Promotional Information

The best selling author of FERMAT'S LAST THEOREM and THE CODE BOOK tells the story of the brilliant minds that deciphered the mysteries of the Big Bang. * Publication of Big Bang marks the much anticipated new book from the leading British popular science writer of our generation. * Both Fermat's Last Theorem and The Code Book were Sunday Times bestsellers in both editions with almost half a million copies in print in the UK alone. * Simon is a tireless promoter and will conduct an ongoing nationwide author tour through the autumn * The Big Bang is possibly the most well known subject in science -- this combined with Simon's massive appeal will give us one of the biggest non-fiction titles of the season. * Competition: Chaos by James Gleick The Dinosaur Hunters by Deborah Cadbury

About the Author

Simon Singh is a science journalist and TV producer. Having completed his PhD at Cambridge he worked from 1991 to 1997 at the BBC producing Tomorrow's World and co-directing the BAFTA award-winning documentary Fermat's Last Theorem for the Horizon series. In 1997, he published Fermat's Last Theorem, which was a no 1 best-seller in Britain and translated into 22 languages. In 1999, he published The Code Book which was also an international bestseller and was the basis for the Channel 4 series The Science of Secrecy.

Reviews

Praise for Fermat's Last Theorem: To read [Fermat's Last Theorem] is to realise that there is a world of beauty and intellectural challenge that is denied to 99.9 per cent of us who are not high-level mathematicians.' The Times 'This is probably the best popular account of a scientific topic I have ever read.' Irish Times 'Reads like the chronicle of an obsessive love affair. It has the classic ingredients that Hollywood would recognise.' Daily Mail Praise for The Code Book: Singh's account combines readability with a more meaty level of technical analysis than any other I have seen. His powers of explanation are as dazzling as ever.' Guardian 'A great book.' Observer 'Singh as the knack of making the frightening world of number theory seem like child's play, there is more than enough here to interest the mathematically squeamish.' Daily Telegraph '[Singh tells] these stories with infectious relish...He alternates between explanation of how ciphers are constructed and be cracked, and tales of the skulduggery surrounding them.' Sunday Times

It was cosmologist Fred Hoyle who coined the term "big bang" to describe the notion that the universe exploded out of nothing to kick-start space and time. Ironically, Hoyle himself espoused the steady state theory, positing that the universe is eternal and never really changes. Former BBC producer and science writer Singh (Fermat's Enigma) recounts in his inimitable down-to-earth style how the big bang theory triumphed. Readers will find here one of the best explanations available of how Cepheid stars are used to estimate the distance of other galaxies. Singh highlights some of the lesser-known figures in the development of the big bang theory, like Henrietta Leavitt, a volunteer "computer" at the Harvard College Observatory who in 1912 discovered how Cepheid stars can be used to measure galactic distances. Singh shows how the creation of the heavier elements was a major stumbling block to widespread adoption of the big bang until Hoyle (once again boosting the theory that he so fervently opposed) proved that they were created in stars' nuclear furnaces and strewn throughout the universe via supernova explosions. Readers who don't need a review of the early development of cosmology may wish that Singh had adopted a somewhat less leisurely pace. But his introductory chapters hold a lot of worthwhile material, clearly presented for the science buff and lay reader. There's no better account of the big bang theory than this. B&w photos and illus. Agent, Patrick Walsh at Carville and Walsh, London. (Jan. 7) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.