A 12,000-word short read eBook introduction to the Solar System's smaller members.The minor planets are the remnants left over from the formation of the Solar System. As their name implies, they are small. Even the dozen or so largest, some of which are now ranked as 'dwarf planets', are far smaller than the Moon – and these account for a thousandth of one per cent of the total known to astronomers. Most are far smaller.Once dismissed as "vermin of the skies" and "of very l...

Ever since Darwin established our close relationship with living apes, anthropologists have sought fossil evidence for the so-called 'missing link', a transitional form between apes and humans. In modern terms, it is known as the Last Common Ancestor between us and our closest living relatives, the chimpanzees. The Last Common Ancestor is now believed to have lived 6.6 million years ago, and the earliest humans did not appear until 2.8 million years ago.Before the first humans came...

In March 2021, the United States was beginning to emerge from the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to what he thought was the premature easing of mask-wearing requirements in Texas and Mississippi, newly elected President Joe Biden complained about "Neanderthal thinking". This earned him a rebuke from Germany's Neanderthal Museum, but Biden was hardly the first politician to liken his opponents to Neanderthals. The term 'Neanderthal' has been used in a negative context for decad...

An eBook short read (7,500 words)Theories concerning the origin and fate of our world go back to the writings of the earliest civilisations. However, for most of that time, there was no attempt to link such theories to the existence of the Solar System, because the concept of such an entity as understood in the modern sense did not exist. For a theory of Solar System formation and evolution, it was necessary to accept that the Sun was at its centre, with Earth and other planets in ...

*** First published in 2016, Prehistoric Investigations has been brought fully up to date in this new edition ***How do you infer the existence of a hitherto-unknown human species from a fragmentary finger bone? Why do we walk on two legs? Were Neanderthals really dimwitted? How did a small, solitary predator become the world's most popular pet? What was the ancient link between languages spoken in places as far apart as I...

A concise history of Uranus in a 12,000 work eBook short read. Uranus is the first 'modern' planet, not having been discovered until 1781. Despite this, it is visible to the naked eye and possible sightings go back to the second century BCE - but all these early observers thought that it was nothing more than a faint star. Even its discoverer, German-born British astronomer William Herschel, thought that he had simply found a new comet.Uranus was the second planet found to possess ...

A concise 12,000-word eBook short read about Mercury, which has now regained its place as the Solar System's smallest planet. It is a world of extremes: surface temperatures range from 427 °C, hot enough to melt lead, to a chilly -183°C. Although smaller than some of Jupiter's and Saturn's moons, it is denser than any planet apart from Earth. It is so close to the Sun that the peculiarities of its orbit can only be explained in terms of Einstein's general theory of relativity.Altho...

More than two-thirds of the Earth's surface is covered with water. Away from the oceans, in non-desert regions of the world, the landscape is dotted by lakes and traversed by rivers and streams. Very early on, people must have realised that waterways could be used for transportation, or that fishing could be carried out more effectively inshore rather than onshore, or on a lake or river than from the lakeside or riverbank. In terms of human prehistory, the earliest direct evidence for wate...

In 2022, there were 577,160 deaths registered in England and Wales. Many were reported in local and sometimes national newspapers, and on social media. The ensuing funerals would have been a deeply personal experience for families and friends of the deceased. We all die and are mourned by those we leave behind. Mourning and remembering the dead is a very ancient part of the human condition, but it may not be confined to modern or even archaic humans.In November 2009, the National G...

The story of how we learned about the Universe, from the earliest prehistoric observations to the first telescopes.Early astronomy ranks among the greatest achievements of the human intellect – but how did astronomers of the pre-telescopic era make accurate observations of the Sun, Moon, and planets, and predict their movements? How can we uncover the ancient knowledge of societies that left few or no written records?★ Were present-day constellations, inclu...

From the first apes to the first cities, HUMANS: FROM THE BEGINNING is the definitive guide to our distant pastIn just a few years, our understanding of the human past has changed beyond recognition as new discoveries and advances in genetic techniques overturn long-held beliefs and make international news.Drawing on expert literature and cutting-edge research, HUMANS: FROM THE BEGINNING is a clear and engaging two-volume guide to this new...

From the first apes to the first cities, HUMANS: FROM THE BEGINNING is the definitive guide to our distant pastIn just a few years, our understanding of the human past has changed beyond recognition as new discoveries and advances in genetic techniques overturn long-held beliefs and make international news.Drawing on expert literature and cutting-edge research, HUMANS: FROM THE BEGINNING is a clear and engaging two-volume guide to this new...