Gribbin, John 1946–
Gribbin, John 1946–
(John R. Gribbin)
PERSONAL: Born March 19, 1946, in Maidstone, Kent, England; married; wife's name Mary; children: two sons. Education: Sussex University, B.Sc., 1966, M.Sc., 1967; Cambridge University, Ph.D., 1971.
ADDRESSES: Home—East Sussex, England. Agent—Murray Pollinger, 4 Garrick St., London WC2, England. E-mail—J.R.Gribbin@sussex.ac.uk.
CAREER: Writer, astrophysicist, researcher, and educator. Staff writer for Nature, 1970–75; University of Sussex, Brighton, England, member of Science Policy Research Unit, 1975–78; physics consultant to New Scientist, 1978–; University of Sussex, visiting fellow in astronomy, 1992–; adviser to Thames TV and TV-South.
MEMBER: Royal Astronomical Society (fellow), Royal Meteorological Society (fellow), Royal Geographical Society (fellow).
AWARDS, HONORS: Gravity Research Foundation award, 1970, for study of the nature of superluminous astronomical objects; Association of British Science Writers, national award, 1974, for writings on climatic change, and 1991; Griffith Observatory (Los Angeles, CA), first prize, 1982, for report on astronomical discoveries pertaining to the shrinking of the sun.
WRITINGS:
FICTION
(With Douglas Orgill) The Sixth Winter, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1979.
(With Douglas Orgill) Brother Esau, Harper (New York, NY), 1982.
(With Marcus Chown) Double Planet, Gollancz (London, England), 1988, Avon (New York, NY), 1991.
Father to the Man, Gollancz (London, England), 1989, Tor Books (New York, NY), 1990.
(With D.G. Compton) Ragnarok, Gollancz (London, England), 1991.
(With Marcus Chown) Reunion (sequel to Double Planet), Gollancz (London, England), 1991.
Innervisions, Roc (London, England), 1993.
EDITOR; "ESSENTIAL SCIENCE" SERIES
(And author) Quantum Physics, DK Publishers (New York, NY), 2002.
Jeremy Cherfas, The Human Genome, DK Publishers (New York, NY), 2002.
John D. McCrone, How the Brain Works, DK Publishers (New York, NY), 2002.
Marek Walisiewicz, Alternative Energy, DK Publishers (New York, NY), 2002.
David Burnie, Evolution, DK Publishers (New York, NY), 2002.
Jack Challoner, Artificial Intelligence, DK Publishers (New York, NY), 2002.
Fred Pearce, Global Warming, DK Publishers (New York, NY), 2002.
Hazel Richardson, Killer Diseases, DK Publishers (New York, NY), 2002.
Sue Bowler, Restless Earth, DK Publishers (New York, NY), 2002.
NONFICTION, WITH WIFE, MARY GRIBBIN
Weather, Rourke Enterprises (Vero Beach, FL), 1985.
The One Per-Cent Advantage: The Sociobiology of Being Human, Blackwell (Cambridge, MA), 1988.
Children of the Ice: Climate and Human Origins, Blackwell (Cambridge, MA), 1990.
Too Hot to Handle?: Greenhouse Effect, Corgi (London, England), 1992.
Being Human: Putting People in an Evolutionary Perspective, Dent (London, England), 1993.
Time and Space, Dorling Kindersley (London, England), 1994.
Fire on Earth: Doomsday, Dinosaurs, and Humankind, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1996.
Richard Feynman: A Life in Science, Dutton (New York, NY), 1997.
Almost Everyone's Guide to Science: The Universe and Everything, Yale University Press (New Haven, CT), 1999.
Stardust: Supernovae and Life: The Cosmic Connection, Yale University Press (New Haven, CT), 2000.
Ice Age, Penguin Press (New York, NY), 2001.
FitzRoy: The Remarkable Story of Darwin's Captain and the Invention of the Weather Forecast, Review (London, England), 2003.
Annus Mirabilis: 1905, Albert Einstein, and the Theory of Relativity, Chamberlain Bros. (New York, NY), 2005.
