ode to joy in science."—Clive Cookson, Financial Times

"Jim Al-Khalili's The World According to Physics is a thrilling ride . . . [it] makes cutting-edge physics easily understandable and makes it clear why he fell in love with the subject as a teenager."—Richard Webb, New Scientist

"Broadcaster and quantum physicist Jim Al-Khalili is a superb guide to the fundamental principles of quantum theory, relativity and thermodynamics."— Mail on Sunday

"Al-Khalili shows how physics can enrich our understanding not just of the world around us, but of ourselves, too."—Hannah Shaddock, Radio Times

"A deeply insightful exploration into reality itself."—Jonathan Wells, Gentleman's Journal

"A fantastic book . . . [it] helped me to remember what I first loved about the subject."—Daniel Bennett, BBC Science Focus Podcast

"A quantum physicist and BBC host introduces modern physics by explaining its fundamental concepts of space, time, energy, and matter, then describing the field’s three pillars—quantum theory, relativity, and thermodynamics."— Publishers Weekly

"This book is a refreshing, equations-free, occasionally philosophical take on what physics is all about that should appeal to physicists and the public alike."— Nature Astronomy

"Ever wanted to get into quantum physics, but been afraid to try? This book might be the answer. Bestselling author and BBC host Jim Al-Kahlili invites us to understand reality and the universe better as he explains modern physics to us."—Claire Handscombe, Book Riot

"People should enjoy physics, says Al-Khalili, and you can’t help thinking as you are propelled along through the historical and familiar principles, as well as more recent and emerging ideas, that he is entirely correct. . . . The beauty of [Al-Khalili's] approach is that it keeps open the sense of wonder, discovery and possibility that is so attractive to the non-specialist reader."—Nick Smith, Engineering & Technology

"Teachers will be able to mine Al-Khalili’s text for wonderful facts and examples that are scattered throughout the book. . . . Al-Khalili has melded his expertise in physics and as a science communicator to very good effect indeed."—Rick Marshall, Physics Education

"Al-Khalili travels from the quantum to the cosmological in exploring the science of matter, energy, space and time that underlie all our everyday experiences and technologies."—Mike Perricone, Symmetry Magazine

"This very insightful book illustrates why physics matters to everyone and calls on anyone and everyone to engage in the profound adventure of pursuing truth in the world around us."—Ali Kaya, Abakcus

"The physical world is strange and full of surprises. And yet, as Jim Al-Khalili shows, it is far from incomprehensible. His simple, profound, and accurate account of core principles makes mind-expanding knowledge accessible to general readers."—Frank Wilczek, 2004 Nobel laureate, author of A Beautiful Question

"So much science packed into such a tiny package! Jim Al-Khalili manages to give an accessible overview of an enormous amount of modern physics, without it ever feeling rushed. This book will be enjoyed by anyone who wants a glimpse of how modern physicists are thinking about some of the hardest problems in the universe."—Sean Carroll, author of Something Deeply Hidden: Quantum Worlds and the Emergence of Spacetime

"Clearly written and inviting, even to readers who may not at first consider themselves scientific, The World According to Physics is a book that should be read and appreciated by many."—Jocelyn Bell Burnell, University of Oxford

"A clear, simple, and fascinating account of what physics tells us about our universe, and—crucially—what evidence supports that view, from one of the most talented, inspiring, and informative popularizers of science. A triumph!"—Ian Stewart, author of Do Dice Play God?

"This book presents a comprehensive account of modern physics, weaving together a tapestry of new and familiar topics. Al-Khalili has a distinctively light voice that comes across throughout and works incredibly well."—Pedro G. Ferreira, author of The Perfect Theory: A Century of Geniuses and the Battle over General Relativity

"A good read. Al-Khalili gives a nice overview of the current state of play in fundamental physics and why understanding physics is important."—Jeff Forshaw, coauthor of Universal: A Journey through the Cosmos

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A Survey of Physics: A Collection of Lectures and Essays Paperback – January 8, 2020

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• Print length 162 pages
• Language English
• Publication date January 8, 2020
• Dimensions 6 x 0.41 x 9 inches
• ISBN-10 1927763908
• ISBN-13 978-1927763902
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• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Minkowski Institute Press (January 8, 2020)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 162 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1927763908
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1927763902
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.8 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.41 x 9 inches
• #7,798 in Quantum Theory (Books)

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A History of the Ideas of Theoretical Physics

Essays on the Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Physics

• Salvo D’Agostino 0

Università “La Sapienza”, Roma, Italy

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Part of the book series: Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science (BSPS, volume 213)

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Table of contents (14 chapters)

Front matter, from mechanics to electrodynamics, a consideration on the changing role of mathematics in ampère’s and weber’s electrodynamics.

