The intriguing lives and key works of the ten physicists who most profoundly transformed our understanding of the physical world in which we live

Standing on the shoulders of giants . . . 400 years of scientific breakthroughs, from Galileo to Feynman

Physics is not only an exploration of the most profound questions about the universe, its practical applications have also transformed our everyday lives. Leading popular science writers Rhodri Evans and Brian Clegg present a chronological list of those seen as the top ten most significant physicists - Galileo, Newton, Faraday, Clerk Maxwell, Marie Curie, Rutherford, Einstein, Bohr, Dirac and Feynman - to trace and explain the most significant advances in physics over more than 400 years.

Some of these physicists are household names, others less well known, but each has made an extraordinary contribution to human knowledge. Evans and Clegg examine not only the scientific breakthroughs made by these scientists, but also their often fascinating lives - Curie laboriously sorting through tons of pitchblende to isolate radium, Bohr's frustration at Einstein's attempts to undermine quantum theory - helping to make the science more accessible.

This is a lovely book, easy to read, and sure to provoke debate