The Science of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials, introduction by Philip Pullman, Knopf (New York, NY), 2005.
NONFICTION
(With Stephen Plagemann) The Jupiter Effect, Walker & Co. (New York, NY), 1974, revised edition published as The Jupiter Effect Reconsidered, Vintage Books (New York, NY), 1982.
Our Changing Climate, Faber & Faber (London, England), 1975.
Astronomy for the Amateur, McKay (New York, NY), 1976.
Forecasts, Famines, and Freezes: Climates and Man's Future, Walker & Co. (New York, NY), 1976.
Galaxy Formation: A Personal View, Wiley (New York, NY), 1976.
Our Changing Universe: The New Astronomy, Dutton (New York, NY), 1976.
Our Changing Planet, Crowell (New York, NY), 1977.
White Holes: Cosmic Gushers in the Universe, Delacorte/Delta (New York, NY), 1977.
(Editor and contributor) Climatic Change, Cambridge University Press (New York, NY), 1978.
This Shaking Earth, Putnam (New York, NY), 1978.
What's Wrong with Our Weather?: The Climatic Threat of the Twenty-first Century, Scribner's (New York, NY), 1978, published in England as The Climatic Threat: What's Wrong with Our Weather?, Fontana (London, England), 1978.
Climate and Mankind, Earthscan (London, England), 1979.
Future Worlds, Plenum (New York, NY), 1979.
Timewarps, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1979.
Weather Force: Climate and Its Impact on Our World, Putnam (New York, NY), 1979.
The Death of the Sun, illustrated by Neil Hyslop, Delacorte/Delta (New York, NY), 1980, published in England as The Strangest Star: The Scientific Account of the Life and Death of the Sun, Fontana (London, England), 1980.
Carbon Dioxide, Climate, and Man, Earthscan (London, England), 1981.
Genesis: The Origins of Man and the Universe, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1981.
(Editor and contributor) Cosmology Today, IPC (London, England), 1982.
Future Weather and the Greenhouse Effect, Delacorte/Delta (New York, NY), 1982.
(With Jeremy Cherfas) The Monkey Puzzle: A Family Tree, Pantheon (New York, NY), 1982.
(With Stephen Plagemann) Beyond the Jupiter Effect, Macdonald (London, England), 1983.
Spacewarps: Black Holes, White Holes, Quasars, and the Universe, Delacorte (New York, NY), 1983.
In Search of Schroedinger's Cat: The Startling World of Quantum Physics Explained, Bantam (New York, NY), 1984.
(With Jeremy Cherfas) The Redundant Male: Is Sex Irrelevant in the Modern World?, Pantheon (New York, NY), 1984.
In Search of the Double Helix: Quantum Physics and Life, McGraw-Hill (New York, NY), 1985.
(Editor) The Breathing Planet, Blackwell (Cambridge, MA), 1986.
In Search of the Big Bang: Quantum Physics and Cosmology, illustrated by Neil Hyslop, Bantam (New York, NY), 1986.
The Omega Point: The Search for the Missing Mass and the Ultimate Fate of the Universe, Heinemann (London, England), 1987, Bantam (New York, NY), 1988.
The Hole in the Sky: Man's Threat to the Ozone Layer, Bantam (New York, NY), 1988, revised edition, 1993.
(With Martin Rees) Cosmic Coincidences: Dark Matter, Mankind, and Anthropic Cosmology, Bantam (New York, NY), 1989, published as The Stuff of the Universe: Dark Matter, Mankind, and the Coincidences of Cosmology, Black Swan (London, England), 1991.
(With Mick Kelly) Winds of Change, Headway (London, England), 1989.
(With Kate Charlesworth) The Cartoon History of Time: A Beginner's Guide to Quantum Physics, Relativity, and the Beginning of the Universe, Plume (New York, NY), 1990.
Hothouse Earth: The Greenhouse Effect and Gaia, Grove/Weidenfeld (New York, NY), 1990.
Blinded by the Light: The Secret Life of the Sun, Harmony (New York, NY), 1991.
