Philip Ball
Philip Ball is a freelance science writer. He trained as a chemist at the University of Oxford, and as a physicist at the University of Bristol.
He worked previously at Nature for over 20 years, first as an editor for physical sciences and then as a consultant editor. His writings on science for the popular press have covered topical issues ranging from cosmology to the future of molecular biology.
Philip is the author of many popular books on science, including H2O: A Biography of Water, Bright Earth: The Invention of Colour, The Music Instinct and Curiosity: How Science Became Interested in Everything. His book Critical Mass won the 2005 Aventis Prize for Science Books, while Serving the Reich was shortlisted for the Royal Society Winton Science Book Prize in 2014.
Philip writes regularly for publications including Nature, New Scientist, the Guardian, the Financial Times, Prospect and New Statesman. He has broadcast on many occasions on radio and TV, and is a presenter of Science Stories on BBC Radio 4. He was awarded the William Thomson, Lord Kelvin Medal and Prize in 2019 by the Institute of Physics for communication of physics, and the American Chemical Society James T Grady–James H Stack Award in 2006 for interpreting chemistry for the public. He holds honorary degrees from Bristol University and Union College, NY.
OpinionHeated crystals jump to enantiomeric separation
Chiral asparagine monohydrate crystals can segregate by handedness – if you arrange them carefully first
FeatureSmall molecules that switch up cell development could transform medicine
Turning mature somatic cells back into flexible stem cells using small molecules could revolutionise medicine, especially for regeneration and cancer. Philip Ball reports
OpinionAn unprecedented supramolecular structure brings new complexities to life
The transcription factor FOXP3’s interactions with DNA present more evidence of the importance of disorder
OpinionAtmospheres conducive to life
Researchers propose a new biosignature that could hint at habitable exoplanets
ResearchMolecular movie captures DNA repair from start to finish
Study spans pico- to microsecond timescales to uncover enzymatic process
OpinionSearching for new physics using ultracold molecules
‘Clock transitions’ could make it possible to discover if a flaw in the Standard Model exists – without the need for high-energy particle colliders
OpinionWill the assembly theory imbroglio do anything for evolution?
A claim to have explained selection has caused a stir, and it’s worth asking why, says Philip Ball
OpinionMoving beyond protein structure
Efforts to understand how intrinsically disordered regions interact have produced a variety of answers
OpinionWhy Roman concrete is still stronger than RAAC (and other modern concretes)
Researchers are searching for ways to replicate the self-healing properties of the ancient material
OpinionShape is not enough to distinguish life from abiotic systems
No morphological differences between living and non-living systems are yet known
ResearchCrystal structure prediction tool a ‘significant and thought-provoking advance’
Algorithm needs just the chemical formula to find the ground state of a crystalline compound
OpinionCan life exist outside of the habitable zone?
Speculation about conditions on Venus raises questions about our existing definitions
OpinionHow van der Waals first linked liquids and gases
150 years ago, a doctoral thesis changed our understanding of matter
OpinionThe long and short of telomere rejuvenation
Telomerase is unlikely to be a straightforward elixir of youth
OpinionInterpreting the impact of AI large language models on chemistry
LLMs may outperform Alphafold, but currently struggle to identify simple chemical structures
OpinionHuman genome editing in perspective
Ethical, cultural and safety considerations are high priorities for researchers
OpinionNew phase of amorphous ice formed by ball milling
Medium-density amorphous ice has a structure and density similar to liquid water
FeatureWhat does AI mean for chemistry?
Phil Ball looks at whether letting machines do our thinking for us will change our understanding of chemistry itself