David Darling – författare

To many people, the main question about extraterrestrial life is whether it exists. But to the scientific community, that question has already been answered: it does, and within our solar system. The new science of astrobiology is already being practiced at NASA's Astrobiology Institute and the University of Washington's new Department of Astrobiology. Life Everywhere is the first book to lay out what the new science of astrobiology is all about. It asks the fascinating questions researchers in astrobiology are asking themselves: What is life? How does it originate? How often does life survive once it arises? How does evolution work? And what determines whether complex or intelligent life will emerge from more primitive forms? Informed by interviews with most of the top people in this nascent field, this book introduces readers to one of the most important scientific developments of the next century.

From cells in our bodies to measuring the universe, big numbers are everywhereWe all know that numbers go on forever, that you could spend your life counting and never reach the end of the line, so there can’t be such a thing as a ‘biggest number’. Or can there?To find out, David Darling and Agnijo Banerjee embark on an epic quest, revealing the answers to questions like: are there more grains of sand on Earth or stars in the universe? Is there enough paper on Earth to write out the digits of a googolplex? And what is a googolplex?Then things get serious.Enter the strange realm between the finite and the infinite, and float through a universe where the rules we cling to no longer apply. Encounter the highest number computable and infinite kinds of infinity. At every turn, a cast of wild and wonderful characters threatens the status quo with their ideas, and each time the numbers get larger.

What’s the brightest light on Earth? The coldest corner of the universe? The blackest material ever made? The most poisonous substance in nature?‘You will learn something new in every chapter, on every page and probably in every paragraph. Hugely entertaining.’ Kit Yates, author of The Maths of Life and DeathKa-boom! probes extremes of size and speed, depth and density, and reveals the stickiest, sweetest, smelliest and nastiest substances known to science.In an unabashed celebration of the exceptional, David Darling takes an enlightening journey through the universe’s weirdest and most wonderful extremes.Travel to far-flung galaxies in pursuit of habitable planets and extra-terrestrial life.Journey to the rainforests of South America and discover the top-speed of the notoriously sluggish sloth.Find out how Earth’s hardiest creatures – tardigrades or ‘water bears’ – ended up living on the moon.And meet the scientists and engineers using these quirks of nature to design faster computers, produce greener energy and revolutionise space travel.

A melodic odyssey through the interwoven worlds of music, physics and mathematicsFrom the earliest of civilisations, humans have found ways to make music, whether through makeshift drums or artfully drilled bone flutes. But how did music – effectively little more than a series of certain tones and rhythms – become so integral to the human experience?Untangling the curious links between notes and number, musical perception, psychology and physics, David Darling examines the fascinating science behind music, from its Palaeolithic origins to the present.Revealing surprising connections and busting pervasive myths, A Perfect Harmony asks:Why do musicians tend to be better at maths than non-musicians?Why do we find some pieces sad and others happy?Will playing Mozart to babies predispose them to genius?Could an AI write the perfect symphony?

The wonder of flight has long captured the human imagination. In this beguiling history – ranging from the first aircraft to astronauts and beyond – David Darling tells the stories of the true life adventurers whose wonder has translated into bizarre contraptions, magnificent achievements and, sometimes, startling folly.Discover outrageous attempts to fly like a bird and fall from the edge of space. Meet Napoleonic ballooniste Sophie Blanchard and her daredevil husband; the real “X-Men” who flew the supersonic experimental “X-planes” for the US Air Force; stuntman Lincoln Beachey, looping-the-loop in a pinstripe suit; and, of course, The Rocket Man himself: Yves Rossy, who in 2006 was the first person to cross the English Channel using a jet-pack.Eccentric and reckless, Darling’s daring cast of dreamers is guaranteed to entertain and inspire.

The thrilling stories of those who looked to the skies and dared to dream of flight'Gripping… dazzling tales of madness and derring do.' Brian CleggIn a world without aircraft, to believe flight might be possible required a certain kind of character. You had to be starry-eyed, a possessor of practical ingenuity, nerves of steel and a level of sanity that would be best described as deficient.In Mayday!, David Darling tells the stories of the unconventional aviators across history who have been willing to risk all to further their craft. Meet Sophie Blanchard, a balloonist of nervous disposition whom Napoleon charged with organizing balloon displays at all major ceremonies in France. Then there’s the daredevil stuntman Lincoln Beachey, the dogfighter aces of WWI, the man who performed the dance of death – switching planes in mid-air, the real 'X-Men' who flew at the edge of space, and the BASE jumpers who want to fly without wings. The cast are eccentric, reckless and extraordinary, and Mayday! is made up of their riveting tales, bizarre contraptions, magnificent achievements and, sometimes, startling folly.

Is anything truly random? Does infinity actually exist? Could we ever see into other dimensions?In this delightful journey of discovery, David Darling and extraordinary child prodigy Agnijo Banerjee draw connections between the cutting edge of modern maths and life as we understand it, delving into the strange – would we like alien music? – and venturing out on quests to consider the existence of free will and the fantastical future of quantum computers. Packed with puzzles and paradoxes, mind-bending concepts and surprising solutions, this is for anyone who wants life’s questions answered – even those you never thought to ask.

Even the most enthusiastic of maths students probably at one time wondered when exactly it would all prove useful in ‘real life’. Well, maths reaches so far and wide through our world that, love it or hate it, we’re all doing maths almost every minute of every day.David Darling and Agnijo Banerjee go in search of the perfect labyrinth, journey back to the second century in pursuit of ‘bubble maths’, reveal the weirdest mathematicians in history and transform the bewildering into the beautiful, delighting us once again.

Maths is everywhere, in everything. It’s in the finest margins of modern sport. It’s in the electrical pulses of our hearts and the flight of every bird. It is our key to secret messages, lost languages and perhaps even the shape of the universe of itself.David Darling and Agnijo Banerjee reveal the mathematics at the farthest reaches of our world – from its role in the plots of novels to how animals employ numerical skills to survive. Along the way they explore what makes a genius, why a seemingly simple problem can confound the best and brightest for decades, and what might be the great discovery of the twenty-first century. As Bertrand Russell once said, ‘mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth, but supreme beauty’. Banerjee and Darling make sure we see it right again.