Destination Moon (Again?): 50 Years after Apollo, how does Science Fiction imagine our future in space? - 19th March 2019

Mostly Books will be selling books at this ATOM event at Our Lady's Abingdon on 19th March.

This year will see lots of celebrations to mark fifty years since the first Apollo Moon Landing (#Apollo50). And on Tuesday, March 19th @ 7pm, four award-winning science fiction authors gather together to debate the impact of Apollo on science fiction - and how science fiction predicts our future in space in 'Destination Moon (Again?)'.

Abingdon-based science-fiction author (and space aficionado) Ben Jeapes chairs a panel with acclaimed science fiction authors Simon Morden ('Metrozone' series, 'One Way' and 'No Way'), Gareth Powell ('Ack-Ack Macaque' and 'Embers of War') and Justina Robson ('Quantum Gravity' and 'Salvation's Fire: After the War').

They will be analysing the legacy of #Apollo50, and attempting to predict the future. Will we ever return to the Moon, will it be Mars next - and should we even bother going into space at all? After all, what better way to get to the heart of our future in space than through individuals who have already explored space in the best way possible: in their imaginations...

An Sci-Fi event is a first for ATOM, and Mostly Books will be running a book signing after the event, which takes at OLA Abingdon.

Tuesday 19th March at Our Lady's Abingdon.

Doors open at 18:30 Talk begins at 19:00.

Tickets £5 adult & £2.50 for under 16s.  For more information and tickets, please go to the ATOM Festival website.

Dr Hannah Fry: How to be Human in the Age of the Machine (ATOM Event): 22nd March 2019

Mostly Books will be selling books at the ATOM event with Dr Hannah Fry at the Amey Theatre on 22nd March.

On Friday March 22nd @ 7.30pm, BBC science presenter Dr Hannah Fry will be at The Amey Theatre to talk about Being Human in the Age of the Machine. Dr Fry is one of the rising stars of science communication, from BBC Horizon documentaries to Tomorrow's World Live. She'll be talking about the computers and apps that increasingly rule our lives - and how we can hold on to what makes us human in the face of the machines.

A brilliant speaker, we're delighted that Dr Fry will be signing copies her book after the event. We are even more thrilled that we have special, early-release copies of the paperback of her book 'Hello World' for sale on the evening. 

Doors open at 19:00 Talk begins at 19:30.

Tickets £12.00 adult & £6.00 for under 16s.  For more information and tickets, please go to the ATOM Festival website.

Alom Shaha - Being Your Child's First Science Teacher (ATOM Event): 27th March

Mostly Books will be selling books at the ATOM event with Alom Shaha at Fitzharrys School on 27th March.

Physics teacher, author and film-maker Alom Shaha will be appearing at Fitzharrys School on Wednesday, March 27th. He's passionate about getting kids into science, and he'll be talking about 'Being Your Child's First Science Teacher' on Wednesday, March 27th at 7pm.

Doing hands-on activities with children is the best way to get them exploring the world around them and thinking like future scientists and engineers. However, many parents lack confidence in doing science with their children, compared with reading, writing or drawing – even sometimes when they are scientists or engineers themselves! Teacher and author Alom Shaha will talk about his own introduction to science and show how any parent can help their children to really learn from their curiosity about the world – so they can take the step from "wow!" to "how?" 

Alom Shaha has created, written, produced, directed, and appeared in a wide range of science communication projects, ranging from TV series to live science shows. He teaches part-time at a comprehensive school in London. His book 'Mr Shaha's Recipes for Wonder' will be on sale after the event and you will have the opportunity to have it signed by Alom Shaha. 

Wednesday 27th March at Fitzharrys School.

Doors open 18:30 Talk begins at 19:00.

Tickets £5 adult & £2.50 for under 16s. For more information and tickets, please go to the ATOM Festival website.

We need YOU to become an astronaut!

When Tim Peake blasted off to the International Space Station last year, his mission captured our imaginations and showed us what living and working in space was really lie.

