The Magic of Reality (22 page)

A
CKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks to: Lalla Ward, Lawrence Krauss, Sally Gaminara, Gillian Somerscales, Philip Lord, Katrina Whone, Hilary Redmon; Ken Zetie, Tom Lowes, Owen Toller, Will Williams and Sam Roberts from St Paul’s School, London; Alain Townsend, Bill Nye, Elisabeth Cornwell, Carolyn Porco, Christopher McKay, Jacqueline Simpson, Rosalind Temple, Andy Thomson, John Brockman, Kate Kettlewell, Mark Pagel, Michael Land, Todd Stiefel, Greg Langer, Robert Jacobs, Michael Yudkin, Oliver Pybus, Rand Russell, Edward Ashcroft, Greg Stikeleather, Paula Kirby, Anni Cole-Hamilton and the staff and pupils of Moray Firth School.

I
NDEX

The page references in this index correspond to the printed edition from which this ebook was created. To find a specific word or phrase from the index, please use the search feature of your ebook reader.

‘accident prone’, 226

Adam (and Eve), 35–7, 58, 59, 220

agriculture, 46

aliens: abduction by, 182–6; fictional, 181, 193–4; life on other planets, 14–15, 186–93; myths and legends, 180–1, 185–6; vision, 194–8

allergies, 233–4

amphibians, 50

ancestors, 38–43, 46–50, 52–3, 70

Andersen, Hans Christian, 19

Anguilla, 66–7, 68

ant lion, 227–8

apes, 48–9, 60, 72

aphelion, 115–16, 118, 120

Applewhite, Marshall, 181

Arctic tern, 107

Asclepius, 218

asteroids, 136–7

astrology, 219

Atlas, 163

atomic number, 92, 171

atoms: compounds, 79–80; crystals, 80–3, 88; elements, 79; inside the atom, 85–91; knowledge of, 15, 79; mass, 91–2, 93; models, 86–8; nucleus, 87–9, 91–3; radioactive isotopes, 44; splitting, 86

Australian aborigines, 100–2

Aztec religion, 124–6

Babel, Tower of, 56, 61–2

bacteria, 12–13, 65, 96, 140, 230–1, 235

bad things, 216–17, 220–3, 226–7

Barotse tribe, 124

bats, 157, 197

Beagle
, HMS, 67

big bang model, 164–5, 177

birds, 50, 57, 107, 140, 197

Blackmore, Sue, 185

Bohr, Niels, 87

Boshongo myth, 162

Brahma, 163

breeding: between different species, 42, 59, 65, 68–9; gene pools, 73–5; horses and donkeys, 42, 59, 65; interbreeding, 47, 49, 71; Mendel’s experiments, 16–17; natural selection, 30–1; selective, 28–9

Brown, Derren, 20

Buckyballs and Buckytubes, 94–5

cancers, 234–5

carbon, 79, 80–1, 88, 92–3, 94–5

carbon-14, 46, 93

cards, shuffling and dealing, 25–6, 251–2

carnivores, 72, 139–40, 142

Cassini space probe, 116

chameleon, 217

chance, 23–6, 220–1, 223–5

chimpanzees, 18, 48, 51, 52–3, 72

Chinese myths, 162–3

chlorine ions, 82

chromosomes, 17, 51

Chumash people, 148–9

Clancy, Susan, 182

Clarke, Arthur C., 256

clocks and watches, 243–4

clouds, 141–2

coaches, 19, 23–4, 26, 31, 238–9, 253

coal, 141–2, 192

Coatlicue, 125–6

coin tossing, 222, 224–6

coincidence, 238, 241–3, 251

colours, 90, 151–8, 169–72, 176

comets, 115–17, 181

Conan Doyle, Sir Arthur, 246–7

conjurors, 20–1, 252

continental drift, 208, 210

continents, 205–9, 210, 212

convection currents, 211–12, 213

Crick, Francis, 17–18

cricket, 224–6

crystals, 80–3, 84, 88, 90

Darwin, Charles: on evolution, 27, 29–30; Galapagos visit, 67–8; on natural selection, 29–30, 74, 227, 229; tree picture, 60–1, 64

dates, 45–6, 93

day–night cycle, 100–2, 106–7

death, 217

Demeter, 102–3

Democritus, 79

Devil, 220, 247

dialects, 62, 64, 71

diamond, 80–1, 82, 88

dinosaurs, 12, 13, 14, 50, 137

disease, 217–20, 231–5

distance, measuring, 166–8

diversity, 57–8

DNA, 16–18, 50–3, 64–5, 67, 70, 73

Dogon tribe, 217

dogs, 18, 59, 156, 217, 233

dolphins, 72, 149, 197

Doppler, Christian, 175–6

Doppler shift, 173, 175–6, 188

dreams, 184, 241–3

Dreamtime, 100

duck-billed platypus, 49, 198

dust mites, 96

Earth: axis, 104–5, 111, 118–20; centre, 85, 212; convection currents, 212, 213; orbit, 103, 108–9, 115, 118–19, 134, 166–7, 191; sea-floor spreading, 210–12; spinning, 103–5; tectonic plates, 209–14, 223

earthquakes: causes, 208, 213–14, 223; diseases, 219; experiences of, 200–1; myths, 202–5

