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WELCOME to the Bloomsbury Sigma catalogue! It is my great pleasure to introduce you to Sigma books, a new imprint from Bloomsbury Publishing specializing in thrilling, eye-opening, and occasionally jawdropping popular science books written by today’s finest science communicators. Leading the inaugural list from the biological sciences is SEX ON EARTH by zoologist Jules Howard, plus the incredible story of shells in Helen Scales’s SPIRALS IN TIME. Beautifully written, this book has already received the Authors’ Foundation Roger Deakin award for narrative nonfiction. In genetics, we have two superb popular introductions to the subject—P53: THE GENE THAT CRACKED THE CANCER CODE by Sue Armstrong, and Kat Arney’s HERDING HEMINGWAY’S CATS, the story of how genetic switches orchestrate life’s biological database—six-toed cats forming a small but absorbing part of the story. For those with an interest in popular chemistry, SORTING THE BEEF FROM THE BULL tells the story of the never-ending war between scientists and food fraudsters while A IS FOR ARSENIC explores the chemistry and toxicology of the poisons used in the novels of Agatha Christie, a talented chemist in her own right. Our lead psychology title is SUSPICIOUS MINDS by Rob Brotherton, which explains why we believe conspiracy theories—and why this has an impact on a wide sweep of seemingly unrelated aspects of our society. The science of the home is explored in Chris Woodford’s ATOMS UNDER THE FLOORBOARDS, a physics title featuring some seriously surprising armchair science from the bestselling author of Cool Stuff and How It Works. Finally, we’re pleased to bring you two history of science titles: Amy Shira Teitel’s BREAKING THE CHAINS OF GRAVITY looks at the rarely told tale of the U.S. space program before NASA while Tom Jackson’s CHILLED is packed with cold, hard facts on refrigeration and the refrigerator itself—lifesaver, food-preserver, and social liberator. I hope you enjoy paging through. Want to keep up to date on all of our new releases and popular science titles? Just sign up to receive our newsletter at www.bloomsbury.com/sigma.
Jim Martin Publisher, Bloomsbury Sigma
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Sex on Earth A Celebration of Animal Reproduction Jules Howard Since sex first took place—one billion years ago—the world has become ever more colorful, ringing with elaborate songs, epic battles, and rallying cries as male and female desires collided. Right now, warring hordes are locking horns, preening feathers, questioning their mate’s fidelity. Birds are singing, flowers blooming. A million females choose; a billion penises ejaculate (or snap off); a trillion sperm battle, block, and tackle. Sex made planet Earth sexy. Written in a witty, engaging style by biologist Jules Howard, Sex on Earth takes us on a thrilling journey through the ins and outs of animal reproduction. Jules Howard is a zoologist, writer, and broadcaster. He is a regular contributor to the Guardian, the Independent, and BBC Wildlife, and his work has been featured in Discover, The Scientist, Sierra Club, and Natural History magazines. His second Sigma book, Death on Earth, will be published by Bloomsbury in May 2016. www.juleshoward / @juleshoward
DECEMBER 2014 HARDCOVER/ 9781408193419 / $27.00 EBOOK / 9781408193426 / $12.99 PAPERBACK (MAY 2016) 9781408193433 / $16.00 “Written with Bill Bryson-like wit.” —Booklist “You will be as thoroughly won over as a mallard . . . observing her drake’s bright yellow bill.” —The Boston Globe
P53 The Gene that Cracked the Cancer Code Sue Armstrong All of us have lurking in our DNA a most remarkable gene. Its job is straightforward—to protect us from cancer. This gene—known simply as p53—scans our cells to ensure that they grow and divide without mishap. Cancer cannot develop unless p53 itself is damaged and malfunctioning. Not surprisingly, p53 is the most-studied gene in history. This book is the story of medical science’s mission to unravel the mysteries of p53. A timely tale of scientific discovery, p53: The Gene that Cracked the Cancer Code charts our understanding of a disease that affects one in three of us at some point in our lives. Sue Armstrong is an author and broadcaster. A former New Scientist journalist, Sue has undertaken regular assignments for the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNAIDS, writing about women’s health issues and the AIDS pandemic, among many other topics. She has also worked on major Radio 4 documentaries, focusing on topics such as aging, alcoholism, obesity, and cancer.
FEBRUARY 2015 HARDCOVER / 9781472910516 / $27.00 EBOOK / 9781472910530 / $19.99 “Ms. Armstrong’s book comes alive in the sections where she explores cancer’s human toll . . . She also captures the excitement of researchers as they come upon eureka moments.” —The Wall Street Journal
@armstrong_sue BLOOMSBURY SIGMA
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Atoms under the Floorboards The Hidden Science in Your Home Chris Woodford Can you burn your house down with an electric drill? How many atoms would you have to split to power a lightbulb? Is there a scientifically correct way to stir your tea?
