Books by John Farndon

RECYCLED ART FROM OLD RUBBISH has projects that will inspire kids to become wildly creative. Create animals out of paper rolls and some happy hens from an egg box. Don't throw away cardboard boxes you can make a puppet show and put on a performance!

The ultimate visual encyclopedia of rocks and minerals, including a detailed directory of 300 specimens.

lague looks at the most frightening diseases and epidemics in the history of medicine. These include the bubonic plague or Black Death, its effects and how people tried to combat it. The king's evil was a kind of TB (symptoms were black lumps on the neck).

Extreme Earthquakes and Tsunamis These two extreme events are of course related, and are equal partners in this book. We explain the geology of earthquakes, along with the effects of a sequence of shocks; typical rescue operations and the technology used for these; and how earthquakes may be predicted and buildings made to withstand them.

From the ever-curious mind that brought you the bestselling Do You Think You're Clever? comes a brand-new trip to the far reaches of the intellectual universe, courtesy of even more notoriously provocative Oxbridge interview questions. How would you poison someone without the police finding out? (Medicine, Cambridge)What makes a strong woman? (Theology, Oxford)Instead of politicians, why don't we let the managers of IKEA run the country? (Social and Political Sciences, Cambridge)How do you organise a successful revolution? (History, Oxford)Whether you're interested in going to Oxbridge or just want to give your brain a workout, join polymath John Farndon on another exhilarating journey through the twists and turns of thought, and explore just what it means to be genuinely clever - rather than just smart.

What happens if I drop an ant?What books are bad for you?What percentage of the world's water is contained in a cow?The Oxbridge undergraduate interviews are infamous for their unique ways of assessing candidates, and from these peculiar enquiries, professors can tell just how smart you really are. John Farndon has collected together 75 of the most intriguing questions taken from actual admission interviews and gives full answers to each, taking the reader through the fascinating histories, philosophies, sciences and arts that underlie each problem. This is a book for everyone who likes to think they're clever, or who thinks they'd like to be clever. And cleverness is not just knowing stuff, it's how laterally, deeply and interestingly you can bend your brain. Guesstimating the population of Croydon, for example, opens a chain of thought from which you can predict the strength of a nuclear bomb ...and that's just the start of it.

With a population of 1 billion people and the world's second largest economy, China is fast becoming one of the most powerful and important countries in the world. But while it is one of the world's oldest civilisations, China refuses to conform to expectations. The country's controversial policies, ranging from the one child policy to the repression of opposition groups, have placed it at odds with other world powers, and yet its influence in the world is growing ever stronger. We all need to know more about this fascinating country. John Farndon explores the changing face of modern China and its fundamental contradictions, as a communist state where business is booming, as a nation that continues to support North Korea even as it develops its relationships with the West. Getting to the heart of these and other inconsistencies, Farndon gives a fascinating introduction to the country as it is now and as it will be in the future, revealing how China's changing face will affect us all.

The ancient birthplace of some of the world's major religions and now a modern nuclear power, India is experiencing spectacular economic growth. In twenty-five years its population will overtake that of China, making it one of the most populous and rapidly-developing countries in the world. We all need to know more about this intriguing country.John Farndon explores the changing face of modern-day India and its fundamental contradictions. The country is leading the world in cutting edge technology and research, but it is also home to 40 per cent of the world's malnourished children. It is a liberal democracy, yet its political processes are influenced by some of the most conservative religious ideas in the world. The booming economy is at times both global and archaic. Getting to the heart of these inconsistencies, Farndon gives a fascinating insight into the country as it is now and as it will be in the future, and reveals how the changes in India will affect us all.