Philip Ball Explained

Occupation:	Science writer
Nationality:	British
Notable Works:	Critical Mass How One Thing Leads to Another

Philip Ball (born 1962) is a British science writer. For over twenty years he has been an editor of the journal Nature, for which he continues to write regularly.^[1] He is a regular contributor to Prospect magazine^[2] and a columnist for Chemistry World, Nature Materials, and BBC Future.

Biography

Ball holds a degree in chemistry from Oxford and a doctorate in physics from Bristol University.

Ball's 2004 book Critical Mass: How One Thing Leads to Another won the 2005 Aventis Prize for Science Books. It 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.^[3]

In 2011, Ball published The Music Instinct in which he discusses how we make sense of sound and Music and emotion. He outlines what is known and still unknown about how music has such an emotional impact, and why it seems indispensable to humanity. He has since argued that music is emotively powerful due to its ability to mimic humans and through setting up expectations in pitch and harmony and then violating them.^[4]

Ball has written a research review on organism-centered evolution.^{[5] [6]} He has contributed to publications ranging from New Scientist^[7] to the New York Times, The Guardian, the Financial Times, and New Statesman. In June 2004 he presented a three-part serial on nanotechnology, Small Worlds, on BBC Radio 4.

Selected Publications

• Designing the Molecular World: Chemistry at the Frontier (1994),
• Made to Measure: New Materials for the 21st Century (1997),
• The Self-made Tapestry: Pattern Formation in Nature (1999),
• H₂O: A Biography of Water (1999), (published in the U.S. as Life's Matrix)
• Stories of the Invisible: A Guided Tour of Molecules (2001), (republished as Molecules: A Very Short Introduction (2003), OUP,)
• Bright Earth: The Invention of Colour (2001),
• The Ingredients: A Guided Tour of the Elements (2002), (republished as The Elements: A Very Short Introduction (2004), OUP,)
• Critical Mass: How One Thing Leads to Another (2004),
• Elegant Solutions: Ten Beautiful Experiments in Chemistry (2005),
• The Devil's Doctor: Paracelsus and the World of Renaissance Magic and Science (2006), ^[8]
• The Sun and Moon Corrupted, a novel, Portobello Books Ltd, (2008),
• Universe of Stone: A Biography of Chartres Cathedral (2008),
• Shapes, Nature's Patterns, a Tapestry in three Parts (2009),
• Flow, Nature's Patterns, a Tapestry in three Parts (2009),
• Branches, Nature's Patterns, a Tapestry in three Parts (2009),
• The Music Instinct (2010),
• Unnatural, The Heretical Idea of Making People (2011),^[9]
• Why Society is a Complex Matter: Meeting Twenty-first Century Challenges with a New Kind of Science (2012),
• Curiosity: How Science Became Interested in Everything (2013),
• Serving the Reich: The Struggle for the Soul of Physics under Hitler (2014), ^{[10] [11]} Read an excerpt.
• Invisible: The Dangerous Allure of the Unseen (2015), University of Chicago Press, ; (2014), Random House^[12]
• Patterns in Nature: Why the Natural World Looks the Way It Does (2016),
• The Water Kingdom: A Secret History of China (2017),
• Beyond Weird: Why Everything You Thought You Knew About Quantum Physics is Different (2018),
• How to Grow a Human: Adventures in Who We Are and How We Are Made (2019), ^[13]
• The Beauty of Chemistry: Art, Wonder, and Science (2021)
• The Elements: A Visual History of Their Discovery (2021)
• The Book of Minds: How to Understand Ourselves and Other Beings, from Animals to AI to Aliens (2022), ^[14]
• How Life Works: A User's Guide to the New Biology (2023) ^[15]

Awards

Ball's Critical Mass: How One Thing Leads to Another won the 2005 Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books.^[16] His book Serving the Reich: The Struggle for the Soul of Physics under Hitler was on the shortlist for the 2014 prize.^[17]

Ball was awarded the Physics World Book of the Year 2018 for his book Beyond Weird: Why Everything You Thought You Knew About Quantum Physics Is Different.^[18]

In 2019 Ball won the Kelvin Medal and Prize.

Ball's article "Should scientists run the country"^[19] won the 2022 award from the Association of British Science Writers for the best opinion piece.^[20] He was also awarded the Royal Society's 2022 Wilkins-Bernal-Medawar Medal for excellence in a subject relating to the history of science, philosophy of science or the social function of science.^[21]

References

1. Web site: Philip Ball - Science writer. Philip Ball. 24 July 2013.
2. Web site: Ball. Philip. Curse of cursive handwriting. Prospect Magazine. 19 November 2013.
3. Harkin, James. (2004). Critical Mass - How One Thing Leads to Another. The Independent.
4. Web site: Music's Mystery. Institute of Art and Ideas. 19 November 2013.
5. https://www.templeton.org/news/organisms-as-agents-of-evolution-new-research-review "Organisms as Agents of Evolution: New Research Review"
6. https://www.templeton.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Biological-Agency_1_FINAL.pdf "Organisms as Agents of Evolution"
7. Web site: Ball. Philip. Engineering light: Pull an image from nowhere. New Scientist. 19 November 2013.
8. Shackelford. Jole. Paracelsus, Healer of the German Reformation. Chemical Heritage Magazine. 2007. 25. 3. 45. 22 March 2018.
9. News: Conrad, Peter. Peter Conrad (academic). Review of Unnatural: The Heretical Idea of Making People by Philip Ball. 12 February 2011. The Guardian.
10. Mangravite. Andrew. Magical Thinking. Distillations. 2015. 1. 4. 44–45. 22 March 2018.
11. 10.1063/PT.3.2752. Review of Serving the Reich: The Struggle for the Soul of Physics Under Hitler Serving the Reich: The Struggle for the Soul of Physics Under Hitler by Philip Ball . 2015 . Eckert . Michael . Physics Today . 68 . 4 . 55–56 . free .
12. News: Vickers, Salley. Salley Vickers. Review of Invisible: The Dangerous Lure of the Unseen by Philip Ball. The Guardian. 11 August 2014.
13. Review of How to Grow a Human: Adventures in Who We Are and How We Are Made by Philip Ball. Walter, Patrick. Chemistry World. 3 December 2019.
14. Web site: ISBN Search - The Book of Minds: How to understand ourselves and other beings, from animals to AI to aliens . 2023-05-22 . isbnsearch.org.
15. Noble . Denis . Denis Noble . Book Review of "How Life Works: A User’s Guide to the New Biology" by Philip Ball, Pan Macmillan (2023) - It’s time to admit that genes are not the blueprint for life - The view of biology often presented to the public is oversimplified and out of date. Scientists must set the record straight, argues a new book. . 5 February 2024 . . 626 . 254-255 . 10.1038/d41586-024-00327-x . live . https://archive.today/20240205134331/https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-00327-x . 5 February 2024 . 5 February 2024 .
16. Web site: Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books. Royal Society. 25 September 2015.
17. Web site: Materials book wins Royal Society Winton Prize . BBC . 10 November 2014 . 11 November 2014 . Melissa Hogenboom.
18. Web site: 2018-12-17 . Beyond Weird by Philip Ball wins Physics World Book of the Year 2018 . 2023-05-22 . Physics World . en-GB.
19. News: Ball . Philip . 2021-09-27 . The big idea: should scientists run the country? . en-GB . The Guardian . 2023-05-22 . 0261-3077.
20. Web site: ABSW Awards 2022: The winners . 2023-05-22 . Association of British Science Writers.
21. Web site: Wilkins-Bernal-Medawar Medal and Lecture Royal Society . 2023-05-22 . royalsociety.org.