MAY 2015 HARDCOVER / 9781472912220 / $27.00 EBOOK / 9781472912244 / $19.99
Atoms under the Floorboards answers all these questions and hundreds more. Using the modern home as a springboard, the book introduces the reader to the fascinating and surprising scientific explanations behind a variety of common (and often entertainingly mundane) household phenomena, from gurgling drains to squeaky floorboards and shiny shoes. Readers will discover an entirely new appreciation of the science that underpins their lives, while gaining a broad introduction to fundamental scientific concepts like force, motion, energy, and materials. Chris Woodford has been a professional science and technology writer for twenty-five years. His bestsellers include Cool Stuff and Cool Stuff Exploded. www.explainthatstuff.com
Spirals in Time The Secret Life and Curious Afterlife of Seashells Helen Scales The shell-making molluscs are among the most successful animals on the planet. They live extraordinary lives in many strange places; they provide food and homes for other animals, and across the ages their shells, sculpted by evolution and mathematics, have become powerful symbols of sex, death, prestige, and war.
JULY 2015 HARDCOVER / 9781472911360 / $27.00
Shells offer an accessible way to reconnect people with nature, helping heal the rift between ourselves and the living world. Spirals in Time is a biography of the seashell. It shows why nature matters, and reveals the secrets of these wonders of calcium carbonate that you can hold in the palm of your hand.
EBOOK / 9781472911377 / $19.99 “Elegant and engaging.” —Natural History Magazine for Poseiden’s Steed
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Helen Scales is a marine biologist who has tagged sharks in California and studied the diverse fish that live on coral reefs in the South Pacific. She is a freelance researcher and science reporter, and is a long-standing member of the award-winning science communication collective The Naked Scientists, based at the University of Cambridge. Scales is the author of Poseidon’s Steed: The Story of Seahorses, from Myth to Reality and lives in Cambridge, England. helenscales.com / @helenscales
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A is for Arsenic The Poisons of Agatha Christie Kathryn Harkup Fourteen novels. Fourteen poisons. Just because it’s fiction doesn’t mean it’s all made-up . . . Agatha Christie used poison to kill her characters more often than any other crime-fiction writer. The poison is a central part of the novel, with Christie’s choice of deadly substances far from random. The chemical and physiological characteristics of each poison provide vital clues to the identity of the murderer. A is for Arsenic celebrates the use of science in Christie’s work. It looks at why certain chemicals kill, how they interact with the body, and the feasibility of obtaining, administering, and detecting these poisons, both when the novel was written and today. Kathryn Harkup completed a Ph.D. and a postdoctorate in chemistry before realizing that talking and writing about science appealed more than hours slaving over a hot fume-hood. She is now a science communicator specializing in the quirky side of science.
SEPTEMBER 2015 HARDCOVER / 9781472911308 / $27.00 EBOOK / 9781472911292 / $19.99 125th Anniversary Celebration of Agatha Christie’s Birth September 15, 2015
www.harkup.co.uk / @RotwangsRobot
Chilled How the Refrigerator Changed the World ... and Might Do So Again Tom Jackson The refrigerator in your kitchen is one of the true wonders of twentieth century-science—lifesaver, food-preserver, and social liberator. The science of refrigeration is crucial, not just in transporting food around the globe but in a host of branches on the scientific tree. Refrigeration and its discovery provide the remarkable backdrop to Chilled, the story of how science managed to rewrite the rules of food. It tells us how the technology whirring behind every refrigerator is at play, unseen, in a surprisingly broad sweep of modern life, and has been crucial in some of the most important scientific breakthroughs of the last hundred years, from the discovery of superconductors to the search for the Higgs boson.
