Beyond the Bond
An article on outstanding questions in our understanding of chemical bonding, published in Nature 469, 26 (January 2011).
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Selection of Articles by Philip Ball
Bright Lights, Bug City
“Bright Lights, Bug City” an extended version (with illustrations) of the feature article of the same title in New Scientist, 22 Feb 2010.
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BBC World Service – Science in Action
“BBC World Service – Science in Action” 21 December 2007: Philip was one of the panellists reviewing the past year in science.
Listen again at http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice
BBC Radio 4 – Frontiers
“BBC Radio 4 – Frontiers” 28 November 2007: Philip presented a programme on digital medicine.
Listen again at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science
BBC Radio 4 – The Material World
“BBC Radio 4 – The Material World” 28 June 2007: Philip was one of the panellists discussing the genre of “science plays”.
Listen again at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science
BUY NOW ON AMAZON U – Made to Measure: New Materials for the 21st Century by Philip Ball
Is it any good? Measuring scientific merit
“Is it any good? Measuring scientific merit” a talk given at the meeting of the German Physical Society, Regensburg, March 2007
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A dangerous experiment
“A dangerous experiment” an analysis of the state of science at UK universities, published in the Prospect supplement Quarter
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Starting from scratch
Starting from scratch: feature on synthetic biology, Nature, October 2004.
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How on earth did we get here?
How on earth did we get here?: introduction to the science section of A Very Short Introduction to Everything (OUP, 2003).
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Introduction to “HOW ON EARTH DID WE GET HERE?”
Published (with final paragraph inadvertently omitted) in A Very Short Introduction to Everything (OUP, 2003) by Philip Ball
In 1638 two men met in a villa in Arcetri, near Florence. One was a precocious thirty-year-old Englishman, the other an ageing and grey-bearded Italian natural philosopher. Under house arrest by order of the Roman Church, Galileo was used to receiving visitors curious about his astronomical theory, and his young guest may have left little impression. But John Milton did not forget the meeting. …
Portrait of a molecule
Portrait of a molecule: an article published in a supplement for the 50th anniversary of DNA, Nature 421, 421-422 (2003).
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PORTRAIT OF A MOLECULE – Philip Ball
An article published in a supplement for the 50th anniversary of DNA
Nature 421, 421-422 (2003)
Rather like those of Albert Einstein, DNA’s popular images are hardly representative. While it is fashionable in these post-genome days to show it as an endless string of A’s, C’s, G’s and T’s, this year’s anniversary will surely be illustrated with two kinds of picture. One shows the famous double helix, delightfully suggesting the twin snakes of Wisdom and Knowledge intertwining around the caduceus, the staff of the medic’s god Hermes. The other reveals the X-shaped symbol of inheritance, the chromosome. …