Between dangerous spacewalks, running a marathon, delivering lettuce seeds and speaking to schoolchildren from orbit, he ignited a passion and curiosity about space - and then got everyone excited again with the news that he's going back for another mission.

Around the world, space is booming. And Abingdon sits smack bang in the centre of some of the most exciting space science - and talented scientists - on the planet.

Still wondering what to be when you grow up? Our advice is to become an astronaut. But where do you start?

On March 26 at the Amey Theatre, as part of Abingdon's ATOM Festival of Science, Louie Stowell - children's author and UK Space Agency expert - will explain "How To Become An Astronaut" in an exciting, out-of-this-world event for the whole family.

Together with Usborne Books, Louie will explain just what it takes to become an astronaut and go on a mission to the International Space Station.

Being an astronaut is not about having the “right stuff” any more. You have to be a scientist, engineer, gardener, YouTuber, coder...not to mention toilet scrubber.

Louie will talk through the training process, and there will be a crash course (not literally!) on what it takes to travel into space. She will answer all the big questions from “How do rockets work?” and “What do astronauts do all day?” to “How do you go to the toilet on a spaceship?” 

On the way you'll learn about the technology that astronauts use, from space suits (surprisingly heavy) to Soyuz spacecraft (surprisingly old), and the scientific experiments that Tim Peake and his colleagues carried out on the International Space Station.

Louie Stowell is author of the Usborne Official Astronaut’s Handbook, which answers all the questions you need to know about being an astronaut (and contains a special message from Tim Peake!). 

Louie has also written books on Coding for Beginners Using Python, so expect tips on what software is needed for a successful trip into space.

Around the world, space is booming. Reusable rockets, daring exploration, international collaborations, awe-inspiring science and even trips round the Moon. We think becoming an astronaut might just be the best career move you could make...

So come along, have fun, be inspired - your training starts here!

Tickets are £4 for adults, £2 for children - or free with an ATOM Festival Pass. Buy tickets from the official ATOM Festival Website - or from Mostly Books.

Books for Christmas 2016 - It's life Jim, but not as we know it: festive thoughts on life, consciousness, and the future of humanity!

Abingdon sits in the middle of one of the most exciting parts of the world for science - and we mean, anywhere. Within a few miles of the shop door, we have fusion reactors, cyclotrons, satellite assembly buildings, and state of the art facilities for making everything from radiation protection equipment to deep-space optics.

So it's fantastic that we're involved in the Abingdon-on-Thames Science Festival (ATOM!) which next year takes place March 24-26. You can find out more here - but to whet your appetite, here are some of our favourite science and nature titles which we think make great gifts for the curious this Christmas.

13 Journeys Through Space and Time: Christmas Lectures from the Royal Institution - Colin Stuart with a forward by Tim Peake
Anyone of a certain age will remember the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures - but it may surprise you to learn that they started in 1825 (by Michael Faraday) and continue to the present day. In this gem of a book, with it's beautiful space-time warping cover, space and science Journalist Colin Stuart has curated thirteen 'Journeys Through Time and Space', including Carl Sagan's 1977 'The Planets' and abingdonian Frank Close's 1993 'The Cosmic Onion'. Concluding with Kevin Fong's 2015 'Surviving in Space' (when he was joined by Tim Peake, who writes the forward) this is a little book with a big impact - and a wonderful gift for astronauts young and old!

Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow - Yuval Noah Harari
Anyone who has come into the shop in the last couple of years will have had a copy of 'Sapiens' by Yuval Noah Harari pressed into their hands. There aren't many books that get universally recommended in our shop, we think everyone deserves personalised recommendations, but with 'Sapiens' (like 'The Martian' or 'Pride and Prejudice') we make an exception: everyone should read. It featured in Mark's essay on 'How Reading Shapes Our Realities' and is no less than the epic story of our species. But the ending finished on a bit of a cliffhanger - what's going to happen next to our species?

