"Molecules", Philip Ball writes in Stories of the Invisible, "are the smallest units of meaning in chemistry", the words, if you will, made up of atomic letters. In this lively essay, full of such useful metaphors, Ball shares his longstanding fascination with the unseen world once again, explaining some of the issues that guide modern biochemistry.

Consider a sheep, Ball offers, a congeries of "millions of little bits of sheepness". That animal is a blend of molecules, tens of thousands of varieties of them, many of them found in the grass, sky and water that make up the sheep's environment, many of them shared with other animals and humans. It has been the task of modern chemistry to dissect matter, to tease out underlying structures and commonalities--and, Ball adds, to learn how to make of its constituent elements things that do things, "such as cure viral infections or store information or hold bridges together". How chemistry has done so, making body armour of spider silk and modelling computer networks on "molecular logic", drives Ball's discursive, entertaining, and eminently practical survey.

A trustworthy explainer of scientific matters to lay readers, Ball writes with clarity and grace--and the more difficult the concept, it seems, the better. --Gregory McNamee

This instantly intriguing, unashamedly popularist attempt to make basic chemistry appeal to the non-scientist is a masterpiece of science writing in which our natural interest in our own biology is blatantly exploited to illuminate the frontier between physics and chemistry. Whilst seeming to start with the basics, readers are suddenly aware of being in the midst of the most profound questions without quite being aware of how we got to such a level. Ball, an eminent science writer and broadcaster with a degree in chemistry, a doctorate in physics and his own theatre company, assures us we don't need in-depth mathematics - 'molecules need not, after all, make your head hurt' and almost apologizes for the Latin origins of chemical names. His explanations are eminently accessible - atoms and molecules are likened to letters and words: 'sometimes a single letter constitutes a word - longer words convey subtler and more finely nuanced meanings' - and his approach clearly designed to make all this not just less scary but important and fascinating. Atoms in water molecules are portrayed as blobby demons holding hands. The structure of collagen is compared with that of the Eiffel Tower. Eminent scientists - Nobel, Haldane and Schrodinger - jostle with literary giants - Primo Levi, William Blake and Aldous Huxley - in the quest for understanding. Ball draws engaging parallels and peppers his work with intriguing snippets of news from the latest research projects. It's all nearly effortless - yet by the end we have delved into the electron transplant chain, anaerobic metabolism, the structure of buckministerfullerene, the mechanism of muscle contraction and genetic evolution, amid much more. A wonderful introduction to the basics of the basics. (Kirkus UK)

What are things made of? 'Everything is composed of small mollycules of itself, and they are flying around in concentric circles and arcs and segments,' explains Sergeant Fottrell in Flann O'Brien's The Dalkey Archive. Philip Ball shows that the world of the molecule is indeed a dynamic place. Using the chemistry of life as a springboard, he provides a new perspective on modern chemical science as a whole. Living cells are full of molecules in motion, communication, cooperation, and competition. Molecular scientists are now starting to capture the same dynamism in synthetic molecular systems, promising to reinvent chemistry as the central creative science of the new century.

What are things made of? 'Everything is composed of small mollycules of itself, and they are flying around in concentric circles and arcs and segments,' explains Sergeant Fottrell in Flann O'Brien's The Dalkey Archive. Philip Ball shows that the world of the molecule is indeed a dynamic place. Using the chemistry of life as a springboard, he provides a new perspective on modern chemical science as a whole. Living cells are full of molecules in motion, communication, cooperation, and competition. Molecular scientists are now starting to capture the same dynamism in synthetic molecular systems, promising to reinvent chemistry as the central creative science of the new century.

Philip Ball is a science writer and a consultant editor for Nature, where he was formerly an editor for physical science for over 10 years. He writes about all areas of science for the international press, and has broadcast on TV and radio. His previous books include Designing the Molecular World, The Self-Made Tapestry, and H20: A Biography of Water. He holds a degree in chemistry from Oxford University and a doctorate in physics from Bristol
University. He lives in London, where his Homunculus Theatre Company occasionally performs on a shoestring budget.