How it All Works

Scientific laws and phenomena illustrated & demonstrated

Adam Dant, Brian Clegg

• Publisher: Ivy Press
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9780711256798
• Topic: Physical Sciences
• Subtopic: Physics
• Index: Physics

In this beautiful and unique combination of art and science, this stunningly detailed book examines how the rules of science govern the the world around us, from the rooms in our houses to the planet, the solar system and the universe itself! The Universe is inconceivably complex. Its component parts though follow a set of unbreakable laws that have somehow been coded into their very fabric since the beginning of time. These laws play out in different ways at different scales, giving rise to the familiar phenomena of everyday life – as well as the unfamiliar abstract goings-on outside our experience and awareness. Understanding these laws may seem a daunting task, until now. How it All Works illustrates simply how the most interesting and complex named scientific laws and phenomena affect everyone's daily lives. Using hyper-detailed scene illustrations from the incredible award-winning artist Adam Dant, we start small, with the illustrated science inside your kitchen, before expanding outwards to encompass your garden, street, city, continent, planet, solar system, galaxy and eventually the whole universe. With tiny details pulled out from visually stunning and intricate scene, learn how:

• Kirchhoff's Law affects how you charge your phone,
• Newton's Law of Cooling helps you makeyour coffee just the right temperature to drink,
• How the rules of antimatter are used in hospitals for medical imaging,
• How Cassie's law keeps ducks dry,
• How glaciation shapes the ladscapes around us,
• How thermohaline circulation dictates our weather, and
• How quantum tunnelling influencesthe nuclear fusion in our sun, and Wien's Law determines its colour.

This book will astound and inform in equal measure, with each principle drawn into the scene andexplained with clarity by leadingscience writer Brian Clegg. With a reference section at the back as well as profiles of the key figures who have helped shape our understanding of these key principles, from Lynn Margulis and Richard Feynman to Marie Curie, Michael Faraday, Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein, this beautiful and unique visual examination of the rules of science is an must-have book for anyone who wants to understand the physics, chemistry and biology of the world around us!

The Kitchen

Charles’ law [L]

At constant pressure, the volume of a gas is proportional to its temperature. Bubbles of air grow in volume when heated to give the cake its fluffy texture.

Faraday’s law of induction [L]

The voltage induced in a circuit is dependent on the rate at which the strength of the magnetic field crossing it changes. The hob induces a current in the pan to heat it.

First law of thermodynamics [L]

The change in the internal energy of a system is the heat supplied, less the work done by the system on its surroundings. Energy in the pan is increased by heat from the hob.

Gay-Lussac’s law [L]

The temperature of a gas varies with pressure. In the fridge, the refrigerant (the chemical that keeps it cold) is compressed then expanded to transfer heat from the interior to the radiator on the back of the fridge.

Joule’s first law [L]

The heat generated by an electrical element is proportional to its resistance and the square of the current. This is the basis for how the electric toaster works.

Second law of thermodynamics [L]

In a closed system, entropy remains the same or increases. Entropy is the number of ways in which the parts of a system can be arranged: the broken china has many more ways to be arranged, increasing entropy.

Zeroth law of thermodynamics [L]

If two systems are in thermal equilibrium with a third system, they are in thermal equilibrium with each other. This allows a thermometer to compare temperatures.

Acid–base reaction [P]

Acids and bases react by transferring a pair of electrons from one compound to another. Vinegar (acetic acid) and baking powder (containing the base sodium bicarbonate) react, giving off carbon dioxide.

Adiabatic expansion [P]

A reaction where energy is output as work rather than heat. The water in the kernels turns to steam, fluffing up the grains and reducing the temperature as the gas expands.

Borborygmus [P]

The r...