Litmus: Short Stories from Modern Science

This anthology draws out and distills science’s love of narrative from a wide range of scientific disciplines, weaving theory into very human stories and delving into the humanity of theorists and experimenters as they stood on the brink of significant discoveries. From Archimedes’ bath to Newton’s apple, these vivid accounts of scientific discovery explore the principles behind each theory and add to the larger narrative of how the universe works. Including Joseph Swan’s original lightbulb moment, Einstein’s revelation on a Bern tram, and Pavlov’s identification of personality types thanks to a freak flood in his St. Petersburg lab, this record brings these eureka moments to life and explains the science behind them to the general reader. Contributors include Kate Clanchy, Stelly Duffy, Maggie Gee, Sarah Hall, Alison MacLeod, Sara Maitland, Sean O’Brien, Prof. Jim al-Khalili, Jane Rogers, and more.