In 'Homo Deus' Harari sets off to find out, along the way taking in a variety of post-apocalyptic and frankly frightening scenarios, mostly involving the end of the world as a whimper rather than a bang, with a few spectacular Jeff Bezos-style winners, but the vast majority not losers as such, but managed, monitored, little more than biochemical systems plugged into a global network relieving boredom in ever more immersive virtual-reality fictions to save our fragile mental states.

If all this sounds depressing, it isn't. Harari offers plenty of 'it doesn't have to be that way' alternatives which actually makes this book surprisingly upbeat and inspiring. After all, the big thing about the future is that it hasn't happened yet.

The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness -
Sy MontgomeryIn 2011 Sy Montgomery wrote a feature for Orion magazine entitled 'Deep Intellect' about her friendship with a sensitive, sweet-natured octopus named Athena and the grief she felt at her death. It went viral, indicating the widespread fascination with these mysterious, almost alien-like creatures. In this frankly incredible - and very thought-provoking - book, Sy discusses the nature of personality and intelligence as her appreciation of the octopus deepens.

Octopuses have varied personalities and intelligence they show in myriad ways: endless trickery to escape enclosures and get food; jetting water playfully to bounce objects like balls; and evading caretakers by using a scoop net as a trampoline and running around the floor on eight arms. But what thoughts might they have? The intelligence of dogs, birds, and chimpanzees was only recently accepted by scientists, who now are establishing the intelligence of the octopus, watching them solve problems and deciphering the meaning of their colour-changing camouflage techniques.

By turns funny, entertaining, touching and profound, The Soul of an Octopus reveals what octopuses can teach us about consciousness and the meeting of two very different minds.

Reality is Not What It Seems - Carlo Rovelli
Last year, Carlo Rovelli's 'Seven Brief Lessons on Physics' was an unexpected hit, a little gem of a book, which purported to offer no less than a complete explanation of all the big theories of modern physics. Rovelli has now written 'Reality is Not What It Seems' an at-times mind-bending look at nothing less than our understanding of reality. From Democritus to loop quantum gravity, he invites us to imagine a whole new world where black holes are waiting to explode, spacetime is made up of grains, and infinity does not exist.

Aliens: Is There Anyone Out There? - Jim Al-Khalili
Professor Jim Al-Khalili is one of our most celebrated science broadcasters and communicators, and two years ago spoke at the ATOM! Festival on the chequered and still-controversial area of quantum biology. He will return to Abingdon for the 2017 festival, so to celebrate, we're recommending 'Aliens', a collection of twenty articles from some of our most esteemed thinkers on the subject of aliens, and whether or not they exist. Contributors include Martin Rees, Ian Stewart and Adam Rutherford, and cover every aspect of the subject, from alien consciousness to the neuroscience behind alien abductions. And along the way he'll cover science fiction, the probability of us finding extra-terrestrial life, and whether the explosion in the number and variety of recently-discovered exoplanets might support life.

How the Zebra Got its Stripes - Leo Grasset
Billed as a set of Darwinian 'Just So Stories', this is a collection of sparky, wondrous stories from Leo Grasset, one of France's brightest natural scientists - with an equally engaging translation by Barbara Mellor.

Why do giraffes have such long necks? Why are zebras striped? Why are buffalo herds broadly democratic while elephants prefer dictatorships? What explains the architectural brilliance of the termite mound or the complications of the hyena's sex life? And why have honey-badgers evolved to be one of nature's most efficient agents of mass destruction? Deploying the latest scientific research and his own extensive observations on the African savannah, Leo Grasset offers some answers to these and many other intriguing questions. Showing that natural phenomena are rarely simple, he brings evolutionary biology and lateral thinking to explain the mysteries of animal behaviour in terms that everyone can understand and marvel at.

The Earth and I - James Lovelock et al

For once, a book that is both brilliant and urgent. In our post-truth world, no subject seems to attract more attention from commentators keen to drown out the increasing consensus that humans are significantly - and irrevocably - altering the planet. Insults are hurled and facts pile up until even the most engaged and informed feel overwhelmed.