(With Paul Davies) The Matter Myth: Towards Twenty-first-Century Science, Viking (London, England), 1991, published as The Matter Myth: Dramatic Discoveries That Challenge Our Understanding of Physical Reality, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1992.
In Search of the Edge of Time, Bantam (New York, NY), 1992, published as Unveiling the Edge of Time: Black Holes, White Holes, Wormholes, Harmony (New York, NY), 1992.
(With Michael White) Stephen Hawking: A Life in Science, Dutton (New York, NY), 1992, updated edition, Joseph Henry Press (Washington, DC), 2002.
(With Michael White) Einstein: A Life in Science, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1993.
In the Beginning: After COBE and before the Big Bang, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1993, published as In the Beginning: The Birth of the Living Universe, Penguin (London, England), 1994.
(With Michael White) Darwin: A Life in Science, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1995.
Schroedinger's Kittens and the Search for Reality: Solving the Quantum Mysteries, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1995.
Companion to the Cosmos, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1996.
Origins: Our Place in Hubble's Universe, Overlook (Woodstock, NY), 1997.
The Case of the Missing Neutrinos: And Other Phenomena of the Universe, Fromm International (New York, NY), 1998.
(With Simon Goodwin) Empire of the Sun: Planets and Moons of the Solar System, New York University Press (New York, NY), 1998.
The Search for Superstrings, Symmetry, and the Theory of Everything, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1998.
Q Is for Quantum: An Encyclopedia of Particle Physics, edited by Mary Gribbin, illustrated by Jonathan Gribbin, timelines by Benjamin Gribbin, Free Press (New York, NY), 1998.
The Little Book of Science, Barnes & Noble (New York, NY), 1999.
The Birth of Time: How Astronomers Measured the Age of the Universe, Weidenfeld & Nicolson (London, England), 1999, Yale University Press (New Haven, CT), 2000.
(With Simon Goodwin) XTL: Extraterrestrial Life and How to Find It, Cassell & Co. (London, England), 2001.
Hyperspace: Our Final Frontier (accompanies the 2001 BBC television series Space), DK Publishers (New York, NY), 2001.
Quantum Physics, DK Publishers (New York, NY), 2002.
Science, a History, 1543–2001, Allen Lane (New York, NY), 2002.
The First Chimpanzee: In Search of Human Origins, Barnes & Noble (New York, NY), 2003.
Mating Game, Barnes & Noble (New York, NY), 2003.
The Scientists: A History of Science Told through the Lives of Its Greatest Inventors, Random House (New York, NY), 2003.
Get a Grip on Physics, Barnes & Noble (New York, NY), 2003.
Deep Simplicity: Bringing Order to Chaos and Complexity, Random House (New York, NY), 2004.
The Fellowship: The Story of a Revolution, Allen Lane (London, England), 2005.
Contributor to British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC-World Service), and British Forces Radio.
Contributor to newspapers and periodicals, including New Scientist, Guardian (Manchester, England), Times (London, England), Analog, and Science Digest.
SIDELIGHTS: Astrophysicist, educator, and author, John Gribbin "has become one of Britain's most prolific and best-known popularisers of science, with books on almost every hot scientific issue, from black holes to the ozone layer," wrote Edward James and David V. Barrett in the St. James Guide to Science Fiction Writers. Often in collaboration with others, Gribbin has written books on the nature of time, evolution, and quantum physics; biographies of important scientists (including Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking); and even science fiction novels. "He is one of the very few science-based British SF writers," James and Barrett concluded, "and the science in his books can always be relied upon to be considerably more accurate than most fictional science."
Gribbin's first book, The Jupiter Effect, explores the effects that a 1982 alignment of the planets might have on California's precarious San Andreas fault. With coauthor Stephen Plagemann, Gribbin suggests that an earthquake along the fault may occur as a result of the relatively rare aligning of the planets. The hypothesis proved inaccurate, though its unusual nature enabled the book to receive considerable media attention upon publication in 1974.
