The One Thing You Need to Know: The Simple Way to Understand the Most Important Ideas in Science
From gravity to black holes, special relativity to global warming, this authoritative and entertaining book from bestselling author Marcus Chown breaks down complex science into manageable chunks, explaining the one thing you really need to know to get to grips with the subject.

Rather than trying to bend your mind around all the vast and confounding details of things like gravitational waves, electricity, and black holes, wouldn’t it be easier to understand just one central concept from which everything else follows?

If you’ve ever found yourself fascinated by the idea of quantum computing but feel a little overwhelmed by the mind-blowing subject of quantum mechanics, or concerned by climate change but haven’t been able to get to grips with the details of global warming, this book is for you. Let’s take gravitational waves, for example – they sound poetic, but why are they creating so much excitement? Think of them as the voice of space or vibrations on the drumskin of space-time, before delving into all their complexities.

In 21 short and engaging chapters, Chown explains the one thing you need to know to understand some of the most important scientific ideas of our time. Packed full of astounding facts, scientific history, and the entertaining personalities at the heart of the most pivotal discoveries about the workings of our universe, this is an accessible guide to all the tricky stuff you’ve always wanted to understand more about.
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The One Thing You Need to Know: The Simple Way to Understand the Most Important Ideas in Science
From gravity to black holes, special relativity to global warming, this authoritative and entertaining book from bestselling author Marcus Chown breaks down complex science into manageable chunks, explaining the one thing you really need to know to get to grips with the subject.

Rather than trying to bend your mind around all the vast and confounding details of things like gravitational waves, electricity, and black holes, wouldn’t it be easier to understand just one central concept from which everything else follows?

If you’ve ever found yourself fascinated by the idea of quantum computing but feel a little overwhelmed by the mind-blowing subject of quantum mechanics, or concerned by climate change but haven’t been able to get to grips with the details of global warming, this book is for you. Let’s take gravitational waves, for example – they sound poetic, but why are they creating so much excitement? Think of them as the voice of space or vibrations on the drumskin of space-time, before delving into all their complexities.

In 21 short and engaging chapters, Chown explains the one thing you need to know to understand some of the most important scientific ideas of our time. Packed full of astounding facts, scientific history, and the entertaining personalities at the heart of the most pivotal discoveries about the workings of our universe, this is an accessible guide to all the tricky stuff you’ve always wanted to understand more about.
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The One Thing You Need to Know: The Simple Way to Understand the Most Important Ideas in Science

The One Thing You Need to Know: The Simple Way to Understand the Most Important Ideas in Science

by Marcus Chown
The One Thing You Need to Know: The Simple Way to Understand the Most Important Ideas in Science

The One Thing You Need to Know: The Simple Way to Understand the Most Important Ideas in Science

by Marcus Chown

Paperback

$24.99 
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Overview

From gravity to black holes, special relativity to global warming, this authoritative and entertaining book from bestselling author Marcus Chown breaks down complex science into manageable chunks, explaining the one thing you really need to know to get to grips with the subject.

Rather than trying to bend your mind around all the vast and confounding details of things like gravitational waves, electricity, and black holes, wouldn’t it be easier to understand just one central concept from which everything else follows?

If you’ve ever found yourself fascinated by the idea of quantum computing but feel a little overwhelmed by the mind-blowing subject of quantum mechanics, or concerned by climate change but haven’t been able to get to grips with the details of global warming, this book is for you. Let’s take gravitational waves, for example – they sound poetic, but why are they creating so much excitement? Think of them as the voice of space or vibrations on the drumskin of space-time, before delving into all their complexities.

In 21 short and engaging chapters, Chown explains the one thing you need to know to understand some of the most important scientific ideas of our time. Packed full of astounding facts, scientific history, and the entertaining personalities at the heart of the most pivotal discoveries about the workings of our universe, this is an accessible guide to all the tricky stuff you’ve always wanted to understand more about.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781789297966
Publisher: Michael O'Mara Books
Publication date: 10/28/2025
Pages: 256
Product dimensions: 5.08(w) x 7.80(h) x 0.75(d)

About the Author

Marcus Chown is an award-winning writer and broadcaster. Formerly a radio astronomer at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, he is a Royal Literary Fund Fellow at Brunel University. His books include BreakthroughThe Ascent of Gravity, which was the Sunday Times 2017 Science Book of the Year; Infinity in the Palm of Your HandWhat A Wonderful WorldQuantum Theory Cannot Hurt YouWe Need to Talk About Kelvin and Afterglow of Creation, the latter two of which were runners-up for the Royal Society Book Prize. Marcus has also won the Bookseller’s Digital Innovation of the Year Award for Solar System for iPad.

Table of Contents

FOREWORD 11

1: GRAVITY 13

2: ELECTRICITY 25

3: GLOBAL WARMING 35

4: WHY THE SUN IS HOT 45

5: THE SECOND LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS 55

6: PLATE TECTONICS 65

7: QUANTUM THEORY 75

8: ATOMS 89 

9: EVOLUTION 99 

10: SPECIAL RELATIVITY 109 

11: THE BRAIN 117 

12: GENERAL RELATIVITY 127 

13: HUMAN EVOLUTION 135 

14: BLACK HOLES 143 

15: THE STANDARD MODEL 153 

16: QUANTUM COMPUTERS 163 

17: GRAVITATIONAL WAVES 173 

18: THE HIGGS FIELD 183 

19: ANTIMATTER 193 

20: NEUTRINOS 203 

21: THE BIG BANG 211 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 221 

GLOSSARY 223 

ENDNOTES 239 

INDEX 247

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