Philip Ball

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Philip Ball (born 1962) is an English science writer. He holds a degree in chemistry from Oxford and a doctorate in physics from Bristol University. He was an editor for the journal Nature for over 10 years.

[edit] Critical Mass

Ball's 2004 book Critical Mass: How One Thing Leads To Another examines a wide range of topics including the business cycle random walks, phase transitions, bifurcation theory traffic flow, Zipf's law, Small world phenomenon, catastrophe theory, the Prisoner's dilemma. The overall theme is one of applying modern mathematical models to social and economic phenomena.

The book was awarded Aventis Prize for 2005.

[edit] Bibliography

• The Devil's Doctor: Paracelsus and the World of Renaissance Magic and Science (2006), ISBN 0-434-01134-7
• Elegant Solutions: Ten Beautiful Experiments in Chemistry (2005), ISBN 0-85404-674-7
• Critical Mass: How One Thing Leads to Another (2004), ISBN 0-434-01135-5
• The Ingredients: A Guided Tour of the Elements (2002), ISBN 0-19-284100-9 (republished as The Elements: A Very Short Introduction)
• Bright Earth: The Invention of Colour (2001), ISBN 0-670-89346-3
• Stories of the Invisible: A Guided Tour of Molecules (2001), ISBN 0-19-280214-3 (republished as Molecules: A Very Short Introduction)
• H₂O: A Biography of Water (1999), ISBN 0-297-64314-2 (published in the U.S. as Life's Matrix)
• The Self-made Tapestry: Pattern Formation in Nature (1999), ISBN 0-19-850244-3
• Made to Measure: New Materials for the 21st Century (1997), ISBN 0-691-02733-1
• Designing the Molecular World: Chemistry at the Frontier (1994), ISBN 0-691-00058-1

[edit] External links

• Philip Ball Homepage