SEPTEMBER 2015 HARDCOVER / 9781472911438 / $27.00 EBOOK / 9781472911421 / $19.99
Tom Jackson is a science writer who specializes in recasting science and technology into lively historical narratives, told through the deeds of the people who discovered them. After almost twenty years of writing nonfiction, Tom has uncovered a wealth of stories that help to bring technical content alive and create new ways of enjoying learning about science. tomjackson.weebly.com / @jinjatom BLOOMSBURY SIGMA
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Suspicious Minds Why We Believe Conspiracy Theories and Why It Matters Rob Brotherton Conspiracy theories have existed throughout history, from ancient Athens and Rome to present-day theories about 9/11 and who shot JFK. Our brains are wired to see patterns and to weave unrelated data points into complex stories. We see events in the world in terms of human motives, discount the role of chance and unintended consequences, and look instead for some hidden hand behind catastrophic events. NOVEMBER 2015 HARDCOVER / 9781472915610 / $27.00 EBOOK / 9781472915641 / $19.99
Suspicious Minds explores the phenomenon and reveals the important consequences conspiracy theories can have—from discouraging parents from vaccinating their children against deadly diseases to hampering political policies to combat climate change. Rob Brotherton is a leading expert on the psychology of conspiracy theory. He has written about conspiracy theories for periodicals such as the New Scientist and The Skeptic magazine, and on his website conspiracypsychology.com. He currently lives in New York City. @rob_brotherton
Breaking the Chains of Gravity The Story of Spaceflight before NASA Amy Shira Teitel
JANUARY 2016 HARDCOVER / 9781472911179 / $27.00 EBOOK / 9781472911193 / $19.99
NASA’s history is a familiar story, culminating with the agency successfully landing men on the moon in 1969, but its prehistory is an important and rarely told tale. America’s space agency drew together some of the best minds the non-Soviet world had to offer. From Wernher von Braun’s Jupiter rocket, to test pilots like Neil Armstrong, to President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s creation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Breaking the Chains of Gravity tells the riveting story of the evolving roots of America’s space program—the scientific advances, the personalities, and the rivalries between the various arms of the United States military. Amy Shira Teitel is an expert in the history of science, with a lifelong passion for spaceflight. An accomplished science communicator, Amy regularly appears on Discovery News and Al Jazeera. She lives in Pasadena, California. amyshirateitel.com / @astVintageSpace
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Herding Hemingway’s Cats Understanding How Our Genes Work Kat Arney The language of genes has become common parlance. We know they make your eyes blue, your hair curly, or your nose straight. Newspapers tell us that our genes control our risks of cancer, heart disease, alcoholism, or Alzheimer’s. Now you can buy your very own genome readout, neatly stored on a USB stick, and read daily about advances in genetic medicine that hold huge promise. But how do genes actually work? Drawing on stories ranging from six-toed cats to fish hips, werewolves and zombie genes, geneticist Kat Arney explores how DNA is packed, unpacked, and read, creating a companion reader to the book of life itself. Following a doctorate and research career in genetics, Kat Arney is now Science Communications Manager for Cancer Research UK, helping people understand the disease. According to BBC America, Kat is one of the “Top 10 Brits Who Make Science Sexy,” and she regularly appears on TV and radio shows to talk about the latest genetic research.
MARCH 2016 HARDCOVER / 9781472910042 / $27.00 EBOOK / 9781472910066 / $19.99
katarney.wordpress.com / @harpistkat
Sorting the Beef from the Bull The Science of Food Forensics Richard Evershed and Nicola Temple Horsemeat in burgers, melamine in infant’s milk, artificial colors in our fish and fruit . . . as our urban lifestyle takes us farther away from our food sources, there are increasing opportunities for dishonest, profitmaking shortcuts. Food adulteration costs the food industry billions of dollars each year; the price to consumers may be even higher, with some paying for these crimes with their health and, in some cases, their lives. This book explains the scientific tools used in the fightback against the fraudsters. It explores the arms race between scientists and adulterers, and looks at the up-and-coming techniques that will help battle food fraud in the future. Sorting the Beef . . . brings the full story of a fascinating and underreported applied science to light.
APRIL 2016 HARDCOVER / 9781472911339 / $27.00 EBOOK / 9781472911346 / $19.99
Richard Evershed, FRS, is a professor of biogeochemistry at the University of Bristol. Having been at the forefront of analytical chemistry for more than thirty years, his methodologies have been crucial in the fight against food fraudsters. Nicola Temple is a biologist, conservationist, and science writer. www.nicolatemple.com / @nicolatemple BLOOMSBURY SIGMA
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Covering topics as diverse as evolutionary biology, astronomy, robotics, paleontology, bioengineering, physics, and climatology, Bloomsbury Sigma celebrates great popular science writing from today’s top science communicators. Contact your Macmillan sales rep to order copies for your store.
Jules Howard - page 1
Helen Scales - page 2
Tom Jackson - page 3
Kat Arney - page 5
Amy Shira Teitel - page 4
Rob Brotherton - page 4
Sue Armstrong - page 1
Kathryn Harkup - page 3
Chris Woodford - page 2
Nicola Temple - page 5
Sigma—making serious science seriously accessible Follow us on Twitter @SigmaScience
www.bloomsbury.com
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