Ka-boom!: The Science of Extremes

David Darling travels through space and time to find the largest, smallest, stickiest, loudest, quietest, fastest, slowest, heaviest and brightest…<br/><br/>What’s the brightest light on Earth? The coldest corner of the universe? The blackest material ever made? The most poisonous substance in nature?<br/><br/>‘You will learn something new in every chapter, on every page and probably in every paragraph. Hugely entertaining.’ Kit Yates, author of The Maths of Life and Death<br/><br/>Ka-boom! probes extremes of size and speed, depth and density, and reveals the stickiest, sweetest, smelliest and nastiest substances known to science.<br/><br/>In an unabashed celebration of the exceptional, David Darling takes an enlightening journey through the universe’s weirdest and most wonderful extremes.<br/>Travel to far-flung galaxies in pursuit of habitable planets and extra-terrestrial life. Journey to the rainforests of South America and discover the top-speed of the notoriously sluggish sloth. Find out how Earth’s hardiest creatures – tardigrades or ‘water bears’ – ended up living on the moon. And meet the scientists and engineers using these quirks of nature to design faster computers, produce greener energy and revolutionise space travel.