Popular Science

The idea of the book is simply to try to understand the extraordinary contraption that is us.' In the bestselling, prize-winning A Short History of Nearly Everything Bill Bryson achieved the seemingly impossible by making the science of our world both understandable and entertaining to millions of people around the globe.

Planet Earth is 4.5 billion years old. In just a fraction of that time, one species among countless others has conquered it. Us. We are the most advanced and most destructive animals ever to have lived. What makes us brilliant? What makes us deadly?

What can we do about the epidemic of fake news or the threat of terrorism? The golden thread running through his exhilarating new book is the challenge of maintaining our collective and individual focus in the face of constant and disorienting change. Are we still capable of understanding the world we have created?

Walking upright on two feet is a uniquely human skill. In this hymn to walking, neuroscientist Shane O'Mara invites us to marvel at the benefits it confers on our bodies and minds. Walking together to achieve a shared purpose is also a social glue that has contributed to our survival as a species.

This book answers all of life's big questions and more. An amazing account of our incredible lives - from insignificant atoms to sophisticated space explorers.

The author describes himself as a reluctant traveller, but even when he stays safely at home he can't contain his curiosity about the world around him. This title is about his quest to understand everything that has happened from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization - how we got from there, being nothing at all, to here, being us.

Sapiens showed us where we came from. Homo Deus shows us where we're going. This book explores the projects, dreams and nightmares that will shape the twenty-first century - from overcoming death to creating artificial life. It asks questions: Where do we go from here? And how will we protect this fragile world from our own destructive powers?

`We spend our whole lives in one body and yet most of us have practically no idea how it works and what goes on inside it. The idea of the book is simply to try to understand the extraordinary contraption that is us.' Bill Bryson sets off to explore the human body, how it functions and its remarkable ability to heal itself.

The world's most entertaining and useless self-help guide, from the brilliant mind behind the wildly popular webcomic xkcd and the million-selling What If? and Thing Explainer