Philip Ball

An alternative history of the great ideas of science.

As science blurs the real and unreal, we are learning to distinguish them in new ways.

Teaching cursive handwriting doesn’t have nearly the value we think it does.

The biochemist explains the elements of life, sex, and aging.

New insights into mitochondria reveal how life expends energy.

Physics is not just what happens in the Department of Physics.

The geometric rules behind fly eyes, honeycombs, and soap bubbles.

Using physics to describe social phenomena can work—if it’s the right physics.

Scientists are slowly scaling up quantum effects from atomic to human size.

The intricate compatibility of water and life on Earth may not extend to other planets.