Salvo D’Agostino

A Survey of Theories of Units and Dimensions in Nineteenth-Century Physics

A historical role for dimensional analysis in maxwell’s electromagnetic theory of light, problems of theoretical physics in the second half of nineteenth century, electromagnetic waves, german electrodynamics in the 1870’s, hertz’s experiments on electromagnetic waves, hertz’s 1884 theoretical discovery of electromagnetic waves, a foundation for theoretical physics in hertz’s introduction to die prinzipien der mechanik, on boltzmann’s mechanics and his bild-conception of physical theory, from relativity to quantum theory, einstein’s correspondence criterion and the construction of general relativity, einstein’s life-long doubts on the physical foundations of the general relativity and unified field theories, correspondence and complementarity in niels bohr’s papers: 1925–1927, from the 1926 wave mechanics to a second-quantisation theory: schrödinger’s new interpretation of wave mechanics and microphysics in the 1950’s, conclusions, back matter.

• Albert Einstein
• Hermann von Helmholtz
• Theoretical physics
• electrodynamics
• electromagnetic wave

Book Title : A History of the Ideas of Theoretical Physics

Book Subtitle : Essays on the Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Physics

Authors : Salvo D’Agostino

Series Title : Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-9034-6

Publisher : Springer Dordrecht

eBook Packages : Springer Book Archive

Copyright Information : Kluwer Academic Publishers 2000

Softcover ISBN : 978-1-4020-0244-1 Published: 30 November 2001

eBook ISBN : 978-94-010-9034-6 Published: 06 December 2012

Series ISSN : 0068-0346

Series E-ISSN : 2214-7942

Edition Number : 1

Number of Pages : XVIII, 382

Topics : History and Philosophical Foundations of Physics , History, general , Philosophy of Science , Physics, general , Theoretical, Mathematical and Computational Physics

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Collection  04 March 2020

Top 100 in Physics

This collection highlights our most downloaded* physics papers published in 2019. Featuring authors from around the world, these papers feature valuable research from an international community.

* Data obtained from SN Insights which is based on Digital Science’s Dimensions.

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Full-surface emission of graphene-based vertical-type organic light-emitting transistors with high on/off contrast ratios and enhanced efficiencies

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Fe-Sn nanocrystalline films for flexible magnetic sensors with high thermal stability

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Light-emitting diodes with surface gallium nitride p–n homojunction structure formed by selective area regrowth

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High-Electrical-Conductivity Multilayer Graphene Formed by Layer Exchange with Controlled Thickness and Interlayer

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RGB Magnetophotonic Crystals for High-contrast Magnetooptical Spatial Light Modulators

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Three-dimensional resonating metamaterials for low-frequency vibration attenuation

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The Transition to Paschen’s Law for Microscale Gas Breakdown at Subatmospheric Pressure

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Ferroelectrics with a controlled oxygen-vacancy distribution by design

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The paradoxes of the Late Hesperian Mars ocean

A universal constant for dark matter-baryon interplay

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Superconducting Diamond on Silicon Nitride for Device Applications

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Perovskite ferroelectric tuned by thermal strain

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Radiation Tolerance of Nanopore Sequencing Technology for Life Detection on Mars and Europa

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Laser-driven shock compression of “synthetic planetary mixtures” of water, ethanol, and ammonia

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Detecting dynamic spatial correlation patterns with generalized wavelet coherence and non-stationary surrogate data

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• Bernard Cazelles

Bulk superconductivity in a four-layer-type Bi-based compound La 2 O 2 Bi 3 Ag 0.6 Sn 0.4 S 5.7 Se 0.3

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• Yosuke Goto
• Yoshikazu Mizuguchi

All Nonmetal Resistive Random Access Memory

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• Albert Chin

Improvements in structural and optical properties of wafer-scale hexagonal boron nitride film by post-growth annealing

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Physics: A Very Short Introduction

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Physics, the fundamental science of matter and energy, encompasses all levels of nature from the sub-atomic to the cosmic, and underlies much of the technology around us. Physics: A Very Short Introduction provides an overview of how this pervasive science came to be and how it works. It presents the theories and outcomes of pure and applied physics from ideas of the Greek natural philosophers to modern quantum mechanics, cosmology, digital electronics, and energy production. Considering its most consequential experiments, including recent results in elementary particles, gravitational waves, and materials science, it also discusses the effects of physics on society, culture, and humanity’s vision of its place in the universe.