In another title on the subject of earthquakes, Gribbin examines the threat of this natural disaster in This Shaking Earth. He argues that the earth is less stable than was previously assumed, and that the population is consequently more vulnerable to catastrophe. Continental drift, Gribbin contends, can produce incredible disasters, including earthquakes and volcanos that may dwarf destruction caused by war and pollution. In the New York Times, Harold M. Schmeck wrote: "When many Americans seem to blame all the ills of humanity on human causes—including, notably, too much procreation and too little concern for the environment—a book like this makes fascinating reading."
In his works on meteorology, Gribbin also focuses on possible catastrophic events and speculates about the future. Weather Force: Climate and Its Impact on Our World, for example, explores the origins of extreme events, or "freak weather." In this book, published in 1979, Gribbin contends that the earth is approaching another ice age, though when this might happen is difficult to determine. In Future Weather and the Greenhouse Effect, published three years later, he takes the opposite tack and analyzes the evidence that the earth's temperature is actually increasing. He traces this heating to the accelerated burning of fossil fuels—oil, coal, and gas—in the twentieth century. David Burns, in his Washington Post review, called Future Weather "a fine account of the natural forces … that cause the vagaries of daily weather, and destructive events such as droughts, floods, and extremes of heat and cold."
In Timewarps, Gribbin offers a less pessimistic perspective, examining the history of man's rendering of time and speculating on future developments. He examines Einstein's theories of relativity and addresses the possibility of devices proposed in science fiction, such as dream telepathy and time travel. In the Saturday Review, Alan Harrington described Timewarps as a "startling and provocative book," and called Gribbin a "brilliant astrophysicist." Gribbin explores similar subjects in Unveiling the Edge of Time: Black Holes, White Holes, Wormholes and Time and Space. One of the most fascinating ideas inherent in Einstein's general theory of relativity is the relationship between time and space. "Researchers from California to Moscow have recently been investigating the possibility of time travel," stated Gribbin and his coauthor (and wife) Mary Gribbin in the New Statesman & Society. "They are not, as yet, building Tardis [a time machine depicted in the 'Dr. Who' science fiction tales] lookalikes in their laboratories; but they have realized that, according to the equations … there is nothing in the laws of physics to prevent time travel. It may be extremely difficult to put into practice; but it is not impossible." Many critics have commented that Gribbin makes concepts such as time travel understandable for the average reader. In his review of Unveiling the Edge of Time, New York Times Book Review contributor Hans Christian von Baeyer wrote:, "Mr. Gribbin's thought-provoking book is written in the smooth, easy style of professional science journalism. Simple line drawings, a glossary and a short bibliography help to give the reader the secure feeling of being in the hands of a competent guide through perplexing territory."
Gribbin is also coauthor, with Jeremy Cherfas, of The Monkey Puzzle, a retracing of evolution using current discoveries involving DNA, the so-called "thread of life." In The Monkey Puzzle, Gribbin and Cherfas contend that studying the evolution of DNA provides a more accurate description of human evolution than does the study of fossils. June Goodfield, writing in the Washington Post, expressed disappointment with the coauthors' denunciation of previous views of evolution as fraudulent, but found that "the case [Gribbin and Cherfas] make in this most interesting book is indeed a compelling one." Science Books and Film critic Eric Delson came to a similar conclusion. He charged that the argument against the "'traditional' view is over-stated" but concluded that The Monkey Puzzle "is well produced and generally well paced."
In several books, Gribbin investigates how recent research in physics bears on the eternal question about how the universe began. In In Search of the Big Bang, which Colin Ronan described in the Times Literary Supplement as "a tour de force, written in a most persuasive journalistic style," Gribbin examines how far quantum physics has gone toward discovering what happened at the birth of the universe. "Mr. Gribbin's account of these enthralling developments is patient and serious," wrote John Maddox in the New York Times Book Review. Maddox concluded that the book "will be, for the general audience at which the book is aimed, a good, hard, but entertaining read.