Eden, 36

Egyptian religion, 127

electrons, 87–9, 91–3, 171

elements, 78, 79, 92–3, 133–4, 170–2

ellipses, 113–15, 117

emotions, 18

energy, 138–43

Eta Carinae, 130, 133–4

Europa, 190, 191

evaporation, 141

evolution: auto-immune diseases, 235; Galapagos islands, 67–71; gene pools, 74–5; gradual, 26–7; languages, 57, 63–5, 66, 68, 71; natural selection, 30–1, 68, 70, 75, 227–9; pregnancies, 233; selective breeding, 28–9; tree picture, 61

eyes, 194–7

faces, seeing, 240

fairies, photographs of, 245–6

fairy godmother, 23–4

false memory syndrome, 183, 185

Fatima, miracle of, 247–9

Feynman, Richard, 243

fish, 40–1, 43, 48, 50, 66, 198

fossils, 13, 43–5, 60, 93

Franklin, Rosalind, 18

frogs, 23, 26, 27–31, 50, 52, 66

fungi, 140, 230

Galapagos islands, 67–71

galaxies, 13, 14, 165–8, 172–3, 176–7

gas giants, 190

gases, 79, 83, 85, 89

gene: flow, 64, 66, 73; pool, 73–5

genes, 16–17, 29–30, 51–3, 68, 71, 73–5

genus, 59–60

ghost stories, 240–1

Gilgamesh, 146–8, 149

Gliese 581, 191–2

gold, 79, 81, 82, 192

Goldilocks zone, 191–3

Gondwana, 206

gravity, 109, 111–12, 115–16, 129–32, 141, 192

Greek: medicine, 218–19; myths, 102, 127, 163

Griffiths, Frances, 245–6

Grimm, the Brothers, 19

Hades, 102–3

Haiti, earthquake, 200, 214

Hale–Bopp comet, 181

Halley’s Comet, 117

hallucinations, 184, 249, 250–1

health, 219

Heaven’s Gate cult, 181

Hebrew myths,
see
Jewish myths

Helios, 116, 127, 131

helium, 131, 132, 133

herbivores, 139–40, 142

heredity, 16

hibernation, 108

Himalayas, formation, 207, 213

Hippocrates, 218–19

Homo erectus
, 42–3, 60

Homo sapiens
, 42–3, 59–60

Hopi people, 57

Hubble, Edwin, 173

Hubble shift, 173

Hubble telescope, 14, 173

Huitzilopochtli, 125–6

Hume, David, 244–5, 246, 248, 250–2

humours, four, 219

hunter-gatherers, 46–7

hydrogen: atom, 92; element, 79; octane, 94; stars, 129, 131–2, 133

iguanas, 66–70

immune system, 231–5

Inca religion, 124, 126

incubus, 185–6

Indian myths, 163

insects, 57, 69, 157, 195

ions, 82

iron, 79, 81, 82, 85, 88, 133–4, 192

islands, 65–71

isotopes, 44–5, 93

Jackson, Michael, 240, 241

Japan: earthquake and tsunami, 200–1; earthquake myths, 204

Jericho, walls of, 202–3

Jesus, 239, 252, 253–4

Jewish myths: Adam and Eve, 35–6, 58, 220; creation, 58, 127; naming the animals, 59; Noah’s Ark, 147–8; Sodom and Gomorrah, 202; Tower of Babel, 56

Jupiter, 129, 135, 136, 188, 190

Kepler, Johannes, 113, 134

lakes, 66, 69, 71

languages, 56–7, 61–5, 66, 71, 74

‘Law of Averages’, 224–5

lead, 79, 81, 86, 88, 92, 134

lead-206, 45

Lear, Edward, 78

leaves, 138–9, 141, 143

lemurs, 49, 60

light: beams, 90; spectrum, 151–3, 154–9, 168–73; speed of, 14; wavelength, 156–8, 169, 171, 196–7; waves, 176

liquids, 83–4, 89

Lourdes, 218

Lowell, Percival, 191

luck, 223–6

lunar cycles, 121

magic: poetic, 19, 21; stage, 19, 20; supernatural, 19, 20, 25, 238

Magic Circle, 20

mammals, 49–50, 51–3, 60, 72, 107–8, 233

Maori myths, 204

Mars, 129, 136, 190

mass, 91–2

Maya religion, 124, 126

Mayr, Ernst, 57

memories, false, 183, 185

Mendel, Gregor, 16–17, 18

mercury, 79, 85

metals, 79

meteors, 136–7

methane, 85

Mexican Wave, 174

mice, 51, 52, 71

microscopes, 18, 86, 95, 96, 230

migration, 107–8

Milky Way, 14, 35, 148–9, 165–6, 172

miracles: definition, 244; examples, 244–5, 251–5; Fatima, 247–9; Jesus’s, 239, 252–4; playing cards, 25, 251–2; photographs of fairies, 245–6; rumours and traditions, 239–41; supernatural magic, 19, 238; technology and, 255–7; witch trials, 247

