Science
Tin, by Padraig Kenny (paperback, 2018)
£7.99
Christopher is ‘Proper’: a real boy with a real soul, orphaned in a fire.
He works for an engineer, a maker of the eccentric, loyal and totally individual mechanicals who are Christopher’s best friends. But after a devastating accident, a secret is revealed and Christopher’s world is changed for ever ... What follows is a remarkable adventure, as Christopher discovers who he really is, and what it means to be human.
A heartfelt tale of humanity, adventure and belonging, from the bestselling author of Pog and The Monsters of Rookhaven. A thought-provoking and timely novel, with strong themes of friendship, war and what it really means to be human.
Set in an ‘ alternate ‘ 1930’s England, this is an original and assured debut novel with a sci-fi flavour.
Suitable for 9 ( min) and up to 14.
The Thinking Machine , Stephen Witt ( Hardback April 2025)
£25.00
The Thinking Machine : Jensen Huang, Nvidia, and the World’s Most Coveted Microchip.
AI tech giant Nvidia is as valuable as Apple and Microsoft. It has shaped the world as we know it. This is the inside story of the company that is inventing the future and its charismatic CEO Jensen Huang.
The Thinking Machine is the astonishing story of how a designer of videogame equipment conquered the market for AI hardware, and in the process reinvented the computer. It is the story of a determined entrepreneur who defied Wall Street to push his radical vision for computing, becoming one of the wealthiest men alive.
And it’s the story of our awesome and terrifying AI future, as a new kind of microchip unlocks hyper-realistic avatars, autonomous robots, self-driving cars and new movies, art and books, generated on command. ‘A page-turning biography of perhaps the most consequential CEO and company in the world’ David Epstein, author of Range.
Britannica's Encyclopedia Infographica, various authors ( hardback Sept 23)
£25.00
1,000s of Facts & Figures-about Earth, space, animals, the body, technology & more-Revealed in Pictures
This authoritative encyclopedia is perfect for visual learners: it reveals astonishing information about space, Earth, animals, humans and technology through 200 infographics, including maps, charts, timelines and more! Grasp facts at a glance as you turn every page: discover the size of our Sun in comparison to the largest star in the universe; find out which animal can leap 200 times its body length; learn how many cups of snot your body makes a day; compare the sizes of the biggest beasts that have ever lived; witness what happens in a single second across the world. With stunning infographics by internationally renowned data designer Valentina D'Efilippo, along with beautiful colour photography, as well as interviews with leading expert consultants for every chapter, this ravishing book from Britannica offers an exhilarating visual way to understand the world around us.
Accidental, Tim James ( paperback 6 March 2025)
£10.99
Accidental : The Greatest (Unintentional) Science Breakthroughs and How They Changed The World
Who said science was dry? Certainly not Tim James' New York Post 'James writes with infectious enthusiasm and optimism' Kirkus Reviews 'A science teacher by profession, Mr. James knows how to get his audience's attention' Wall Street Journal 'Humorous, yet deep' Professor Charles AntoineA rip-roaring adventure through science gone wrong, and accidentally changing humanity (mostly) for the better. We may imagine that science is a process of breakthroughs and light bulb moments.
But in reality, science goes wrong 99% of the time. Almost every idea a scientist comes up with is quickly disproved by a failed experiment or rival research. Science moves at a rate of inches per decade and we often like it that way.
But occasionally, just occasionally, a complete fluke happens and changes everything as we know it. From an untimely sneeze in a petri dish leading to the groundbreaking creation of antibiotics, to the incredible discovery of microwaves via melted chocolate, Accidental is a rip-roaring adventure through science gone wrong, and accidentally changing humanity for the better.
PB cover ( orange ) out early March 2025
Calypso, Oliver Langmead ( hardback April 2024)
£12.99
A ground-breaking, mind-bending and wildly imaginative epic verse revolution in SF. A saga of colony ships, shattering moons and cataclysmic war in a new Eden. Truly unforgettable and richly lyrical eco-fiction, for fans of Kim Stanley Robinson, Adrian Tchaikovsky, and Jeff VanderMeer.
Rochelle wakes from cryostasis to take up her role as engineer on the colony ark, Calypso. But she finds the ship has transformed into a forest, populated by the original crew’s descendants, who revere her like a saint. She travels the ship with the Calypso’s creator, the enigmatic Sigmund, and Catherine, a bioengineered marvel who can commune with the plants, uncovering a new history of humanity forged while she slept.
