Product Description

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 donÂ’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 canÂ’t agree on whether it even existsÂ… 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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #968 in Books
• Published on: 2009-02-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Review
'Fascinating, bang-up-to-date... Like all the best science popularisers, Brooks reawakens us to the astonishing fact of our mere existence, the strangeness of the world around us, and the astonishing amount that science has yet to discover' Christopher Hart, Sunday TimesA" 'Odd data clusters are crime scenes, over which Brooks combs with the reassuring casualness of an expert... to provide riveting cliffhangers of scientific detection... admirable' Steven Poole, GuardianA" 'Entertaining... engagingly written... a worthwhile read for budding explorers of new worlds' Jon Turney, IndependentA" 'Excellent... Brooks is breezy and fun - always readable and never dull... each chapter is a little vessel of delights... Deserves to be up there as one of the best popular science books of 2008/9. Recommended' popularscience.co.ukA" 'Entertaining... engagingly written... a worthwhile read for budding explorers of new worlds' IndependentA" 'Prepare yourself to be entertained and challenged in equal measure' BBC FocusA" 'Sensational... pitch-perfect... The ideas in his book are dizzying' Simon Ings, Sunday TelegraphA"

From the Back Cover
Science starts to get interesting when things don’t make sense. Even today there are experimental results that the most brilliant scientists can neither explain nor dismiss. In the past, similar anomalies have revolutionised our world: in the sixteenth century, a set of celestial irregularities led Copernicus to realise that the Earth goes around the sun and not the reverse. In 13 Things That Don’t Make Sense Michael Brooks meets thirteen modern-day anomalies that may become tomorrow’s breakthroughs. Is ninety six percent of the universe missing? If no study has ever been able to definitively show that the placebo effect works, why has it become a pillar of medical science? Was the 1977 signal from outer space a transmission from an alien civilization? Spanning fields from chemistry to cosmology, psychology to physics, Michael Brooks thrillingly captures the excitement and controversy of the scientific unknown. ‘Elegantly written, meticulously researched and thought-provoking … sure to spur intense debate.’ – New Scientist

About the Author
Michael Brooks, who has a PhD in quantum physics, is a consultant for New Scientist. His writing has appeared in the Guardian, Independent, Observer and THES.www.13thingsthatdontmakesense.com