mirrors, 90

models, 15–18, 22, 86–8, 164, 177

molecules: atoms in, 80; Buckyballs and Buckytubes, 94–5; colours, 171; diamond crystal, 80, 88; fossils, 44; immune system, 233; miracles, 253; movement, 83–4; waves, 173–4

molybdenum, 79

monkeys, 48–9, 52, 60

moon, 121, 124, 128, 189, 192–3

multiverse, 165

myoglobin, 95

naphthalene, 94

natural selection, 30–1, 68, 70, 75, 193, 227–9

Navajo people, 57

neutron star, 193

neutrons, 91–3

New Guinea, 57, 205

New Zealand: earthquake myths, 204; earthquakes, 201

Newton, Sir Isaac, 109, 151–3, 154, 168–9

newts, 28–30, 31, 50

Nigerian myths, 124, 163

Noah’s Ark, 147–8

Norse myths, 37, 127, 149

North American myths, 57, 102

nucleus, nuclei, 87–9, 91–2, 171, 193

oases, 58, 66, 69, 71

octane, 94

orbits: comets, 115–16, 117; Earth’s orbit, 103, 108–9, 115, 118–19, 134, 166–7, 188, 191; ellipses, 113–14, 117; planets, 109–11, 117, 129, 130–1, 134–5, 187–9; satellites, 111; space station in, 106, 111–12

original sin, 36–7

ozone, 80

Pan Gu myths, 162–3

parallax method, 166–8

paranoia, 229–30

parasites, 140, 228, 230–2, 234

peat, 140–1

Penn and Teller, 20

perihelion, 116, 117, 118, 120

Persephone, 102–3

photons, 90, 121

pilgrimage, 218

Pink Panther, The
, 226

planets: detecting, 187–9; distance from star, 191; extra-solar, 187, 189–90, 191; gravitational pull, 129, 192–3; life on other planets, 186–7, 193–8; mass, 192; orbits, 109–11, 117, 129, 130–1, 134–5, 187–9; size, 129, 192; temperature, 85, 191

plate tectonics, 205, 208–11, 223

Pluto, 115, 117, 118, 135

Pollyanna’s Law, 222, 229

Pompeii and Herculaneum, 214

potential energy, 142

predators, 228–9, 230

pregnancy, 232–3

Presley, Elvis, 239, 241

prisms, 151–3, 154, 168–9

protons, 91–3, 171

Proxima Centauri, 14, 128, 130

Pueblo people, 57

pyramids, 126–7

quarks, 93

Quetzalcoatl, 125

radar, 197–8

radio telescope, 13, 15, 158

radio waves, 13, 158, 196–7; modulated, 197

radioactive clocks, 45–6

rainbow: myths, 147–9; real magic, 150–1; spectrum, 152–3, 154–6, 156–9, 168

raindrops, 153–6

Randi, James ‘The Amazing’, 20

red: dwarf, 191; giant, 132; shift, 173, 176, 188

relative movement, 103–5

reptiles, 50

rivers, 141

rocks: age of, 44–5; hardness, 88–9; igneous, 43–4; opacity, 90; pointy, 223; sedimentary, 43–4, 82; types, 43–4

Rowling, J. K., 19

rumours, 239–41, 248

Rutherford, Ernest, 86, 87

Salem witch trials, 247

Salish tribe, 163

salt, 82–3

San Andreas Fault, 201–2, 214

San Francisco earthquake, 201

sand, 82

satellites, 111

Saturn, 85, 116, 136

scallops, 196

scavengers, 140

sea-floor spreading, 210–12

seasons, 102, 108–9, 118–21

selective breeding, 28

Shinto religion, 124

shooting stars, 136–7

Siberian myths, 204

simulation, computer, 16

sleep paralysis, 183–5

sodium: ions, 82; light, 170–2

Sodom and Gomorrah, 202

Sod’s Law, 221–2, 227, 228–9

solar wind, 117

solids, 84–5, 88–9, 90, 175

sonar, 197

sound: speed of, 14; wavelength, 156–7, 158, 175–6; waves, 173–6

space station, 106, 111–13

species, 42–3, 59–61, 64–72, 73–5

spectroscope, 168–9, 171, 178, 187, 188

spectrum, 151–3, 154–9, 168–73, 176

spiders: jumping, 195; webs, 227–8

standard candles, 167–8, 176

stardust, 133–4

starlight, 138, 168–71

stars: distances away, 12, 166–7; galaxies, 14, 165–6; gravitational pull, 129; life story of a star, 131–2; neutron, 193; planetary orbits, 134–5; shooting stars, 136–7; size, 129, 130, 131; supernovas, 133–4; temperature, 129–30

Star Trek
, 181, 183

steady state model, 164

steam engines, 141, 142

subduction, 213

succubus, 185–6

sugar, 138–9, 142–3

Sumerian myths, 146–9

summer, 100, 102–3, 107–9, 118–21