She discovers a legacy of war between botanists and engineers. A war fought for the right to build a new Earth – a technological paradise, or a new Eden in bloom, untouched by mankind’s past. And Rochelle, the last to wake, holds the balance of power in her hands.
The Maniac, Benjamin Labatut ( paperback July 2024)
£9.99
A thrilling, kaleidoscopic book about the destructive chaos lurking in the history of computing and AI
'Monstrously good... Reads like a dark foundation myth about modern technology but told with the pace of a thriller' Mark Haddon
In a scintillating mix of fact and fiction, The MANIAC tells of the dark foundations of our modern world and the nascent era of AI. At its core is John von Neumann, a titan of science who revolutionised fields from game theory to computer systems and helped develop the atomic bomb.
As illness unmoored his mind, his work pushed further into areas beyond human comprehension and control. With dazzling mastery, Benjamín Labatut weaves von Neumann's story together with the crises in physics at the beginning of the twentieth century and humanity's showdown with artificial intelligence a hundred years later. Innovative and disquieting, this book plunges us into the most profound questions of humanity, where reason teeters on the brink of chaos.
Babel, RF Kuang ( paperback Sept 2023)
£9.99
'An ingenious fantasy about empire' GUARDIAN
Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal. Oxford, 1836. The city of dreaming spires. It is the centre of all knowledge and progress in the world. And at its centre is Babel, the Royal Institute of Translation. The tower from which all the power of the Empire flows.
Orphaned in Canton and brought to England by a mysterious guardian, Babel seemed like paradise to Robin Swift. Until it became a prison... But can a student stand against an empire? An incendiary new novel from award-winning author R.F.Kuang about the power of language, the violence of colonialism, and the sacrifices of resistance.
'A masterpiece that resonates with power and knowledge. BABEL is a stark picture of the cruelty of empire, a distillation of dark academia, and a riveting blend of fantasy and historical fiction - a monumental achievement' Samantha Shannon
The Secret Lives of Numbers, Kitagawa and Revell ( hardback August 2023)
£20.00
The Secret Lives of Numbers : A Global History of Mathematics & its Unsung Trailblazers
by Kate Kitagawa (Author) , Timothy Revell (Author)
Mathematics shapes almost everything we do. But despite its reputation as the study of fundamental truths, the stories we have been told about it are wrong. In The Secret Lives of Numbers, historian Kate Kitagawa and journalist Timothy Revell introduce readers to the mathematical boundary-smashers who have been erased by history because of their race, gender or nationality.
From the brilliant Arabic scholars of the ninth-century House of Wisdom, and the pioneering African American mathematicians of the twentieth century, to the 'lady computers' around the world who revolutionised our knowledge of the night sky, we meet these fascinating trailblazers and see how they contributed to our global knowledge today. Along the way, the mathematics itself is explained extremely clearly, for example, calculus is described using the authors' home baking, as they pose the question: how much cake is in our cake? This revisionist, completely accessible and radically inclusive history of mathematics is as entertaining as it is important.
Paperback END August 2024
How To Spaghettify Your Dog : and other science secrets of the universe by Hiba Noor Khan (Author)
£8.99
A wonderfully illustrated, jam-packed, must-have science book for all aspiring young physicists!' The Royal Institution Have you ever wondered how to slow down time? Or what would happen if the Earth stopped spinning? Or whether you'd be OK if you fell into a black hole? Well, wonder no more. This book, by former physics teacher and UKLA longlisted author Hiba Noor Khan, is bursting with fascinating physics facts that will explain everything you want to know, and more, about the curiosities of our cosmos. Become acquainted with the phenomenal laws of physics - from the tiniest building blocks of our body to the enormous stars that burn in our skies, light years away.The book breaks down complex science topics into fun, digestible chunks. Featuring easy-to-follow experiments, eye-catching illustrations by Waterstones Book Prize winner Harry Woodgate and plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, this hands-on book will demystify physics and bring science to life.
Otherlands, Thomas Halliday ( paperback Jan 2023)
£10.99
SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER
THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR NATURE WRITING
'Epically cinematic... A book of almost unimaginable riches' Sunday Times
This is the past as we've never seen it before. Otherlands is an epic, exhilarating journey into deep time, showing us the Earth as it used to exist, and the worlds that were here before ours.
