Out of Sight!: From Quarks to Living Cells

Description

This book is a popular introduction to modern natural science and provides an insight into the advanced and expensive technology that is required in the exploration of the universe too small for the eye to see. This is the domain of the living cell, and even smaller, the basic building blocks of all matter: quarks, atoms and molecules. It is possible with modern technology to obtain images of objects as small as an individual atom. It is even possible to hold one atom in place and study it individually. This book will explain, in non-technical language, how we obtain our knowledge of the micro-universe. With the help of many clear diagrams, it goes on to describe the structure of living cells, of atoms and molecules as they are found in everyday objects, as well as in more exotic and dramatic forms of matter, such as anti-matter, stars, and black holes.

'... its ample virtues - not least the clarity and richness of its prose - mean that Out of Sight! deserves a wide audience among students and readers of all ages who want a bang up-to-date survey of all matter beyond the range of our immediate senses.' Endeavour 'Out of Sight! is refreshingly different. It is packed with information about the 'microworld', from the quarks to the living cell.' J. F. L. Simmons, The Observatory