This wonderful book, rather than adding to the data load, aims to offer real understanding. James Lovelock leads an all-star cast of contributors to describe how human beings are extraordinary creatures, and how we have adapted and invented our way to becoming the most important species on the planet. So great is the extent of our influence, that many speak of a new geological era, the Anthropocene, an age defined by human-induced change to the blue and green globe we call home. Our lofty status comes with responsibility as much as possibility: How should we approach our present and future?

Conceived by James Lovelock, and delving into everything from stellar explosions to neuroscience, contributors include quantum physicist Lisa Randall, astronomer royal Martin Rees, Pulitzer Prize-winning biologist Edward O. Wilson, Nobel Prize-winning neuroscientist Eric Kandel - all illustrated by British artist Jack Hudson, Across 12 chapters, they take in both the intricate details and immense structures of our species and our planet, from our ever-expanding universe to our minuscule but mighty cells.

Messy: How to be Creative and Resilient in a Tidy-Minded World - Tim Harford

Mixing science and business, this is one of Mark's favourite books of the year, and is a constant delight to read, as well as containing inspiration to both understand and engage with our ever complex world. With Big Data on the march, and faceless corporation increasingly nudging us into better - or rather, different - behaviour, the urge to label, tidy, straightjacket and optimise human activities has serious and far-reaching implications for us, particularly when it comes to being creative.

Tim Harford is a journalist and economist who looks at the surprising science, economic theories and latest discoveries that look at everything from musical genius, to self-driving cars, from how to manage email to how we raise our children. This really is a must-read. The algorithms that control our lives are only going to increase - we need to be ready to respond.

Can You Solve My Problems? A Casebook of Ingenious, Perplexing and Totally Satisfying Puzzles - Alex Bellos

Are you smarter than a Singaporean ten-year-old? Can you beat Sherlock Holmes? If you think the answer is yes - Alex Bellos challenges you to solve his problems. Spinning out from a puzzle he set on the Guardian website in 2015 which went viral across the globe, Bellos here tells nothing less than the story of the puzzle, one of mankind's oldest and greatest forms of entertainment and enlightenment, told through 125 of the world's best brainteasers from the last two millennia.

It takes us from ancient China to medieval Europe, Victorian England to modern-day Japan, with stories of espionage, mathematical breakthroughs and puzzling rivalries along the way. Pit your wits against logic puzzles and kinship riddles, pangrams and river-crossing conundrums. Some solutions rely on a touch of cunning, others call for creativity, others need mercilessly logical thought. Some can only be solved by 2 per cent of the population...

The Cyber Effect - Mary Aiken

We know the wonders of technology, and of course there are whole industries out there extolling the virtues of an always-on, app-powered, mobile enabled Internet-of-everything. At the same time, there are increasing numbers of people who are drawing attention to the downsides - the damaging effect the Internet is having on everything from our attention spans, to ability to form relationships.

In 'The Cyber Effect' - once you get past the US-style self-promotion on the cover (!) - psychologist Mary Aiken provides a measured and sober analysis of the effect the cyber world is having on us, our brains, our relationships and - most worryingly - our children. It makes the point that we all have to take responsibility in ensuring that the ease with which disturbing (and warping) content on the Internet is shaping the minds of both us and our children.

See Inside Your Head!

This year's Abingdon-on-Thames Science Festival ATOM! takes place between March 18 - 21. As part of the festival, we're excited to host an inspiring event for all the family at Abingdon's Guildhall entitled 'See Inside Your Head' on Saturday, March 21 at 1.30pm.

Take a tour through your brain! Science writer Alex Frith explains the intricacies of the human brain. From the simple science of synapses to more complex brain functions such as how memories are stored, discover the world of neurological science in this informative, fun and interactive event that makes a complex subject easy for inquisitive minds to understand.

Neuroscientists Chris and Uta Frith, expert consultants on the book, will also be on hand to answer questions about how the brain works, and describe what brain discoveries remain for the next generation to find…

Tickets cost £4 per person, and will be ideal for ages 5-11. Tickets are on sale at Mostly Books, and we expect demand to be strong, so please email us to reserve tickets as soon as you can!

