The Undercover Scientist: Investigating the Mishaps of Everyday Life

The Undercover Scientist: Investigating the Mishaps of Everyday Life

by PeterJ.Bentley (Author)

Synopsis

We all know that things go wrong: wine stains, toast burns, drawers jam. But how many of us pause to think why these accidents happen? Undercover Scientist Peter Bentley is fascinated by the science of the everyday, and in this eye-opening book, organised in the form of one of those days when everything falls apart, he probes into the reasons why mishaps occur, from sleeping through the alarm to making the bathwater overflow. As he does so he explains exactly what happens when you put metal in a microwave and why the combination of chewing gum and hair is so sticky. And from there he goes on to show how these simple events form part of a pattern of scientific principles that govern everything around us. If you want to find out why a diesel engine can run on chip fat or how the sun creates energy, The Undercover Scientist has all the answers.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 256
Publisher: Random House Books
Published: 03 Jul 2008

ISBN 10: 1847945236
ISBN 13: 9781847945235
Book Overview: Why can't they make a non-slippery soap? Why does milk go off so quickly while cheese doesn't? Why can't they stop computers from crashing?

Author Bio
Professor Peter Bentley is one of the most creative thinkers in computer science, working with scientists of all different disciplines to model virtual experiments. He is Senior Research Fellow at the Department of Computer Science, University College London and is known for his prolific research covering all aspects of Evolutionary Computation and Digital Biology. He is the author of the popular science books The Book of Numbers (Cassell Illustrated), Digital Biology (Simon and Schuster USA), and the academic books The PhD Application Handbook, Evolutionary Design by Computers, Creative Evolutionary Systems and On Growth, Form and Computers. He is a Royal Institution Science Media Expert and a regular contributor to programming for the BBC and Discovery Channel.