WINNER OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS BOOK AWARD

Everything you ever wanted to know about the surprising science in your home.

From the dust on your bookshelf to the rips in your jeans, Atoms Under the Floorboards takes you on a whistle-stop tour of the home, revealing the scientific answers to niggling questions like ...

- Why can't you cook your dinner with a smartphone?
- Why can falling from a ladder hurt like a crocodile bite?
- Why does your laptop get hot when its only moving part is the cooling fan?
- Why can you see through windows but not through walls?
- What's the connection between a bike wheel, a suspension bridge and a wedding dress?

It's rock-solid science that holds your house up in a hurricane, floods it with light at night and keeps it toasty on a crisp winter's morning. Surprisingly simple scientific ideas can also explain all those strange, baffling and sometimes downright irritating things you chance upon as you move around your home each day.

Clearly explained throughout, and packed with facts, figures and fun, Atoms under the Floorboards answers all these questions and hundreds more - the perfect way to discover some seriously surprising science from the sofa.

Chris Woodford has been a professional science and technology writer for 25 years. After graduating from Cambridge University with a degree in natural sciences, he has gone on to write, co-write and edit a number of science education books, including the best-selling Cool Stuff series.

He runs www.explainthatstuff.com, dedicated to explaining the science behind familiar, everyday things.