Forces of Nature. Andrew Cohen

      

       Copyright

      William Collins

      An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

       WilliamCollinsBooks.com

      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

       Cover

       Title Page

      Copyright

      Praise for Professor Brian Cox

       Dedication

       Chapter 1

      SYMMETRY

The Universe in a Snowflake

Why do Bees Build Hexagons?

Knocking on the Doors of Chemistry

The Fundamental Building Blocks and the Forces of Nature

Why is the Earth a Sphere?

Why does Life Come in So Many Shapes and Sizes?

Symmetry and Symmetry Breaking in Biology

       The Universe in a Snowflake

       Chapter 2

      MOTION

       Somewhere in Spacetime

       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

       Somewhere in Spacetime

       Spacetime Calculations

       Chapter 3

      ELEMENTS

       The Moth and the Flame

       Chemistry is all About the Movement of Electrons

       Frankenstein’s Monsters

       On the Origin of Species: A Framework to Make Sense of Life on Earth

       The Oldest Life on Earth

       A Warm Little Pond?