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A revolution in the way we use artificial lighting is underway, one that is every bit as sweeping and significant as Edison's invention of the light bulb. The technology of light emitting diodes (LEDs) is ready for widespread implementation. Its impacts will include a reduction in energy consumption for electric lighting by up to 80 percent. Brilliant! tells the story of Shuji Nakamura, a gifted Japanese engineer who came out of nowhere to stun the world with his announcement that he had create...

In 2006, an eccentric Russian mathematician named Grigori Perelman solved one of the world's greatest intellectual puzzles. The Poincare conjecture is an extremely complex topological problem that had eluded the best minds for over a century. In 2000, the Clay Institute in Boston named it one of seven great unsolved mathematical problems, and promised a million dollars to anyone who could find a solution. Perelman was awarded the prize this year - and declined the money. Journalist Masha Gessen...

Published in association with the Science Museum, London, Genius: Great Inventors and Their Creations, gives readers an unprecedented insight into the minds and lives of some of the great men and women who have helped shape the modern world. The book transports the reader back in time to share the excitement and inspiration of some of the most important moments in the history of technology. Beautifully illustrated throughout, the book contains rare and removable facsimile documents.

Kenneth Allsop was a writer, journalist and broadcaster who in the 1960s and early 70s became one of Britain's first television celebrities. Voted the 'fifth most handsome man in the world', he enjoyed the high life of fast cars, jazz and smart London parties, moving among the nation's glitterati from the arts, media and politics. But he was also an accomplished naturalist and a passionate conservationist who fought fiercely to hold back mounting threats to Britain's wildlife and landscapes. He...

A wonderful new series of well-told, beautifully illustrated biographies, for children aged 6-9 years, featuring great leaders, heroes, pioneers, inventors and scientists from the past. Each biography tells an exciting story about a real person, that can be read either alone or by a parent or teacher. The colourful artwork will stimulate the imagination and linger in the memory. The biographies link in with National Curriculum KS1 and KS2, History, English, Science and other subjects. Young chil...

'Bob Clifford is a hero of mine. I actually sought him out because I wanted to find out how on earth he had learned to do what he has done . How did he do it? I believe he is a genius.' - Dick Smith The story of how Robert Clifford went from being a poor student to a global shipping entrepreneur reads more like adventure fiction than cold hard fact. But it is all true. The tale contains the usual quota of disaster and triumph, spiced with a fascinating account of ingenuity and invention at work...

Explores the life of Gerhard Mercator, who created the map and solved the dimensional riddle that plagued cosmographers for years, revealing a man who attended one of Europe's top universities but was persecuted by the Inquisition.

So what have the Scots ever done for the world then? Well, most people will know about John Logie Baird (inventor of television), Alexander Graham Bell (the telephone) and Alexander Fleming (penicillin). But what about Alexander Cummings from Edinburgh? It would be hard to imagine getting through the day without using his invention - the flushing toilet. Or how about William Cullen from Glasgow? There would be a lot of sour milk (and warm beer) without the first man to demonstrate artificial ref...

Professor CN Yang was the first Chinese to be awarded the Nobel Prize. Besides his achievements in Physics, he has also made great contribution in the areas of Eastern and Western political and cultural ideologies. This volume is a compilation of articles by prominent scholars, commenting on Professor's CN Yang's work and ideas.