Philip Ball
Philip Ball is a freelance science writer.
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 and has delivered lectures to scientific and general audiences at venues ranging from the Victoria and Albert Museum (London) to the NASA Ames Research Center, London's National Theatre and the London School of Economics.
Philip writes regularly for Nature. He has contributed to publications ranging from New Scientist to the New York Times, the Guardian, the Financial Times and New Statesman. He is a contributing editor of Prospect magazine and also a columnist for Nature Materials and the Italian science magazine Sapere. He has broadcast on many occasions on radio and TV, and is a presenter of 'Science Stories' on BBC Radio 4. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, sits on the editorial board of Chemistry World and Interdiscipinary Science Reviews, and is a board member of the RESOLV network on solvation science at the Ruhr University of Bochum.
FeatureAre the Nobel prizes good for science?
Philip Ball looks at whether prizes and awards help or hinder scientific progress
OpinionThe physicist's guide to biology
How Erwin Schrödinger’s What is Life? overlooked the central science
ResearchTrapped-ion quantum computer does chemistry calculations for the first time
For an accurate quantum simulation, all you need is a few atoms
OpinionPreserving the Naica Cave of Crystals
Visitors are changing the chemistry of a natural wonder of the world
ResearchSpins doctor water’s reactivity
Ultracold experiments reveal water isomers have different reaction rates
OpinionThe chemistry that inspired H.G. Wells
How the science fiction author borrowed real science to create unreal worlds
ResearchTuring patterned membrane takes on water purification
Mathematician Alan Turing’s sole chemistry paper inspires self-assembling spotted and striped polymer structures
OpinionThe scientists who create life
Chemistry has created life for 100 years – but where can it lead us?
ResearchEvidence mounts that water has two liquid forms
Supercooled solution reveals phase transition at -80°C
ResearchMolecules’ vibrations linger longer than thought
Surface chemistry could be guided by vibrations that go on for orders of magnitude longer than previously reported
OpinionRevisiting Richard Dawkins' idea of replication
Why The selfish gene is only part of the story
ResearchIndigo genes dyeing to make jeans cleaner and greener
Denim dye could become more environmentally friendly with some clever chemistry
OpinionSnapshots of life’s dancers
We need to stop viewing proteins as static and embrace their dynamism
ResearchBacteria build non-natural proteins using non-natural DNA
Semi-synthetic organism shows there is nothing unique about the chemistry of life as we know it
