Unlocking the Universe

As his daughter Lucy says in the introduction to Unlocking the Universe, Professor Stephen Hawking believed in talking about science in ways that people could easily understand, and that everyone has the right to know what scientists do and what it means. At 400 pages, this is a comprehensive book, but within those pages it covers a big range of science topics in an approachable manner without becoming either textbook-ish or talking down to readers.

Both the basics and more in-depth topics are covered, making this a great dip-in book whatever a reader’s level of interest, as well as giving them an opportunity to expand their scientific learning however far they choose. Basics include the big bang theory, what the earth is made of, planets in our solar system and the building blocks of life, while higher-level topics include quantum mechanics, string theory, and dark matter.

There are contributions throughout from specialists who expand on topics from climate change to wormholes to an astronaut’s account of what it’s like to be in space. Meet key scientists and learn about their work, from Galileo to Watson & Crick; and find out what scientists are working on today, from AI to the Large Hadron Collider. A great science book for any bookshelf.