Books in the Oxford Landmark Science series

The Selfish Gene, a thought-provoking book penned by Richard Dawkins, an Emeritus Fellow of New College, is a must-read for anyone interested in the intricacies of evolution. Published by Oxford University Press in 2016, this book delves into the world of genes and their role in evolution. Dawkins beautifully explains how genes, in their quest for survival, can lead to seemingly selfish behavior in living organisms. This book, belonging to the genre of popular science, has since its publication, stirred up a revolution in the way we perceive natural selection. It is a testament to Dawkins' profound understanding of the subject and his ability to simplify complex concepts for his readers. The Selfish Gene is not just a book; it's a journey into the heart of life itself, guided by one of the greatest thinkers of our time. Published by the renowned Oxford University Press, this book promises quality and credibility. It's not just a book, it's a treasure trove of knowledge waiting to be uncovered.

Humans have long faced an invisible enemy in the form of deadly viruses, and the COVID-19 pandemic shows what devastation they can wreak. As we face the prospect of more such viruses emerging, this major new edition of Dorothy Crawford's work explains the nature of viruses, how they cause disease, and how modern science is learning to counter them.

The Emerald Planet is the tale of our world's past - and future - as revealed by plants. Over the immensity of geological time, plants have been powerful agents of change, shaping the climate, the planet, and affecting the evolutionary path of all life. Here, David Beerling tells how.

Why are some people worriers and others wanderers? Why do some seem good at empathizing and others at controlling? Daniel Nettle takes us on a tour through the science of human personality, looking at the latest findings from psychology, brain science, and evolution to explore the mystery of what makes us the way we are.

In this narrative of the Earth's long and dramatic history, Jan Zalasiewicz shows how many events in the Earth's ancient past can be deciphered from a single pebble. He explores how geologists reach deep into the past by forensic analysis of even the tiniest amounts of mineral matter, demonstrating and revealing Earth's extraordinary story.

Bringing together cutting-edge research from psychology and neuroscience, Kathleen Taylor puts the brain back into brainwashing and shows why understanding this mysterious phenomenon is vitally relevant in the twenty-first century.

Gaia, in which James Lovelock puts forward his inspirational and controversial idea that the Earth functions as a single organism, with life influencing planetary processes to form a self-regulating system aiding its own survival, is now a classic work that continues to provoke heated scientific debate.

Seventy years ago, Erwin Schroedinger posed a profound question: 'What is life, and how did it emerge from non-life?' Scientists have puzzled over it ever since. Addy Pross uses insights from the new field of systems chemistry to show how chemistry can become biology, and that Darwinian evolution is the expression of a deeper physical principle.

Vlatko Vedral takes us on a voyage of discovery. In this engaging and mind-stretching book, he explores the nature of information and looks at quantum computing, discussing the bizarre effects that arise from the quantum world. He concludes by asking the ultimate question: where did all of the information in the Universe come from?

Selected and introduced by Richard Dawkins, The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing is a rich and vibrant anthology celebrating the finest writing by scientists for a wider audience - revealing that the best scientists have displayed as much imagination and skill with the pen as they have in the laboratory.

Why Evolution is True focuses on the hard evidence that proves evolution by natural selection to be a fact. Weaving together and explaining the latest discoveries and ideas from many disparate areas of modern science, this succinct and important book will leave no one with an open mind in any doubt about the truth-and the beauty-of evolution.

Are there other dimensions beyond our own? Is time travel possible? Can we change the past? Are there gateways to parallel universes? All of us have pondered such questions, but there was a time when scientists dismissed these notions as outlandish speculations. Not any more. Today, they are the focus of the most intense scientific activity in recent memory. In Hyperspace, Michio Kaku, author of the widely acclaimed Beyond Einstein and a leading theoretical physicist, offers the first book-length tour of the most exciting (and perhaps most bizarre) work in modern physics, work which includes research on the tenth dimension, time warps, black holes, and multiple universes. The theory of hyperspace (or higher dimensional space)--and its newest wrinkle, superstring theory--stand at the center of this revolution, with adherents in every major research laboratory in the world, including several Nobel laureates. Beginning where Hawking's Brief History of Time left off, Kaku paints a vivid portrayal of the breakthroughs now rocking the physics establishment. Why all the excitement? As the author points out, for over half a century, scientists have puzzled over why the basic forces of the cosmos--gravity, electromagnetism, and the strong and weak nuclear forces--require markedly different mathematical descriptions. But if we see these forces as vibrations in a higher dimensional space, their field equations suddenly fit together like pieces in a jigsaw puzzle, perfectly snug, in an elegant, astonishingly simple form. This may thus be our leading candidate for the Theory of Everything. If so, it would be the crowning achievement of 2,000 years of scientific investigation into matter and its forces. Already, the theory has inspired several thousand research papers, and has been the focus of over 200 international conferences. Michio Kaku is one of the leading pioneers in superstring theory and has been at the forefront of this revolution in modern physics. With Hyperspace, he has produced a book for general readers which conveys the vitality of the field and the excitement as scientists grapple with the meaning of space and time. It is an exhilarating look at physics today and an eye-opening glimpse into the ultimate nature of the universe.

Utterly beautiful. Profoundly disconcerting. Quantum theory is quite simply the most successful account of the physical universe ever devised. The pursuit of its implications has been the driving motivation of physicists for 100 years. Jim Baggott traces the story, the personalities and the rivalries, through 40 turning-point moments.

The story of human history has been inextricably entwined with the story of microbes. Combining tales of devastating epidemics with accessible science and fascinating history, Deadly Companions reveals how closely microbes have evolved with us over the millennia, shaping human culture through infection, disease, and deadly pandemic.

Mitochondria are tiny structures within all our cells, believed to have once evolved from bacteria living independent lives. Drawing on cutting edge research, this book explores the fundamental role they play in some of the biggest themes in biology: evolution, the origin of the sexes, in growth, ageing, disease, and in death.

Frank Close explores the strange mirror world of antimatter, revealing that the reality is even more fascinating than the sci-fi stories suggest. Explaining the science behind one of physics' most extraordinary discoveries, he shows how, through understanding antimatter, we can shed light on some of the deepest mysteries of the universe.

Oxygen is the engine of life and evolution. This book explores the impact that oxygen has had on Earth, and the history of life. Explaining the rise of animals and plants, the origin of two sexes, and the evolution of ageing and death, it offers fresh perspectives on our own lives, explaining why we age and what we can do about it.