Laurie Winkless – författare

Cities are a big deal. More people now live in them than don''t, and with a growing world population, the urban jungle is only going to get busier in the coming decades. But how often do we stop to think about what makes our cities work? Cities are built using some of the most creative and revolutionary science and engineering ideas – from steel structures that scrape the sky to glass cables that help us communicate at the speed of light – but most of us are too busy to notice. Science and the City is your guidebook to that hidden world, helping you to uncover some of the remarkable technologies that keep the world''s great metropolises moving. Laurie Winkless takes us around cities in six continents to find out how they''re dealing with the challenges of feeding, housing, powering and connecting more people than ever before. In this book, you''ll meet urban pioneers from history, along with today''s experts in everything from roads to time, and you will uncover the vital role science has played in shaping the city around you. But more than that, by exploring cutting-edge research from labs across the world, you''ll build your own vision of the megacity of tomorrow, based on science fact rather than science fiction.Science and the City is the perfect read for anyone curious about the world they live in.

You are surrounded by stickiness. With every step you take, air molecules cling to you and slow you down; the effect is harder to ignore in water. When you hit the road, whether powered by pedal or engine, you rely on grip to keep you safe. The Post-it note and glue in your desk drawer. The non-stick pan on your stove. The fingerprints linked to your identity. The rumbling of the Earth deep beneath your feet, and the ice that transforms waterways each winter. All of these things are controlled by tiny forces that operate on and between surfaces, with friction playing the leading role. In Sticky, Laurie Winkless explores how friction shapes both the manufactured and natural worlds, and describes how our understanding of surface science has given us an ability to manipulate stickiness, down to the level of a single atom. But this apparent success doesn''t tell the whole story. Each time humanity has pushed the boundaries of science and engineering, we''ve discovered that friction still has a few surprises up its sleeve. So do we really understand this force? Can we say with certainty that we know how a gecko climbs, what''s behind our sense of touch, or why golf balls, boats and aircraft move as they do? Join Laurie as she seeks out the answers from experts scattered across the globe, uncovering a stack of scientific mysteries along the way.Finalist for the 2023 AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books