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Special Topics in Calamity Physics

By marisha pessl, by marisha pessl read by emily janice card, category: suspense & thriller, category: suspense & thriller | audiobooks.

Apr 24, 2007 | ISBN 9780143112129 | 5-1/2 x 8-7/16 --> | ISBN 9780143112129 --> Buy

Aug 03, 2006 | ISBN 9781101218808 | ISBN 9781101218808 --> Buy

May 10, 2007 | 1299 Minutes | ISBN 9781429586368 --> Buy

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Apr 24, 2007 | ISBN 9780143112129

Aug 03, 2006 | ISBN 9781101218808

May 10, 2007 | ISBN 9781429586368

1299 Minutes

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About Special Topics in Calamity Physics

The mesmerizing New York Times bestseller by the author of Night Film Marisha Pessl’s dazzling debut sparked raves from critics and heralded the arrival of a vibrant new voice in American fiction. At the center of  Special Topics in Calamity Physics  is clever, deadpan Blue van Meer, who has a head full of literary, philosophical, scientific, and cinematic knowledge. But she could use some friends. Upon entering the elite St. Gallway School, she finds some—a clique of eccentrics known as the Bluebloods. One drowning and one hanging later, Blue finds herself puzzling out a byzantine murder mystery. Nabokov meets Donna Tartt (then invites the rest of the Western Canon to the party) in this novel—with visual aids drawn by the author—that has won over readers of all ages.

The mesmerizing New York Times bestseller by the author of Night Film Marisha Pessl’s dazzling debut sparked raves from critics and heralded the arrival of a vibrant new voice in American fiction. At the center of  Special Topics in Calamity Physics  is clever, deadpan Blue van Meer, who has a head full of literary, philosophical, scientific, and cinematic knowledge. But she could use some friends. Upon entering the elite St. Gallway School, she finds some—a clique of eccentrics known as the Bluebloods. One drowning and one hanging later, Blue finds herself puzzling out a byzantine murder mystery. Nabokov meets Donna Tartt (then invites the rest of the Western Canon to the party) in this novel—with visual aids drawn by the author—that has won over readers of all ages.  

Also by Marisha Pessl

About Marisha Pessl

Marisha Pessl is the author of Night Film and Special Topics in Calamity Physics, which won the John Sargent Sr. First Novel Prize (now the Center for Fiction’s Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize) and was selected as one of the 10 Best Books of… More about Marisha Pessl

Product Details

Category: suspense & thriller, category: suspense & thriller | audiobooks, you may also like.

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Praise for Special Topics in Calamity Physics “A whirling, glittering, multifaceted marvel, delivered in an irrepressibly smart and flamboyant new voice. . . . Q: Is Special Topics in Calamity Physics required reading for devotees of inventive new fiction? A: Yes.” —Janet Maslin, The New York Times “The joys of this shrewdly playful narrative lie not only in the high-low darts and dives of Pessl’s tricky plotting, but in her prose, which floats and runs as if by instinct, unpremeditated and unerring. . . . This skylarking book will leave readers salivating for more.” —The New York Times Book Review “A blockbuster debut.” —People (Critic’s Choice) “Gripping and dark, funny and poignant . . . Pessl’s talent for verbal acrobatics keeps the pages flipping.” —USA Today “Witty and exuberant . . . Pessl’s pyrotechnics place her alongside young, eclectic talents like Dave Eggers, Jonathan Safran Foer, and Zadie Smith.” —Vogue “Hip, ambitious, and imaginative . . . It’s always refreshing to find a writer who takes such joy in the magical tricks words can perform.” —Los Angeles Times “A frisky, smarty-pants debut . . . An escapist extravaganza packed with literary and pop culture allusions, mischievous characterizations, erotic intrigue, murders, and unstoppable narrative energy.” —Entertainment Weekly “Extravagant, witty and dark, Special Topics in Calamity Physics is a sprawling campus novel, an intricate murder mystery, a coming-of-age tale and a sly satire of intellectualism and academia. Her prose is . . . vivid, erupting in a freefall of wordplay, wisecracks, encyclopedia tidbits, and a barrage of cultural references. . . . Her enthusiasm for language is a delight.” —Miami Herald “There is a voice here to like, part Huck Finn, part Holden Caulfield, part Fran Leibowitz, and part Nora Ephron.” —Harper’s “A real novel, one of substance and breadth, with an arresting story and that rarest of delights, a great ending.” —Salon “ Special Topics in Calamity Physics made me stay up all night reading; in the morning it seemed like one of those parties where everyone is too cool for you but you desperately want to know them anyway. It reminded me of my lost, bad-girl days. I loved this book.” —Audrey Niffenegger, bestselling author of The Time Traveler’s Wife and Her Fearful Symmetry “Beneath the foam of this exuberant debut is a dark, strong drink.” —Jonathan Franzen, National Book Award-winning author of The Corrections and Freedom  

