The history of the computer is entwined with that of the modern world and most famously with the life of one man, Alan Turing. How did this device, which first appeared a mere 50 years ago, come to structure and dominate our lives so totally? An enlightening mini-biography of a brilliant but troubled man.

Fascinating facts and mind-boggling science of the human body.

Fascinating facts and mind-boggling science of the human body.

A brilliantly funny and clever exploration of why it's only in a bookshop that you'll find something you never knew you wanted to read, from the author of The Etymologicon, The Horologicon and The Elements of Eloquence

A brilliant new history of Georgian Britain through the eyes of the artists who immortalised it, by one of the UK's most exciting young historians

The mind-bending quiz book that every science geek needs in their Christmas stocking

The popular science equivalent of Who Do You Think You Are?

Acclaimed critic John Sutherland gets his teeth into the literary puzzles of the greatest-ever Gothic novel