Francis Andrew has completed a monumental ten year task of writing appraisals on all of the published works of the late Sir Fred Hoyle. It is truly a worthwhile accomplishment as all of Hoyles books are now out of print. Francis Andrews work therefore offers a great service in preserving the thoughts of one the twentieth centurys greatest minds. Gihan, Weerasekara. Dompe, Sri Lanka. A Great Man of Great Science covers all of Sir Fred Hoyles publications from his fi rst in 1950 to his last in 2001. Francis Andrews appraisal of each of these works is the next best thing to reading the original works of Hoyle himself. After reading these appraisals, one could well be tempted to take the next step and read the actual works of Hoyle. Siddhant Bahuguna. Uttar Pradesh, India. Francis A. Andrew has truly done a magnificent job in writing appraisals for each of Sir Fred Hoyles works. As Francis style of writing has done so much to make Hoyle come alive and inject into his works a relevancy for the twenty fi rst century, so it would be that even if readers of this volume were unacquainted with any of Hoyles books, they would surely be tempted to procure for themselves the original works of Hoyle. Ajinkya Bhede. Maharashtra, Nagpur, India.

The scientific life of Fred Hoyle (1915–2001) was truly unparalleled. During his career he wrote groundbreaking scientific papers and caused bitter disputes in the scientific community with his revolutionary theories. Hoyle is best known for showing that we are all, literally, made of stardust in his paper explaining how carbon, and then all the heavier elements, were created by nuclear reactions inside stars. However, he constantly courted controversy and two years later he followed this with his 'steady state' theory of the universe. This challenged another model of the universe, which Hoyle called the 'big bang' theory. Fred Hoyle was also famous amongst the general public. He popularised his research through radio and television broadcasts and wrote best-selling novels. Written from personal accounts and interviews with Hoyle's contemporaries, this book gives valuable personal insights into Fred Hoyle and his unforgettable life.

Inhabitable Infrastructures: Science fiction or urban future?, the follow up to Food City and Smartcities and Eco-Warriors, from one of the world’s leading urban design and architectural thinkers, explores the potential of climate change-related multi-use infrastructures that address the fundamental human requirements to protect, to provide and to participate. The stimulus for the infrastructures derives from postulated scenarios and processes gleaned from science fiction and futurology as well as the current body of scientific knowledge regarding changing environmental impacts on cities. Science fiction is interdisciplinary by nature, aggregates the past and present, and evaluates both lay opinions and professional strategies in an attempt to develop foresight and to map possible futures. The research culminates in the creation of innovative multi-use infrastructures and integrated self-sustaining support systems that meet the challenges posed through climate change and overpopulation, and the reciprocal benefits of simultaneously addressing the threat and the shaping of cities. J. G. Ballard has written that the psychological realm of science fiction is most valuable in its predictive function, and in projecting emotions into the future. The knowledge from the book is widely transferable, constituting both solutions and speculative visions of future urban environments. The book is indispensable reading for professionals and students in the fields of urban design, architecture, engineering and environmental socio-politics.

We are an integrated part of cosmos. The substance related to the astronomical concepts forms the subject matter of Astronomy. It broadly studies universe, solar system, planets, galaxies, meteoroids, asteroids and several other astronomical bodies, often thought to be of the status of celestial origin. Out of the occurrence of a fluke manifestation, one after the other resulting in the creation of life, species and humans. In modern times, Hubble Telescope revolutionised planetary studies and outlived its lifespan. What likely edge will James Webb have over Hubble Space Telescope which immensely enriched the human knowledge on Cosmos for about three decades? Acclaimed scientists have contributed towards evolving a convincing narrative. Often indisputable pieces of evidence and sometimes some intelligent hypothesis support it. A tiny dot became universe followed by the birth of the sun, moon, the earth, other planets, nebula, galaxy and milky ways, and living kingdom. Life evolved, flora and fauna developed. Five catastrophic extinctions occurred eliminating several species. This journey is laid on twelve hours on a clock. In due course, Homo sapiens developed who brought along intricacies like Environmental Degradation, Global Warming and Climate Change. What length of the queue will be created if we trace the lineage of our generation back to the first human that appeared to roam about on the earth? Narrative wavers from line, tracks the life and achievements of ancient civilisations, which laid the foundation stone for human societies, and got eliminated due to damage to the fine balance of environmental sustainability. This book refers to the ones like Indus valley civilisation, the master traders; the Sumerians, the pioneers in many fields; the mysterious Maya; and incredibly industrious Rapa Nui. All got exterminated. As scientists continue to turn up even more signs of collapsed civilisations, they are finding plenty of evidence that climate shifts are to blame to a considerable extent. Why and how? The narrative attempts to answer. The chronicle is before you which might engender a child-like fascination as you delve deeper and farther in it.