Philip Ball - Science writer

  • Increase font size
  • Default font size
  • Decrease font size
Home | Publications | Popular

Publications - Popular

"10 unsolved mysteries in chemistry", Scientific American October 2011. Available here.


"What it means to be human" (book review of a book of that title by Joanna Bourke), The Observer 7 October 2011. Available here.


"New pursuit of Schrödinger's cat", Prospect October 2011. Available here.


"Graphene: The next miracle material", Focus No. 235, November 2011.


"10 unsolved mysteries in chemistry", Scientific American October 2011. Available here.


"What it means to be human" (book review of a book of that title by Joanna Bourke), The Observer 7 October 2011. Available here.


"New pursuit of Schrödinger's cat", Prospect October 2011. Available here.


"In pursuit of neuroscience" (interview with Yo-Yo Ma), FT Weekend Magazine 17-18 September 2011, pp44-46. Available here.


"Is music a language?", King's Place Magazine, September-December 2011, p.34-35.


"Troubled waters", Prospect August 2011. Available here.


Review of The Reason Why by John Gribbin, The National (UAE), 3 June 2011. Available here.


Review of The Information by James Gleick, The Observer, 24 April 2011. Available here.


"It takes more than genes to make us human", Sunday Times 12 March 2011, p.26.


"It's alive, I tell you!", New Scientist 12 February 2011, p.30-31.


"Playing God", New Humanist Jan/Feb 2011, p.14-16.


"Model citizens: building SimEarth", New Scientist 4 November 2010. Link here.


"Making a better world", Prospect October 2010, p.62-63.


"Color me blue", Calliope 21(1), September 2010, p.8-11.


"Crash-test computing", Prospect August 2010, p.58.


"Agents of change", The Economist 24 July 2010, p.70.


"Notes on the brain", Financial Times 4 June 2010. Link here.


"Harmonious minds: the hunt for universal music", New Scientist 10 May 2010. Link here.


"For sustainable architecture, think bug", New Scientist 22 February 2010. Link here.


"Diamonds are for softies" New Scientist, 8 September 2009.


"Stars of the East" (book review), Sunday Times Culture supplement, 1 February 2009, p.39-40.


"On the evolution of Darwin", Observer Review, 25 January 2009, p.21.


"Nanoplumbing: more than just a pipe dream", New Scientist, 17 January 2009, p.33-35. Online here.


"Redefining genes", Seed, November/December 2007, p.29.


"Life, but not as we know it", Prospect, August 2007, p.44.


"Baby boosters", New Scientist, 24 March 2007, p.41.


"Quantum sketches", New Scientist, 8 July 2006 p.40.


"Newton's curse", New Scientist, 8 April 2006, p.4. (The printed version contains errors and general ugliness introduced in editing: click here for a PDF of the corrected version.)


"Genius undone", Seed, March 2006, p.64.


"Natural talent", New Scientist, 29 October 2005, p.50.


"Concerto for mother tongue", New Scientist, 9 July 2005, p.32.


"A new kind of alchemy", New Scientist, 16 April 2005, p.30.


"Living by numbers", Cosmos, issue 7 (2005) p.32.


"Going with the flow" The Guardian, 9 September 2004, Life supplement. www.guardian.co.uk


"What is life? Can we make it?" Prospect, August 2004


"A touch of Frankenstein" The Guardian, 29 July 2004, Life supplement. www.guardian.co.uk/life/


"Honey, I shrank the motor" The Guardian, 10 June 2004, Life supplement, p.6. http://www.guardian.co.uk/


"The Physics of Everyday Life" Los Angeles Times, 23 May 2004, p.M5.


"Fast track" New Scientist, 3 April 2004, p.26.


"Die Physik der Gesellschaft" Die Zeit 18 March 2004, p.22.


"Futurology gets a little more exact" The Guardian 29 January 2004, Life supplement p.11. www.guardian.co.uk/


"The robot within" New Scientist, 15 March 2003, p.50.


"Is the clean car coming?" Prospect February 2003, p.50.


"Market makers", Guardian 3 October 2002, G2, p.10.


"Never say die", New Scientist 3 August 2002, p.28.


"Sculpted sound", New Scientist, 23 March 2002, p.32.


"Seeing red· and yellow· and green· and·", Natural History 3/02, p.64 (2002).


"Smart stuff", booklet to accompany the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures 2002. Available from the RI: www.ri.ac.uk


"The making of Cézanne's palette", Helix 2 (2001), p.34.


"The birth of the blues", The Times (supplement), 19 November 2001, p.10.


"Gassing with the gods", New Scientist 1 September 2001, p.40.


"The next generation of optical fibers", Technology Review, May 2001.


"In the beginning", Optimus April 2001, p.20.


"More Than Meets The Eye", exhibition programme for the V&A Museum, September 2000.


"Briefing on climate change", Prospect, February 2000.


"Jams tomorrow", New Scientist, 15 January 2000, p.34.


"Book early for New Year's Eve 2999", New Statesman, 20 December 1999, p.42.


"Running on empty", Financial Times Weekend, 2-3 October 1999.


"Pure nonsense", New Scientist, 3 July 1999, p.54.


"Holey light", New Scientist, 12 June 1999, p.36.


"The Self-Made Tapestry", World Review 3(2), p.10.


"Sun traps", New Scientist, 23 January 1999, p.38.


"Supercool water", New Scientist, 1 August 1998, p.30.


"Take it to the limit", New Scientist, 2 August 1997, p.32.


"Into the blue", New Scientist, 29 March 1997, p.28.


"Diamond curls", New Scientist, 1 February 1997, p.22.


"Cosmic beakers", New Scientist, 21 September 1996, p.46.


"Through the nanotube", New Scientist, 6 July 1996, p.28.


"Living factories", New Scientist, 3 February 1996, p.28.


"Spheres of influence", New Scientist, 2 December 1995, p.42


-->