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Just as Freakonomics brought economics to life, so Storm in a Teacup brings physics into our daily lives and makes it fascinating. What is it that helps both scorpions and cyclists to survive? What do raw eggs and gyroscopes have in common? And why does it matter? In an age of string theory, fluid dynamics and biophysics, it can seem as if the science of our world is only for specialists and academics. Not so, insists Helen Czerski – and in this sparkling new book she explores the patterns and connections that illustrate the grandest theories in the smallest everyday objects and experiences. Linking what makes popcorn pop to Antarctic winds, coffee stains to blood tests or ketchup bottles to aliens in space, every thread you pull in the fabric of everyday life shows you something new about the intricate patterns of our world. Read Storm in a Teacup and you will see and understand the world as you never did before.
Helen Czerski was born in Manchester. She is a lecturer in the Mechanical Engineering Department at University College London. As a physicist she studies the bubbles underneath breaking waves in the open ocean to understand their effects on weather and climate. Helen regularly presents BBC programmes on physics, the ocean and the atmosphere – recent series include Colour: The Spectrum of Science, Orbit, Operation Iceberg, Super Senses, Dara O'Briain's Science Club, as well as programmes on bubbles, the sun and our weather. She is also a columnist for Focus magazine, shortlisted for PPA columnist of the year in 2014, and has written numerous articles for national newspapers. She lives in London.
"A quite delightful book on the joys, and universality, of physics. Czerski's enthusiasm is infectious because she brings our humdrum everyday world to life, showing us that it is just as fascinating as anything that can be seen by the Hubble Telescope or created at the Large Hadron Collider."
– Jim Al-Khalili
"If you've ever felt like understanding how things work is just too big a mountain to climb then read this book. It'll carry you gently to the peak and show you how stunning and beautiful the view is. It is rare that someone can explain that which seems endlessly complex and makes you feel like in fact you'd understood it all along. Helen Czerski's book does just that. Fun, fascinating and brilliantly well written – 'Right there, in my teacup, I can see the storm.' Me too and I know what it is now."
– Marcus Brigstocke
"This book is charming, accessible and enthusiastic. Helen invites you in to see the world through a her eyes and understand how a physicist thinks. It's a wonderful way to discover the hidden scientific connections behind the ordinary and everyday."
– Dr Hannah Fry
"Helen Czerski's absorbing Storm in a Teacup stands head and shoulders above other popular science books. The little fascinations we left behind in childhood are but her jumping-off points for the really, really big picture [...] Hers if the kind of self-assured, endearing nerdishness that doesn't wait to see if you're on board: she pulls you along, anticipating your head-scratching at every fluorescing scorpion and swirling drop of milk in your teacup."
– The Irish Times
"In a friendly, chatty style that includes anecdotes from her personal and professional life, Czerski manages to make spilled coffee fascinating; tree growth astonishing; telecommunications intuitive."
– Physics World
"[Helen Czerski] has a formidable knack for explaining mind-bending concepts in easy-to-understand language [...] the book to read this week."
– Science Focus
"Helen Czerski has a remarkable knack for finding scientific wonders under every rock, alongside every raindrop, and inside every grain of sand. The written equivalent of a spectrum beaming out from a prism. Thanks to Helen's brilliantly engaging book you'll never consider anything to be mundane or ordinary again."
– Jon Culshaw