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Advanced level Physics Essay

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Advanced level Physics M.C.Q

Advanced level physics structured essay, advanced level biology m.c.q, advanced level biology structured essay, advanced level chemistry m.c.q, advanced level chemistry essay, advanced level chemistry structured essay, advanced level combined mathematics question, advanced level combined mathematics answers, advanced level economics (grade 12), advanced level economics (grade 13), advanced level agricultural science m.c.q, advanced level agricultural science essay, advanced level agricultural science structured essay, advanced level english medium combined maths questions, advanced level english medium physics essay, advanced level english medium physics structured essay, advanced level economics, advanced level logic, ordinary level history, ordinary level mathematics, english medium ordinary level mathematics.

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10 books to add to your reading list in April

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Critic Bethanne Patrick recommends 10 promising titles, fiction and nonfiction, to consider for your April reading list.

April’s book releases cover some difficult topics, including Salman Rushdie discussing his 2022 maiming, Leigh Bardugo’s fiction about the dark arts and Ada Limón’s poetry anthology about our fragile world. However, like April, there is also sunshine: Leif Enger’s wild Great Lakes love story, Helen Tworkov’s beautiful memoir of Buddhism and a collection of the inimitable Maggie Nelson’s essays. Happy reading, happy spring!

I Cheerfully Refuse: A Novel By Leif Enger Grove Press: 336 pages, $28 (April 2)

An unusual and meaningful surprise awaits readers of Enger’s latest, which takes place largely on Lake Superior, as a man named Rainy tries to reunite with his beloved wife, Lark. While the world around this couple, a dystopian near-future American where billionaires control everything, could not be bleaker, the author’s retelling of the myth of Orpheus (who went to the underworld to rescue his wife) contains the authentic hope of a born optimist.

The Familiar: A Novel By Leigh Bardugo Flatiron Books: 400 pages, $30 (April 9)

Bardugo departs from novels of dark academia in a standalone to make the hairs on your neck stand up, set in 16th century Spain. A hidden Sephardic Jew and scullery maid named Luzia Cotado matches wits with fellow servant Guillén Santángel. Luzia discovers a secret of Guillén’s, but she’s already fallen in love with him. And because he knows hers, too, they might both avoid the Spanish Inquisition. It’s a gorgeous tale of enchantments both supernatural and earthly.

The Sleepwalkers: A Novel By Scarlett Thomas Simon & Schuster: 304 pages, $28 (April 9)

A couple honeymoons at a Greek resort. What could go wrong? In Thomas’ hands, plenty – especially as the author has never written a comfortable story; her books, from “PopCo ” to “Oligarchy,” crackle with unreliable characters, as well as big philosophical ideas. In this case, the new marriage’s breakdown is chronicled through letters between the spouses, and sometimes bits of ephemera, that ultimately untangle a dark mystery relating to the title.

The Garden: A Novel By Clare Beams Doubleday: 304 pages, $28 (April 10)

Few novels of literary fiction are written as well as “The Garden,” let alone given its sadly relevant retro setting, a 1940s country-estate obstetrical program. Irene Willard walks through its gates having endured five miscarriages; pregnant again, she and her war-veteran husband George desperately hope for a live birth. But as Irene discovers more about the woman who controls all here, Dr. Bishop, she fears carrying to term as much as she once feared pregnancy loss.

