Alok Jha is a science and environment correspondent at the Guardian newspaper, specialising in green technologies. In addition to writing news and comment, he presents the Science Weekly podcast and looks after the Guardian's science website. He graduated with a physics degree from Imperial College London. He lives in London.

'Jha's clear writing style organises these big ideas in a way that makes them a pleasure to revisit, and an eye-opener if you're discovering them for the first time' BBC Science Focus Magazine.

• Introduction. How to clone a sheep. How to start a plague. How to live forever. How to heal the sick. How to build a brain. How to turn sunbeams into oak trees. How to become invisible. How to put the world in order. How to make artificial life. How to build a Universe. How to make lightning. How to put the Universe to work. How to split an atom. How to know the mind of God. How to age slower than you twin. How to get life started. How to predict the unpredictable. How to fight for survival. How to boil and planet. How to build an Earth. How to control the weather. How to survive in space. How to find the missing parts of the Universe. How to programme your genes. How to find other universes. How to break codes. How to live with uncertainty. How to know yourself. How to spot a pseudoscientist. How to become a cyborg. How to read minds. How to think like an ant. How to save the world. Glossary. Index.