David Bodanis Books

'David Bodanis is an enthralling storyteller. Prepare to be taken on a surprising, wide-ranging and ultimately inspiring journey to explore what makes us human' Tim Harford Can you succeed without being a terrible person? We often think not: recognising that, as the old saying has it, 'nice guys finish last'. But does that mean you have to go to the other extreme, and be a bully or Machiavellian to get anything done? In THE ART OF FAIRNESS, David Bodanis uses thrilling historical case studies to show there's a better path, leading neatly in between. He reveals how it was fairness, applied with skill, that led the Empire State Building to be constructed in barely a year - and how the same techniques brought a quiet English debutante to become an acclaimed jungle guerrilla fighter. In ten vivid profiles - featuring pilots, presidents, and even the producer of Game of Thrones - we see that the path to greatness doesn't require crushing displays of power or tyrannical ego. Simple fair decency can prevail. With surprising insights from across history - including the downfall of the very man who popularised the phrase 'nice guys finish last' - THE ART OF FAIRNESS charts a refreshing and sustainable new approach to cultivating integrity and influence.

Generations have grown up knowing that the equation E=mc2 changed the shape of our world, but never understanding what it actually means, why it was so significant, and how it informs our daily lives today—governing, as it does, everything from the atomic bomb to a television's cathode ray tube to the carbon dating of prehistoric paintings. In this book, David Bodanis writes the "biography" of one of the greatest scientific discoveries in history—that the realms of energy and matter are inescapably linked—and, through his skill as a writer and teacher, he turns a seemingly impenetrable theory into a dramatic human achievement and an uncommonly good story.

Generations have grown up knowing that the equation E=mc2 changed the shape of our world but never understanding what it actually means and why it was so significant. Here, Bodanis writes the biography of this great discovery and turns a seemingly impenetrable theory into a dramatic and accessible human achievement. Bodanis begins by introducing the science and scientists forming the backdrop to Einstein's discovery...

For centuries, electricity was viewed as little more than a curious property of certain substances that sparked when rubbed. Then, in the 1790s, Alessandro Volta began the scientific investigation that ignited an explosion of knowledge and invention, transforming our world. The force that once seemed inconsequential was revealed to be responsible for everything from the structure of the atom to the functioning of our brains. A superb storyteller, Bodanis weaves tales of romance, divine inspiration, and fraud through lucid accounts of scientific breakthrough. The great discoverers come to life in all their brilliance and idiosyncrasy, including the visionary Michael Faraday, who struggled against the prejudices of the British class system, and Alexander Graham Bell, driven to invent by his love for a young deaf student. From the cold waters of the Atlantic, to the streets of Hamburg during a World War II firestorm and the interior of the human body, Electric Universe is a mesmerizing journey of discovery by a master science writer.

Partendo dai singoli elementi che compongono l'equazione E=MC2, Bodanis ha ricostruito la storia di ogni lettera e simbolo matematico attraverso le scoperte che hanno consentito ad Einstein di elaborare il suo pensiero, dalla rivelazione di Ole Romer, secondo cui la velocità della luce poteva essere misurata, ai lavori pionieristici di Michael Faraday sull'energia. E in questa biografia ha ripercorso la vita di E=MC2, dalla nascita alla maturità, spiegando come essa abbia segnato il ventesimo secolo: questa formula ha consentito a Rutherford di scoprire la struttura interna dell'atomo, a Fermi di condurre i suoi fondamentali studi sul nucleo e i neutroni e a Meitner di capire come si poteva scindere un atomo.

Can you succeed without being a terrible person? We often think not: recognising that, as the old saying has it, 'nice guys finish last'. But does that mean you have to go to the other extreme, and be a bully or Machiavellian to get anything done? In THE ART OF FAIRNESS, David Bodanis uses thrilling historical case studies to show there's a better path, leading neatly in between. He reveals how it was fairness, applied with skill, that led the Empire State Building to be constructed in barely a year - and how the same techniques brought a quiet English debutante to become an acclaimed jungle guerrilla fighter. In ten vivid profiles - featuring pilots, presidents, and even the producer of Game of Thrones - we see that the path to greatness doesn't require crushing displays of power or tyrannical ego. Simple fair decency can prevail. With surprising insights from across history - including the downfall of the very man who popularised the phrase 'nice guys finish last' - THE ART OF FAIRNESS charts a refreshing and sustainable new approach to cultivating integrity and influence.

David Bodanis macht die Relativitätstheorie auch für Laien verständlich. Er berichtet von den Vorläufern Einsteins, ihren Forschungen und Entdeckungen, ihren Schicksalen, Eifersüchteleien und Schrulligkeiten. Und er schildert die Folgen, die Einsteins bahnbrechende Erkenntnisse bis heute für die Welt haben. Wissenschaft ohne Berührungsangst. Bildlegende: In einem Interview wurde die Schauspielerin Cameron Diaz einmal gefragt, ob es irgend etwas auf der Welt gäbe, was sie wissen möchte. Ja, sagte sie verlegen, sie wüsste gern, was E = mc2 bedeutet. David Bodanis kam ihrem Wunsch nach und erzählt Miss Diaz (und uns) die berühmteste aller Formeln. „Bis Einstein kam“ entschlüsselt die Relativitätstheorie Albert Einsteins und nimmt allen, denen Mathematik und Physik rätselhaft sind, den Minderwertigkeitskomplex.

Hubert Mania, geboren 1954. Studium der Germanistik und Anglistik. Danach selbständiger Konzertveranstalter und Manager eines Kulturzentrums. 1987 erschien bei Rowohlt sein Roman «Scintilla Seelenfunke». Übersetzung populärwissenschaftlicher Bücher, Mitredakteur bei Stephen Hawkings Büchern «Eine kurze Geschichte der Zeit» und «Das Universum in der Nussschale». Hubert Mania lebt als Autor und Übersetzer in Braunschweig. Weitere Bücher bei Rowohlt: «Gauß. Eine Biographie» (2008), «Kettenreaktion. Die Geschichte der Atombombe»(2010).

Hainer Kober, geboren 1942, lebt in Soltau. Er hat u. a. Werke von Stephen Hawking, Steven Pinker, Jonathan Littell, Georges Simenon und Oliver Sacks übersetzt. 

Unser Alltag erscheint gewöhnlich und friedlich, doch dieses Buch zeigt, dass er voller unerwarteter Wunder und Kämpfe ist. Milliarden kleinster Lebewesen leben mit uns, während Hunderte von Minisendern und -empfängern unhörbare Geräusche austauschen. Tägliche Evolutionsprozesse finden in unseren vier Wänden statt, und selbst weit entfernte Galaxien senden uns Botschaften durch das Rauschen des Fernsehers. Risse im Aluminiumrahmen unseres Fensters entstehen, auch wenn wir sie nie sehen werden. Ein Lippenstift verbrennt unmerklich auf der Haut, und beim Hinzufügen von Zucker und Milch zu unserem Kaffee zerfallen blumengleiche Kristalle und explodierende Bälle. David Bodanis beschreibt in diesem Werk die faszinierendsten Wunder, die in einem ganz gewöhnlichen, aber geheimnisvollen Haus geschehen. Er schildert 24 Stunden in dieser Umgebung in einer lebendigen und verständlichen Sprache, die die Naturphänomene und technischen Prozesse greifbar macht. Ergänzt wird das Ganze durch 88 Abbildungen, die uns helfen, unseren Alltag bewusster und klüger zu erleben.