Reboot: A Novel By Justin Taylor Pantheon: 304 pages, $28 (April 23)

David Crader, former teen TV heartthrob, just wants to reboot his career when his old show “Rev Beach” has a moment. His life has devolved through substance abuse, divorce and underemployment. But when he and colleagues launch a remake, devolution continues: The protagonist’s struggles are mirrored by climate-change issues, from flooding to wildfires. Despite that darkness, Taylor’s gift for satire might make this a must-read for 2024 beach bags.

You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World By Ada Limón (Editor) Milkweed Editions: 176 pages, $25 (April 2)

A wondrous artist herself, Limón is currently poet laureate of the United States, and this anthology is part of her signature project, “You Are Here,” which will also feature poetry as public art in seven national parks. Released in conjunction with the Library of Congress, the collection features 50 previously unpublished poems by luminaries including Jericho Brown, Joy Harjo, Carl Phillips and Diane Seuss, each focusing on a piece of regional landscape.

Like Love: Essays and Conversations By Maggie Nelson Graywolf Press: 336 pages, $32 (April 2)

While all of the pieces in Nelson’s new book have previously been published elsewhere, they’re made fresh here both through being collected and through their chronological placement. Readers can practically watch Nelson’s incisive mind growing and changing as she speaks with colleagues such as Hilton Als and Judith Butler, or as she writes about queerness, motherhood, violence, the lyrics of Prince and the devastating loss of a friend.

Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder By Salman Rushdie Random House: 204 pages, $28 (April 16)

On Aug. 12, 2022, the author Salman Rushdie was speaking at upstate New York’s Chautauqua festival when a man rushed the stage and attempted to murder him. Rushdie, a target of Iranian religious leaders since 1989, was permanently injured. In this book, he shares his experience for the first time, having said that this was essential for him to write. In this way, he answers violence with art, once again reminding us all that freedom of expression must be protected.

Lotus Girl: My Life at the Crossroads of Buddhism and America By Helen Tworkov St. Martin’s Essentials: 336 pages, $29 (April 16)

Tworkov, founder of the magazine Tricycle, chronicles her move from a 1960s young-adult interest in Buddhism to travels through Asia and deep study in the United States of the different strands that follow the Buddha’s teachings. Tworkov mentions luminaries such as the artist Richard Serra, the composer Charles Mingus and the Dalai Lama, but she’s not name-dropping. Instead, she’s strewing fragrant petals from her singular path to mindfulness that may help us find ours.

The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War By Erik Larson Crown: 592 pages, $35 (April 30)

Even diehard Civil War aficionados will learn from Larson’s look at the six months between Lincoln’s 1860 election and the surrender of Union troops under Maj. Robert Anderson at Charleston’s Ft. Sumter. Larson details Anderson’s secret Christmas redeployment and explores this individual’s contradictions as a former slave owner who loyally follows Lincoln’s orders. The author also shares first-person perspective from the famous diaries of the upper-class Southerner Mary Chesnut. All together, the book provides a riveting reexamination of a nation in tumult.

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Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics

Size-dependent reactivity of rh cationic clusters to reduce no by co in gas phase at high temperatures.

The reactivity of the reduction of NO pre-adsorbed on Rh2–9+ clusters by CO was investigated using a combination of an alternate on–off gas injection method and thermal desorption spectrometry. The reduction of RhnNxOy+ clusters by CO was evaluated by varying the CO concentration at T = 903 K. Among the RhnNxOx+ clusters, the Rh3N2O2+ cluster exhibited the highest reduction activity, whereas the other clusters, Rh2,4–9NxOx+, showed lower reactivity. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations for Rh3+ and Rh6+ revealed that the rate-determining steps for NO reduction in the presence of CO were NO bond dissociation for Rh3+ and CO oxidation for Rh6+. The reduction of Rh3N2O2+ is kinetically preferable to that of Rh6N2O2+. The DFT results were in qualitative agreement with the experimental results.

