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William Collins
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF
This eBook edition published by William Collins in 2017
Text © Brian Cox and Andrew Cohen 2016
Photographs © individual copyright holders
Diagrams, design and layout © HarperCollins Publishers 2017
By arrangement with the BBC.
The BBC logo is a trademark of the British Broadcasting Corporation and is used under licence.
BBC logo © BBC 2014
The authors assert their moral right to be identified as the authors of this work.
Cover image © Shutterstock
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this eBook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins Publishers.
Source ISBN: 9780008210038
Ebook Edition © March 2017 ISBN: 9780008249335
Version: 2017-07-17
Praise for Professor Brian Cox:
‘Engaging, ambitious and creative.’
– Guardian
‘He bridges the gap between our childish sense of wonder and a rather more professional grasp of the scale of things.’
– Independent
‘If you didn’t utter a wow watching the TV, you will while reading the book.’
– The Times
‘In this book of the acclaimed BBC2 TV series, Professor Cox shows us the cosmos as we have never seen it before – a place full of the most bizarre and powerful natural phenomena.’
– Sunday Express
‘Cox’s romantic, lyrical approach to astrophysics all adds up to an experience that feels less like homework and more like having a story told to you. A really good story, too.’
– Guardian
‘Will entertain and delight … what a priceless gift that would be.’
– Independent on Sunday
For my dad, David.
– Brian Cox
For Benjamin, Martha, Theo, Dan, Jake, Lyla, Ellie, Toby, Phoebe, Max, Zak, Josh, Isaac and Tabitha because curious young minds always ask the smartest of questions.
– Andrew Cohen
Contents
Copyright
Praise for Professor Brian Cox
SYMMETRY
Knocking on the Doors of Chemistry
The Fundamental Building Blocks and the Forces of Nature
Why does Life Come in So Many Shapes and Sizes?
Symmetry and Symmetry Breaking in Biology
MOTION
Life on an Orbiting Planet: The Seasons
The Formation of the Earth and Moon
Life on an Orbiting Planet: Storms
Life on an Orbiting, Spinning Planet: The Tides
Einstein’s Theory of Special Relativity
ELEMENTS
Chemistry is all About the Movement of Electrons
On the Origin of Species: A Framework to Make Sense of Life on Earth