Killers in the Brain: Essays in Science and Technology from the Royal Institution

Killers in the Brain presents a selection of wide-ranging essays from the Royal Institution, offering fascinating and authoritative accounts of current thinking in many areas of science and technology. The subjects are as wide-ranging as ever, from Simon Conway Morris (author of thebest-selling Crucible of creation) discussing the fossils of the Burgess Shale, and whether there can ever really be a chance of finding other life in the Universe, to Robert Matthews' highly entertaining scientific analysis of Murphy's Law. Also in this volume are essays on neurodegenerativediseases or 'brain killers', such as Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia, a scientific exploration of the human singing voice, and Russell Stannard writing on the Big Bang, and whether, given our current knowledge of this event, a place can ever be found within such a theory for a Creator. Thebook finishes with a look at the worrying increase in asthma and allergies world-wide, and an account of the phenomenon called El Nino, an event which has a significant effect on the weather conditions throughout the world and causes death and destruction in many countries.