• This article is part of the themed collection: Size effects in chemistry & physics of atomic & molecular clusters, nanoparticles & nanostructures

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K. Miyajima, T. Nagata, F. Mafune, T. Ichino, S. Maeda, T. Yoshinaga, M. Miura and T. Hayashi, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. , 2024, Accepted Manuscript , DOI: 10.1039/D3CP05862J

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The best new science fiction books of April 2024

There’s an abundance of exciting new science fiction out in April, by writers including The Three-Body Problem author Cixin Liu, Douglas Preston and Lionel Shriver

By Alison Flood

1 April 2024

The last remaining free city of the Forever Desert has been besieged for centuries in The Truth of the Aleke

Shutterstock / Liu zishan

There are some huge names with new works out this month: Cixin Liu and Ann Leckie both have collections of shorter writing to peruse, plus there’s a dystopic future from the award-winning Téa Obreht and a world where woolly mammoths have been brought back from the bestselling Douglas Preston. I also love the sound of Scott Alexander Howard’s debut The Other Valley , set in a town where its past and future versions exist in the next valleys over, and of Sofia Samatar’s space adventure The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain . So much to read, so little time…

A View from the Stars by Cixin Liu

This is a collection of short works from Liu, the sci-fi author of the moment thanks to Netflix’s new adaptation of The Three-Body Problem , ranging from essays and interviews to short fiction. I love this snippet from an essay about sci-fi fans, in which he calls us “mysterious aliens in the crowd”, who “jump like fleas from future to past and back again, and float like clouds of gas between nebulae; in a flash, we can reach the edge of the universe, or tunnel into a quark, or swim within a star-core”. Aren’t we lucky to have such worlds available to us on our shelves?

3 Body Problem review: Cixin Liu's masterpiece arrives on Netflix

Cixin Liu's novel The Three-Body Problem has been turned into an eight-part series for Netflix by the Game of Thrones team. There is much to admire so far, but will the adaptation stay on track, wonders Bethan Ackerley

Lake of Souls by Ann Leckie

Leckie is a must-read writer for me, and this is the first complete collection of her short fiction, ranging across science fiction and fantasy. On the sci-fi side, we will be able to dip back into the Imperial Radch universe, and we are also promised that we’ll “learn the secrets of the mysterious Lake of Souls” in a brand-new novelette.

The Morningside by Téa Obreht

In a catastrophic version of the future, an 11-year-old girl arrives with her mother at The Morningside, once a luxury high-rise, now another crumbling part of Island City, which is half-underwater. Obreht won the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2011 for her debut, The Tiger’s Wife .

The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain by Sofia Samatar

Samatar won all sorts of prizes for her first novel, A Stranger in Olondria . Her latest sounds really intriguing, following the story of a boy who has grown up condemned to work in the bowels of a mining ship among the stars, whose life changes when he is given the chance to be educated at the ship’s university.

A boy grows up working in a mining ship among the stars in The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain

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Extinction by Douglas Preston

This is set in a valley in the Rockies, where guests at a luxury resort can see woolly mammoths, giant ground sloths and Irish elk brought back from extinction by genetic manipulation. But then a string of killings kicks off, and a pair of investigators must find out what’s really going on. This looks Jurassic Park -esque and seems like lots of fun. And if you want more mammoth-related reading, try my colleague Michael Le Page’s excellent explainer about why they won’t be back any time soon.

Mania by Lionel Shriver

The award-winning author of We Need to Talk About Kevin brings her thoughts about so-called “culture wars” to bear on her fiction, imagining a world where a “Mental Parity Movement” is in the ascendent, and “the worst thing you can call someone is ‘stupid’”.

The Other Valley by Scott Alexander Howard

This speculative novel is set in a town where, to the east, lies the same town but 20 years ahead in time and, to the west, the same town but 20 years behind, repeating endlessly across the wilderness. The only border crossings allowed are for “mourning tours”, in which the dead can be seen in towns where they are still alive. Odile, who is 16, is set for a seat on the Conseil, where she will be able to decree who gets to travel across borders. I love the sound of this.

The best new science fiction books of March 2024

With a new Adrian Tchaikovsky, Mars-set romance from Natasha Pulley and a high-concept thriller from Stuart Turton due to hit shelves, there is plenty of great new science fiction to be reading in March

What If… Loki was Worthy? by Madeleine Roux

Many will question whether the Marvel superhero stories are really science fiction, but I’m leaning into the multiversal aspect here to include this, as it sounds like it could be a bit of fun. It’s the first in a new series that reimagines the origins of some of the biggest heroes: here, Thor died protecting Earth from one of Loki’s pranks and, exiled on our planet, the Norse trickster god is now dealing with the consequences.

