Light Years: An Exploration of Mankind's Enduring Fascination with Light [Kindle Edition]

Brian Clegg (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

A fascinating book on a fascinating subject. It brings together all aspects of light in an unusual and compelling way. --Sir Patrick Moore

A fascinating, non-technical treatment of the concept of light... an excellent resource... makes for compelling reading.

--ScienceScope, the magazine of the US National Science Teachers' Association

Product Description

This is the story of the greatest puzzle in our universe: what is light? Light Years is an engaging survey of everything we know of the universe's most enigmatic phenomenon and the remarkable people who have been captivated by it. Light Years looks over the shoulders of the great revolutionaries of light theory--Bacon, Galileo, Newton, Faraday, Maxwell and Feynman--and traces the evolution of light-driven devices from the camera to the laser.

 

In this revised edition, leading popular science author Brian Clegg reveals how twenty-first century scientists have achieved the seemingly impossible in bringing light to a halt, and used the quantum properties of entangled light to produce unbreakable encryption and unbelievable computers. He explains the mind-bending advances that put light at the heart of all matter and which could finally make time travel possible.

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 618 KB
• Print Length: 276 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0230527256
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (December 26, 2007)
• Sold by: Macmillan
• Language: English
• ASIN: B001BNT4CA
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #334,564 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

More About the Author

Brian has written a number of popular science books, including Ecologic, The God Effect, on the most remarkable phenomenon of the quantum world and Before the Big Bang. Other titles include A Brief History of Infinity and Inflight Science, which explores the science that's all around you and outside your window when you are on an airplane.

Along with appearances at the Royal Institution in London he has spoken at venues from Oxford and Cambridge Universities to Cheltenham Festival of Science, has contributed to radio and TV programmes, and is a popular speaker at schools. Brian is also editor of the successful www.popularscience.co.uk book review site and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Brian has Masters degrees from Cambridge University in Natural Sciences and from Lancaster University in Operational Research, a discipline originally developed during the Second World War to apply the power of mathematics to warfare. It has since been widely applied to problem solving and decision making in business.

From Lancaster, he joined British Airways, where he ran teams including Emerging Technologies, amongst the most eccentric but talented staff in the company, who researched technologies from fingerprint recognition to electronic cash. This emphasis on innovation led to training with Dr. Edward de Bono, and in 1994 he left BA to set up his own creativity consultancy, running courses on the development of new ideas and products, and the creative solution of business problems. Clients include the BBC, the Met Office, British Airways, GlaxoSmithKline, Sony, The Treasury, Royal Bank of Scotland and many other blue-chips.

Brian has also written regular columns, features and reviews for numerous publications, including Nature, The Guardian, PC Week, Computer Weekly, Personal Computer World, Innovative Leader, Professional Manager, BBC History, Good Housekeeping and House Beautiful. His books have been translated into many languages, including German, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese, Polish, Turkish, Norwegian, Thai and even Indonesian.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating, May 19, 2011

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WTWmusic "wtwmusic" - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Light Years: An Exploration of Mankind's Enduring Fascination with Light (Paperback)

Clegg is an engaging writer who not only explains scientific concepts well, but he does so in an entertaining fashion. The history he offers about the people who have made discoveries, adds to the understanding of what led them to their conclusions, or in some cases, explains how they stumbled over them.
In this book Clegg details man's fascination with visible light, the discoveries of the vast invisible frequencies on both ends of the light spectrum and the numerous practical uses of those discoveries.

If learning that "Light (electromagnetic radiation) is what holds atoms together; therefore, is the "glue" that makes matter possible" intrigues you, get this book and learn about that, and so much more.