Many of Gribbin's science fiction novels echo his concern with natural disasters and evolutionary theory. Cowritten with Douglas Orgill, The Sixth Winter is, according to James and Barrett, "a fairly traditional disaster story about a new ice age," while Brother Esau tells "about the discovery of the Yeti." Father to the Man, tells about a scientist's attempt to perfect the human race through gene manipulation. When human misuse of the environment leads to a worldwide catastrophe, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist undertakes the task of altering the human species by crossing a pygmy chimpanzee with a human. "The utter asininity of humanity gets its comeuppance quite nicely," explained Tom Easton in Analog, "and evolution demonstrates that no, it won't ever learn either." Double Planet, published before Father to the Man, tells of an attempt to provide the Moon with its own atmosphere by causing a newly-discovered comet to crash into it. "The melodrama," Easton stated, "is more that of the situation than that of overblown characters or rhetoric, and it thus rings convincingly true."
Gribbin has also coauthored successful biographies of two of the most important twentieth-century physicists: Stephen Hawking and Albert Einstein. Einstein: A Life in Science, cowritten with Michael White, tells not only about Einstein's personal experiences (White's contribution), but explains his theories in light of current thinking (Gribbin's contribution). "Mr. Gribbin's metaphors and analogies fairly propel you toward understanding," declared New York Times Book Review contributor Robert Kanigel. "In Mr. Gribbin's explanatory glow you want to linger." Susan Aldridge, writing in the New Statesman & Society, stated: "The strength of this book lies in the way Gribbin conveys the importance and meaning of relativity, from its experimental verification by Arthur Eddington in 1919 to the insights it has allowed into the recent discoveries of phenomena such as pulsars, quasars and black holes." Stephen Hawking: A Life in Science, published before Einstein, does the same thing for the man who may be, according to Time reviewer Leon Jaroff, the greatest modern theoretical physicist. "What this book brings to the already crowded domain of Hawking lore," Jaroff wrote, "is a rather successful merger of biography and physics." Though Gribbin successfully translated Hawking's scientific accomplishments into understandable language, "it is the man, more than the science, who dominates this book, with his triumph over a terrible affliction, his courage, his humor, and his admirable lack of self-pity," Jaroff concluded.
In Search of Schroedinger's Cat: The Startling World of Quantum Physics Explained is the first part of a trilogy that examines, according to what Gribbin once told CA, "the role of quantum physics in determining the nature of our universe, life, and everything. It has been described by Isaac Asimov as 'absolutely fascinating.'" Gribbin further commented that his "ambition is to write more nonfiction books than Isaac Asimov."
In Deep Simplicity: Bringing Order to Chaos and Complexity, Gribbin offers a guided tour of the history and development of chaos theory. This theory, Gribbin notes, can offer important insights into one of mankind's fundamental questions: where did life come from? He cites chaos theory's origins in Newtonian physics and associated mathematics, describing how the theory was hampered by the co-called three-body problem that presented enormous difficulty in making calculations about three or more bodies in motion at once. Without solving this problem, scientists were unable to mathematically prove that the solar system and other orbital systems were stable. Gribbin describes how the mathematician Henri Poincare determined that stable orbits could actually arise from seemingly chaotic systems, thus overcoming the limitations imposed by the three-body problem. He recounts the work of other mathematicians and scientists who worked on chaos theory, and outlines a variety of important discoveries and underlying mathematics. Gribbin ends with the discovery that chaos theory is relevant even within the well-defined systems of biology. "Gribbin's sophisticated presentation may prove daunting to casual science buffs," noted a Publishers Weekly reviewer, who also stated that seasoned science readers would find worthwhile material in the book. "Gribbin gives a characteristically clear presentation of a challenging science," commented Booklist reviewer Gilbert Taylor.
Continuing in the vein of scientific biographies of notable scientists and their discoveries, Gribbin addresses the work of the man whose name has become synonymous with scientific intellect in Annus Mirabilis: 1905, Albert Einstein, and the Theory of Relativity. Gribbin uses the beginning and ending portions of the book to provide concise summaries of the first twenty-five, and last fifty years of Einstein's life. He provides historical accounts of Einstein's early and later years, his sometimes turbulent personal life, and the scientific work that would earn Einstein a permanent place in both the history of science and the world's popular culture. The core of the book, however, is a recounting of the events of the "miracle year" of 1905, when Einstein formulated his groundbreaking theory of relativity. "This unique format offers a vivid portrait of the culture, life, and work of this amazing scientific mind," commented reviewer Shannon Cde Baca in the Journal of College Science Teaching. With the focus on the pivotal year in Einstein's work, "the book is unique among Einstein biographies," noted a reviewer in Science News.