The Truth of the Aleke by Moses Ose Utomi

The second book in the Forever Desert series is set 500 years after The Lies of the Ajungo , following a junior peacekeeper in the last remaining free city of the Forever Desert, which has been besieged for centuries. It was actually out in March, but I missed it then, so I’m bringing it to you now as it was tipped as a title to watch this year by our science fiction contributor Sally Adee.

Anomaly by Andrej Nikolaidis, translated by Will Firth

It is New Year’s Eve on the last day of the last year of human existence and various stories are unfolding, from a high-ranking minister with blood on his hands to a nurse keeping a secret. Later, in a cabin in the Alps, a musicologist and her daughter – the last people left on Earth – are trying to understand the catastrophe. According to The Independent , Nikolaidis “makes Samuel Beckett look positively cheery”, but I’m definitely in the mood for that kind of story now and then.

Martin MacInnes: 'Science fiction can be many different things'

The author of In Ascension, the latest pick for the New Scientist Book Club, on why he wrote his novel, cultivating a sense of wonder and the role of fiction in the world today

Mal Goes to War by Edward Ashton

In this techno-thriller, Mal is a free AI who is uninterested in the conflict going on between the humans, until he finds himself trapped in the body of a cyborg mercenary and becomes responsible for the safety of the girl she died protecting.

• science fiction /

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Opinion Christine Blasey Ford is no hero, if justice is the measure

An earlier version of this column misspelled the name of Mollie Hemingway. This version has been corrected.

Christine Blasey Ford is promoting her new memoir to acclaim from certain quarters, including a glowing review by the New York Times. Meanwhile, the man she accused of being a witness to her alleged sexual assault by now-Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh more than 40 years ago can’t get his own book reviewed or even mentioned by mainstream newspapers.

You know me. I can’t resist flipping over a cow patty to see what’s underneath.

Ford, you’ll recall, is the California psychologist with two front doors in her house who, in testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2018, accused Kavanaugh of assaulting her at a high-school-era party while another boy, Mark Judge, allegedly stood by. Judge, who kept his distance and silence during Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings — in part, he has said , to avoid further harassment by Democratic interlocutors — released his own version of those events and the aftermath in “ The Devil’s Triangle: Mark Judge vs the New American Stasi ” (2022).

As with Kavanaugh, Ford’s accusation against Judge was embraced by most of the news media despite an absence of evidence or corroborating testimony. No one who was supposed to have been at the party where Ford was allegedly assaulted remembered it, or her. Ford herself was unable to nail down the year the party took place (but settled on 1982 after several stabs) or where it was held, how she got there, how she got home or any other details, except that she herself had consumed just one beer, according to her testimony. Her claims against Kavanaugh ultimately were unsubstantiated.

Even so, the awards and accolades for Ford keep coming. During a recent appearance on “The View,” she was nearly sanctified for her “bravery.” Not one of the “View” chin-wags seemed to have done any research. They merely checked the box next to “female” and continued to hold in contempt the male who became a Supreme Court justice. Whoopi Goldberg summed it up: “To face those people the way they were looking and dealing with you, that is bravery under a whole different kind of fire.”

A fair-minded person would also wonder what it was like to be in Kavanaugh’s seat.

And what about Judge? “Roadkill” is the way constitutional lawyer Jonathan Turley described Judge’s invisible role in this tale. Of course, Judge and Kavanaugh were and are distinct people whose adult lives could not be more different. Kavanaugh was the kind of boy who kept a detailed calendar of his busy activities and who had a stellar career as a federal judge.

Judge, who chronicled his heavy-drinking school days in his 1997 book, “ Wasted: Tales of a Gen X Drunk ,” was a teenage alcoholic who had to claw his way to sobriety and suffered accordingly. He told Martha MacCallum during a recent Fox News interview that the effects of being essentially locked in a stockade for public ridicule and condemnation included “suicidal ideation” and “economic issues.”

Under interrogation by Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Kavanaugh was forced to review his youthful beer consumption, which he admitted was gustatory. He wasn’t alone; Ford was a drinker, too, according to friends and outlined in the deeply researched book “ Justice on Trial ” by Mollie Hemingway and Carrie Severino.