This year ATOM! will coincide with the partial solar eclipse across the UK on Friday 20 March. There will be loads of inspiring science events and it all takes place as part of the Oxfordshire Science Festival.

It’s a great chance to see live demonstrations, hear about cutting-edge research  - and provide inspiration for young and old in one of the country’s science hotspots. Find out more on the official website here.

Half Life: The Divided Life of Bruno Pontecorvo - Physicist or Spy?

On the eve of the publication of his new book, 'Half Life: The Divided Life of Bruno Pontecorvo - Physicist or Spy?', Professor Frank Close will reveal his discoveries about the atomic scientist Bruno Pontecorvo.

Pontecorvo was an Italian physicist who worked on the British atomic bomb project at Harwell, and his son, Gil, was about to start his second year at Abingdon School. However, on August 31, 1950, in the middle of a holiday in Italy, he abruptly left Rome for Stockholm with his wife and three sons without informing friends or relatives. The next day he was helped by Soviet agents to enter the Soviet Union from Finland.

World-renowned scientist and writer Frank Close reveals the full story of Pontecorvo, bound up in the murky world of scientific research as the Second World War turned into The Cold War. What nuclear secrets did Pontecorvo take with him? Who was the M15 mole at the School? What role did Kim Philby play?

Close has had unprecedented access to archives, letters, family members and other scientists in telling Pontecorvo’s story. Pontecorvo worked on the Anglo-Canadian arm of the Manhatten Project and was privy to many secrets. He uncovered a way to find the uranium so coveted by nuclear powers.

Close is professor of physics at the University of Oxford and a former head of the theoretical physics division at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. He is author of bestselling books including Lucifer’s Legacy and Antimatter and has twice won the Association of British Science Writers award.

Frank will be speaking at the Amey Theatre, Abingdon School on Wednesday, March 4 at 7pm. Copies of his book will be on sale on the night, which Frank will be delighted to sign. This is a free event, and will be unticketed, but please email us to register your interest and let us and the school know that you will be attending.

(And take a look at this special BBC 'On This Day' news report from 1950)

Life, The Universe...And Stuff! A fun, family science event with Christiane Dorion

As part of the Oxfordshire Science Festival 2014 and Abingdon-on-Thames' Festival of Science (ATOM!), Mostly Books is proud to be hosting a fun and brilliant family science event with multi award-winning children’s science author Christiane Dorion.

Christiane grew up in Quebec City, Canada, training teachers in environmental issues and geography, before moving to England in 1987 to study for a PhD. She was responsible for environmental education guidelines for the National Curriculum, and her amazing pop-up books have seen her shortlisted for numerous books awards, including the Blue Peter book award – as well as winning the Royal Society Young People’s Book Award in 2011.

In ‘Life, The Universe...and Stuff!’ she will be doing experiments, demonstrations and offering hands-on fun to inspire and encourage children to explore the complex systems of the world we live in. Asking the BIG questions such as ‘How big is the universe?’, ‘How did life begin?’ and ‘Why does the sea move?’ kids (and adults!) will have great fun joining in to answer these and many other puzzling questions.

The event takes place in Abingdon's Guildhall on Saturday, March 22 at 11am. Tickets cost £3 and is fully redeemable against any of her books on the day. Family and group tickets are available - email us for more details.

You can discover more about Christiane and her fabulous books on her website, but here is what she says about her writing:

“My passion for writing children’s books stems from the thousands of questions I asked as a child, which remained unanswered. How big is the universe? When did life begin? Why do volcanoes erupt? Why do we build cities around active volcanoes? Why isn’t there water everywhere around the world? Through my books, I aim to inspire and encourage children to explore the complex systems of the world we live in and to take positive actions to protect our planet for future generations."

"I am particularly interested in how we can learn to design and make things in a different way so we can use the earth’s resources more wisely and reduce the amount of waste we produce. I am also very interested in how we can learn from nature and our fellow creatures to turn waste into precious resources.” 

We hope to see you at the event - but you can discover much more about ATOM! and events with Jim Al-Khalili, Frank Close and Robin Ince on the official website here.