Travelling back in time to the dawn of complex life, and across all seven continents, award-winning young palaeobiologist Thomas Halliday gives us a mesmerizing up close encounter with eras that are normally unimaginably distant. Halliday immerses us in a series of ancient landscapes, from the mammoth steppe in Ice Age Alaska to the lush rainforests of Eocene Antarctica, with its colonies of giant penguins, to Ediacaran Australia, where the moon is far brighter than ours today. We visit the birthplace of humanity; we hear the crashing of the highest waterfall the Earth has ever known; and we watch as life emerges again after the asteroid hits, and the age of the mammal dawns.
These lost worlds seem fantastical and yet every description - whether the colour of a beetle's shell, the rhythm of pterosaurs in flight or the lingering smell of sulphur in the air - is grounded in the fossil record. Otherlands is a staggering imaginative feat: an emotional narrative that underscores the tenacity of life - yet also the fragility of seemingly permanent ecosystems, including our own.
Nomad Century, Gaia Vince (Paperback-August 2023)
£10.99
Nomad Century : How to Survive the Climate Upheaval
An urgent investigation of the most underreported, seismic consequence of climate change: how it will force us to change where - and how - we live.We are facing a species emergency. With every degree of temperature rise, a billion people will be displaced from the zone in which humans have lived for thousands of years. While we must do everything we can to mitigate the impact of climate change, the brutal truth is that huge swathes of the world are becoming uninhabitable.
From Bangladesh to Sudan to the western United States, and in cities from Cardiff to New Orleans to Shanghai, the quadruple threat of drought, heat, wildfires and flooding will utterly reshape Earth's human geography in the coming decades. In this rousing call to arms, Royal Society Science Book Prize-winning author Gaia Vince describes how we can plan for and manage this unavoidable climate migration while we restore the planet to a fully habitable state. The vital message of this book is that migration is not the problem - it's the solution.
Age Proof : The New Science of Living a Longer and Healthier Life The No 1 International Bestseller
£10.99
Did you know that we can lead longer and healthier lives by making simple changes right now?Professor Rose Anne Kenny has 35 years of experience at the forefront of ageing medicine. In Age Proof, she draws on her own pioneering research and the latest evidence to demystify why we age and shows us that 80% of our ageing biology is within our control: we can not only live longer lives but become happier and healthier deep into our later years. Effortlessly distilling scientific theory into practical advice that we can apply to our everyday lives, Professor Kenny examines the impact that food, genetics, friendships, purpose, sex, exercise and laughter have on how our cells age.This illuminating book will show you the steps you can take to stay younger for longer - and will prove that you really are just as young as you feel.
Ireland’s Wild Plants, Niall Mac Coitir (paperback)
£15.99
Ireland's wild plants have been part of our culture and folklore from the earliest times, featuring in the Brehon Laws, early Irish poetry and herbal medicine. Plants are described in seasonal order and different aspects are examined: their roles in magical protection, charms and spells, emblems in children's games, Irish place names and folklore. This beautifully illustrated and comprehensive compilation of natural history, mythology and folklore will entertain and enlighten all interested in the wild plants of Ireland.
101 Great Science Experiments, Dorling Kindersley (paperback)
£7.99
Great value and always beautifully laid out in the DK style.
Fun mini projects for your budding scientist ... covers physics, biology and chemistry.
Forget about mad scientists and messy laboratories! This incredible, interactive guide for children showcases 101 absolutely awesome experiments you can do at home. Find out how to make a rainbow, build a buzzer, see sound, construct a circuit, bend light, play with shadows, measure the wind, weigh air, and create an underwater volcano. The astonishing variety of experiments are all very easy and entirely safe, with step-by-step text and everyday ingredients.
To Sleep In a Sea of Stars : Christoper Paolini (paperback Sept 2021)
£12.99
To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is a masterful epic science fiction novel from the New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling author of the Inheritance Cycle, Christopher Paolini. Kira Navarez dreamed of life on new worlds Now she's awakened a nightmare During a routine survey mission on an uncolonized planet, Kira finds an alien relic. At first she's delighted, but elation turns to terror when the ancient dust around her begins to move.As war erupts among the stars, Kira is launched into a galaxy-spanning odyssey of discovery and transformation. First contact isn't at all what she imagined, and events push her to the very limits of what it means to be human. While Kira faces her own horrors, Earth and its colonies stand upon the brink of annihilation.
Now, Kira might be humanity's greatest and final hope . . .