The Fellowship: The Story of a Revolution traces the tumultuous history of the scientific revolution, that approximate period of time from the middle of the sixteenth century to the latter part of the seventeenth century when science came to be widely accepted as a way of talking about and conceiving of the world; when fundamental scientific discoveries were made and reproducible experimentation became the norm; and when the future of technology was charted by individuals working on highly sophisticated ideas in relatively unsophisticated conditions. Gribbin recounts a plethora of key events and critical discoveries, many of which occurred in England, including works and ideas of iconic figures such as Galileo, Sir Isaac Newton, Robert Hooke, Robert Boyle, and Edmond Halley. The book's final chapter explains how Halley successfully predicted the return of his namesake comet—a vindication of sorts for scientific observation and inquiry and one that "took the innovations in cosmology of the preceding century from the theoretical to the verifiable in one celestial firework," commented a reviewer in Economist.
With The Science of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials, Gribbin and his wife Mary combine an interest in science and literature to explicate scientific concepts used in Philip Pullman's fantasy trilogy. The Gribbins use the concepts of Pullman's work as an entry point for explaining complex scientific ideas to an audience of younger readers. The authors "do an impressive job of explaining scientific concepts at a level readers will understand," observed Jeannine M. Chapman in Horn Book Magazine. The authors discuss such topics as natural selection, quantum physics, string theory, magnetism, atomic physics, dark matter, and the space-time continuum, and connect these ideas to relevant portions of Pullman's work. At the heart of the book is the Gribbins' idea that "science is explainable magic." The Gribbins' book "offers much to readers simply interested in the advanced sciences, who then may be led back to" Pullman's fiction, noted Booklist reviewer Ilene Cooper.
BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:
BOOKS
Reginald, Robert, Science Fiction & Fantasy Literature, 1975–1991, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 1992.
St. James Guide to Science Fiction Writers, 4th edition, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1996.
PERIODICALS
American Libraries, October, 1984, review of In Search of Schroedinger's Cat: The Startling World of Quantum Physics Explained, p. 622.
American Scholar, winter, 2000, Jeremy Bernstein, review of Almost Everyone's Guide to Science: The Universe and Everything, p. 149.
Analog, October, 1989, Tom Easton, review of Father to the Man, p. 177; October, 1990, review of Where Buffalo Roam …, p. 60; May, 1991, Tom Easton, review of Double Planet, p. 180.
Appraisal, winter, 1995, review of Time and Space, p. 93.
Astronomy, August, 1993, review of Stephen Hawking: A Life in Science, p. 99.
Atlanta Journal and Atlanta Constitution, June 14, 1992, "Focus: Stephen Hawking—A Life in Science," p. N8; March 17, 1996, Wendy Orent, "Darwinian Definition Evolving," p. L10.
Atlantic, November, 1982, Phoebe-Lou Adams, review of The Monkey Puzzle, p. 170.
Booklist, April 1, 1986, review of The Breathing Planet, p. 1104; June 1, 1986, review of In Search of the Big Bang, p. 1423; July, 1988, review of The Hole in the Sky, p. 1763; August, 1989, review of Cosmic Coincidences, p. 1932; May 15, 1990, review of Hothouse Earth, p. 1761; September 15, 1990, review of Hothouse Earth, p. 105; May 1, 1992, Gilbert Taylor, review of Stephen Hawking, p. 1573; September 15, 1992, Gilbert Taylor, review of Unveiling the Edge of Time, p. 108; June 1, 1993, Gilbert Taylor, review of In the Beginning, p. 1752; February 1, 1994, Denise Perry Donavin, review of Einstein, p. 985; December 1, 1994, Donna Seaman, reviews of In the Beginning, Stephen Hawking, and Unveiling the Edge of Time, p. 644; April 15, 1995, Gilbert Taylor, review of Schroedinger's Kittens and the Search for Reality, p. 1461; December 1, 1995, Karen Simonetti, review of Darwin, p. 615; April 1, 2000, Christopher Bryce, review of The Birth of Time, p. 1421; October 1, 2000, Gilbert Taylor, review of Stardust: Supernovae and Life: The Cosmic Connection, p. 308; March 1, 2005, Gilbert Taylor, review of Deep Simplicity: Bringing Order to Chaos and Complexity, p. 1114; August, 2005, Ilene Cooper, review of The Science of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials, p. 2014.