In my own research for a book that never came to fruition, I also learned that Ford was a party girl, which means she and I would have been friends. Her real “best friend” at the time, Leland Keyser, was known as her designated driver in those days, according to several of her friends cited in yet another book, “ The Education of Brett Kavanaugh ” by New York Times writers Robin Pogrebin and Kate Kelly.

A straight-A student and athlete who became a professional golfer, Keyser had her driver’s license at the time of the alleged assault.

Keyser, who felt pressured by Ford’s supporters to confirm Ford’s story, testified to the FBI that she had no recollection of any such party and didn’t know Kavanaugh.

When intimidation didn’t work, Ford and her friends implied that Keyser’s testimony couldn’t be trusted because she had “significant health challenges,” as Ford put it during her testimony. It didn’t take long for the meaning here to become public. Keyser had at one point become addicted to painkillers prescribed for golf-related back and neck injuries. She has suffered years of surgeries and pain that continues today, thanks to her commitment to recovery. No meds. She also has had to cope with the psychological effects of her persecution by the anti-Kavanaugh brigade. At least one person from Team Ford tried to persuade her to adjust her story. She refused.

Meanwhile, after five years of silence, Judge has emerged from his bunker with both barrels blazing. One can stand only so much smearing. He was, after all, accused in the public arena of variously urging Kavanaugh on or trying to stop him, all the while laughing, according to Ford. Like Kavanaugh, Judge was presumed guilty — a tragic by-product of the “believe the woman” orthodoxy that emerged during the #MeToo movement — and justly wants to have his say.

It takes guts to try to breach the #MeToo iron curtain, as Judge is attempting to do. It takes no courage at all to enrich yourself at other people’s expense, as Ford has done. Even if she believes her own story or suffered some traumatic event at some time, in the absence of evidence or corroboration, a measure of doubt is called for. This doesn’t necessarily mean she lied, as Hemingway and Severino have noted.

Both Judge and Keyser, it seems, deserve the applause Ford is receiving for perpetuating a questionable history that has damaged so many people, not to mention the judicial system she says she has sought to protect. We know the truth is otherwise, thanks to a video capture of Ford’s lawyer, Debra Katz, saying that her client wanted to block Kavanaugh because of fears he would vote to reverse Roe v. Wade . Ford’s fears might have been justified, but her tactics — which have netted her $1 million in donations plus overnights at Oprah’s — were not.

Nothing good grows under a cow patty, but Ford sure did step in one.

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The Best Nonfiction Books of 2024 (So Far)

Always books. Never boring.

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We’re a quarter of the way through the year, if you can believe it, which makes it a good time to look back at the state of books so far in 2024. Goodreads has just released a list of 51 Nonfiction Hits of 2024 (So Far), separated into Essays, Memoirs, History & Biography, Science, and General Nonfiction. These are the books that have been added by Goodreads users to their Read and Want to Read shelves the most, as well as gathering a lot of positive reviews.

Here are a few of the best and buzziest nonfiction books of 2024 so far:

There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Abdurraqib

You Get What You Pay For: Essays by Morgan Parker

Like Love: Essays and Conversations by Maggie Nelson

Thunder Song: Essays by Sasha taqwšəblu LaPointe

I Finally Bought Some Jordans: Essays by Michael Arceneaux

Grief Is for People by Sloane Crosley

The House of Hidden Meanings by RuPaul

This American Ex-Wife by Lyz Lenz

Sociopath: A Memoir by Patric Gagne

Legacy: A Black Physician Reckons with Racism in Medicine by Uché Blackstock

History & Biography

The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War by Erik Larson

Not Your China Doll: The Wild and Shimmering Life of Anna May Wong by Katie Gee Salisbury

A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks by David Gibbins

Science, Technology & Health 

Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet by Hannah Ritchie

Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture by Kyle Chayka

Burn Book: A Tech Love Story by Kara Swisher

General Nonfiction

The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality by Amanda Montell

Why We Read: On Bookworms, Libraries, and Just One More Page Before Lights Out by Shannon Reed

To see all 51 of the Nonfiction Hits of 2024 (So Far), check out the full list on Goodreads .

Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in  Breaking in Books .

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