Science Fiction Physics

Albert Einstein described Relativity as a "popular explosion" of his famous theory. Written in 1916, it introduced the lay audience to the remarkable perspective which had overturned theoretical physics. Einstein's genius was to express this perspective in understandable terms.

Leading astrophysicist Liam Jackson is participating in a scientist exchange program in Germany when a curveball of universal proportions is thrown at him. Planes fall from the sky, cars explode, and strange particles rain down from the heavens as monsters appear out of thin air. The laws of physics have changed in the world. The fundamental forces of the universe are behaving differently, and Liam needs to understand them if he wants to survive.

Neil deGrasse Tyson's number-one New York Times best-selling guide to the cosmos, adapted for young listeners. From the basics of physics to big questions about the nature of space and time, celebrated astrophysicist and science communicator Neil deGrasse Tyson breaks down the mysteries of the cosmos into bite-sized pieces.

The end of the world as we know it couldn't come at a worse time for Adrian. One minute, he's an operations manager overseeing a construction job in the wilderness. The next, an unknown energy force changes the very nature of life itself, from the smallest organism to the top of the food chain. Earth's surviving inhabitants, its environment, and the very laws of physics have all undergone fundamental transformations. Many of those changes aren't pretty. Plenty of them are deadly.

In the aftermath of the Apocalypse, humanity struggles to survive in a world newly introduced to mysterious particles. Preparing for the moment when Earth's planetary protections will cease and open the planet up to invasion by alien species, Liam and his companions transformed the Beacon, their sanctuary, into a fortress. As the last line of defense, they strive to train and empower the Beacon's residents, raising their levels and strength to withstand the impending onslaught.

The stakes have never been higher, and it all falls upon the three friends to save the day. Their trip to the Void will prove to be as harmful as lucrative. Their hope? To gain enough power so they can break the Ranking itself. What they haven't thought of is the effect that the absolute and total despair of the Void will have on them. Or even if they will be able to prevail if they ever manage to return.

High above the windswept plains of Kazakhstan, three astronauts on board a Russian Soyuz capsule begin their reentry. A strange shimmer in the atmosphere, a blinding flash of light, and the capsule vanishes in a blink as though it never existed. Daniel Rice is a government science investigator. Marie Kendrick is a NASA operations analyst. Together, they must track down the cause of the most bizarre event in the history of human spaceflight. They draw on scientific strengths as they plunge into the strange world of quantum physics.

The Skolian Empire rules a third of the civilized galaxy through its mastery of faster-than-light communication. But war with the rival empire of the Traders seems imminent, a war that can only lead to slavery for the Skolians or the destruction of both sides. Destructive skirmishes have already occurred. A desperate attempt must be made to avert total disaster.

A gleefully gruesome look at the actual science behind the most outlandish, cartoonish, and impossible deaths you can imagine. What would happen if you took a swim outside a deep-sea submarine wearing only a swimsuit? How long could you last if you stood on the surface of the sun? How far could you actually get in digging a hole to China? Paul Doherty, senior staff scientist at San Francisco's famed Exploratorium Museum, and writer Cody Cassidy explore the real science behind these and other fantastical scenarios.

The acclaimed Science of Discworld centred on an original Pratchett story about the Wizards of Discworld. In it they accidentally witnessed the creation and evolution of our universe, a plot which was interleaved with a Cohen & Stewart non-fiction narrative about Big Science. In The Science of Discworld II our authors join forces again to see just what happens when the wizards meddle with history in a battle against the elves for the future of humanity on Earth. London is replaced by a dozy Neanderthal village.

In the apocalypse, the first weapon Adrian will have to upgrade is himself. The end of the world as we know it couldn’t come at a worse time for him. One minute, he’s an operations manager who’s overseeing a construction job in the wilderness. The next, an unknown energy force changes the very nature of life itself, from the smallest organism to the top of the food chain. The Earth’s surviving inhabitants, its environment, and the very laws of physics have all undergone fundamental transformations. Many of those changes aren’t pretty.

Does time exist? What is infinity? Why do mirrors reverse left and right but not up and down? In this scintillating collection, Holt explores the human mind, the cosmos, and the thinkers who’ve tried to encompass the latter with the former. With his trademark clarity and humor, Holt probes the mysteries of quantum mechanics, the quest for the foundations of mathematics, and the nature of logic and truth. Along the way, he offers intimate biographical sketches of celebrated and neglected thinkers, from the physicist Emmy Noether to the computing pioneer Alan Turing and the discoverer of fractals, Benoit Mandelbrot.

What actually happens when the words, "beam me up, Scottie" are uttered? What "warps" when something travels at warp speed? Internationally renowned theoretical physicist and educator Lawrence M. Krauss provides matter-of-fact scientific explanations of the physics of Star Trek in this highly creative and informative guide for both the devoted Trekkie and the physics novice.

Did NASA really spend millions creating a pen that would write in space? Is chocolate poisonous to dogs? Does stress cause gray hair? These questions are a sample of the urban lore investigated in this audiobook, Fact or Fiction: Science Tackles 58 Popular Myths. Drawing from Scientific American’s “Fact or Fiction” and “Strange But True” columns, we’ve selected 58 of the most surprising, fascinating, useful, and just plain wacky topics confronted by our writers over the years.

Everyone has heard of Albert Einstein - but what exactly did he do? How much do kids really know about Albert Einstein besides the funny hair and genius label? For instance, do they know that he was expelled from school as a kid? Finally, here's the story of Albert Einstein's life, told in a fun, engaging way that clearly explores the world he lived in and changed.

Scientists have just announced an historic discovery on a par with the splitting of the atom: The Higgs boson, the key to understanding why mass exists has been found. In The Particle at the End of the Universe, Caltech physicist and acclaimed writer Sean Carroll takes readers behind the scenes of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN to meet the scientists and explain this landmark event.

In Albury, Adrian and his team must face the most terrifying of all enemies: his fellow humans. The team has done everything right. They have killed off all of Adhava's kids and in doing so denied her reinforcements, but now she has fled into a dungeon. In Dungeon, Adrian and his team need to hunt her down. In Home Bound Adrian faces threats he is aware of; weak but numerous enemies that no one else would even think about challenging. He is not at all concerned because of a simple fact of life: if you know what's coming, the risk can be mitigated or avoided in its entirety.

There's nothing like the issue of evolution to get under the skin of academics. Especially when those same academics are by chance or bad judgement deposited at a critical evolutionary turning point when one wrong move could have catastrophic results for the future. Unfortunately, in the hands of such an inept and cussed group of individuals, the sensitive issue of causality is, sadly, only likely to receive the same scant respect that they show to one another.

Adrian's journey to get to Melbourne continues, and he realizes sometimes the only path to success is to do things slower. He has promised to accept the quest for Jules' sake, but his interface is also adamant that completing the quest is the only way he reaches Melbourne. Not only will he need to find the fortitude to kill, he will also need to work out how to complete the quest requirements.

Based on the newly released personal letters of Albert Einstein, Walter Isaacson explores how an imaginative, impertinent patent clerk, a struggling father in a difficult marriage who couldn't get a teaching job or a doctorate, became the mind reader of the creator of the cosmos, the locksmith of the mysteries of the atom and the universe. His success came from questioning conventional wisdom and marveling at mysteries that struck others as mundane.