Book Report, March, 1992, review of Double Planet, p. 59; May, 1995, review of Time and Space, p. 56.
Books, September, 1987, review of In Search of the Big Bang, p. 25.
BookWatch, October, 1990, review of Children of the Ice, p. 4; February, 1992, review of Blinded by the Light, p. 4.
Boston Globe, June 28, 1992, Alan Lightman, "The Scientist as Celebrity," p. B40.
British Book News, January, 1986, review of In Search of the Double Helix, p. 36; September, 1987, review of The Omega Point, p. 569.
Business Book Review, Number 1, 1991, review of Hothouse Earth, p. 143.
Canadian Geographic, June-July, 1989, Lewis Poulin, review of The Hole in the Sky, p. 74.
Chicago Tribune, May 20, 1992, Peter Gorner, "British Physicist's Biography Holds Him in Awe," Section 5, p. 3.
Children's BookWatch, February, 1995, review of Time and Space, p. 6.
Choice, November, 1990, review of Children of the Ice and Hothouse Earth, p. 506; March, 1993, review of Unveiling the Edge of Time, p. 1179; December, 1993, review of In the Beginning, p. 626.
Christian Century, December 7, 1988, review of The One Per-Cent Advantage, p. 1131.
Discover, October, 2000, Eric Powell, review of Stardust, p. 105.
Economist, July 12, 1986, review of In Search of the Big Bang, p. 85; August 20, 2005, "Astrologers and Alchemists: The English Scientific Revolution," review of The Fellowship: The Story of a Revolution, p. 65.
Future, March, 1991, review of Hothouse Earth, p. 38.
Geographical Journal, March, 1987, review of Breathing Planet, p. 109; November, 1990, review of Winds of Change, p. 340.
Guardian Weekly, December 16, 1990, review of Hothouse Earth, p. 28; June 26, 1994, review of In the Beginning, p. 29.
Horn Book Guide, spring, 1995, review of Time and Space, p. 117.
Horn Book Magazine, November-December, 2005, Jeannine M. Chapman, review of The Science of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials, p. 734.
Illustrated London News, autumn, 1993, review of Albert Einstein, p. 82.
Journal of College Science Teaching, November-December, 2005, Shannon Cde Baca, review of Annus Mirabilis: 1905, Albert Einstein, and the Theory of Relativity, p. 51.
Kirkus Reviews, June 15, 1989, review of Cosmic Coincidences, p. 893; August 1, 1992, review of Unveiling the Edge of Time, p. 963; June 15, 1993, review of In the Beginning, p. 766.
Kliatt, fall, 1986, review of In Search of the Big Bang, p. 67.
Library Journal, March 1, 1987, review of In Search of the Big Bang, p. 30; September 1, 1988, review of The Hole in the Sky, p. 179; March 1, 1989, Ellis Mount and Barbara A. List, review of The Hole in the Sky, p. 42; March 1, 1990, Richard Shotwell, review of Children of the Ice, p. 110; May 15, 1990, Richard Shotwell, review of Hothouse Earth, p. 92; March 1, 1991, review of Children of the Ice, p. 62; March 1, 1992, Doug Kranch, review of The Matter Myth, p. 114; May 1, 1992, Gregg Sapp, review of Stephen Hawking, p. 92; October 1, 1992, Gregg Sapp, review of Unveiling the Edge of Time, p. 113; July, 1993, Gregg Sapp, review of In the Beginning, p. 112; March 1, 1994, Hilary D. Burton, review of Einstein, p. 96; May 1, 1995, Jack W. Weigel, review of Schroedinger's Kittens and the Search for Reality, p. 126; March 1, 2000, review of The Birth of Time, p. 125.
