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.
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
ResearchImmense oganesson projected to have no electron shells
Theory predicts that element 118 would be surrounded by a smear of electrons
OpinionDoes the Nobel prize still matter?
Outmoded, capricious and burdened with obligations – so why does everybody want one?
ResearchTentative claims for new metallic hydrogen phase
New results point to four or more solid forms of hydrogen
OpinionA 3D periodic table?
Molecular frameworks could offer whole new perspectives on our chemical world
FeatureQuantum chemistry on quantum computers
The special properties of quantum computers should make them ideal for accurately modelling chemical systems, Philip Ball discovers