Locus; March, 1990, review of Father to the Man, p. 64; November, 1991, review of Double Planet, p. 54.
Los Angeles Times, June 9, 1992, BettyAnn Kevles, "Scientist's Biography Loses a Bit in 'Translation,'" p. E2; October 16, 1992, John Wilkes, "Guide to the Cosmos for the Earth-bound," p. E4; October 17, 1995, Lee Dembart, "Getting a Grip on Quantum Theory," p. E4.
Los Angeles Times Book Review, September 13, 1992, review of Blinded by the Light, p. 15.
Natural History, January, 1992, Malcolm S. Longair, review of The Matter Myth, p. 68.
Nature, February 28, 1985, review of In Search of Schroedinger's Cat, p. 824; August 7, 1986, review of In Search of the Big Bang, p. 505; November 19, 1987, review of The Omega Point, p. 294; January 2, 1992, review of Blinded by the Light, p. 29; April 2, 1992, review of Blinded by the Light, p. 396; March 25, 1993, review of Unveiling the Edge of Time, p. 302; June 9, 1994, review of In the Beginning, p. 454.
Nature Canada, fall, 1991, Martin H. Edwards, review of Hothouse Earth, p. 58.
New Age, January, 1990, review of Cosmic Coincidences, p. 85.
New Scientist, December 9, 1989, review of Father to the Man, p. 54; February 10, 1990, review of The Stuff of the Universe, p. 59; March 31, 1990, review of Winds of Change, p. 62; May 4, 1991, review of The Stuff of the Universe, p. 44; June 8, 1991, review of Blinded by the Light, p. 49; October 5, 1991, review of Reunion, p. 51; December 25, 1993, review of Innervisions, p. 62.
New Statesman & Society, August 23, 1991, David V. Barrett, review of Reunion, p. 39; October 4, 1991, Bernard Dixon, review of The Matter Myth, p. 39; September 3, 1993, Susan Aldridge, review of Einstein, p. 37; p. 37; August 19, 1994, John and Mary Gribbin, "Could We Ever Be Time Lords?," p. 29; April 7, 1995, "A Tale of Two Kitties," p. 45; September 25, 2000, Brenda Maddox, "Them and Us," p. 79.
New Yorker, September 8, 1986, review of In Search of the Big Bang, p. 132.
New York Times, June 5, 1979, Harold M. Schmeck, review of This Shaking Earth.
New York Times Book Review, January 27, 1980, Steven Soderbergh, review of The Sixth Winter, p. 15; May 4, 1986, John Maddox, review of In Search of the Big Bang, p. 35; June 7, 1992, Jeremy Bernstein, "The Second Coming of Einstein?," p. 12; November 29, 1992, Hans Christian von Baeyer, "In Search of Frozen Stars," p. 9; August 29, 1993, Dennis Overbye, "Two Bowls of Cosmic Porridge," p. 14; December 5, 1993, review of In the Beginning, p. 76; September 18, 1994, Robert Kanigel, "Famous for Being Einstein," p. 11; January 15, 1995, review of In the Beginning, p. 28; June 11, 1995, review of In the Beginning, p. 60; July 16, 1995, Ann Finkbeiner, "Competing Universes," p. 24.
Observer, December 1, 1985, review of In Search of Schroedinger's Cat, p. 17; June 29, 1986, review of In Search of the Big Bang, p. 23; April 15, 1990, review of Hothouse Earth, p. 60; October 14, 1990, review of Hothouse Earth, p. 64; July 3, 1994, review of In the Beginning, p. 29.
Publishers Weekly, May 13, 1988, review of The One Per-Cent Advantage, p. 260; July 14, 1989, Penny Kaganoff, review of Cosmic Coincidences, p. 70; December 13, 1991, review of The Matter Myth, p. 50; April 13, 1992, review of Stephen Hawking, p. 48; August 24, 1992, review of Unveiling the Edge of Time, p. 67; June 21, 1993, review of In the Beginning, p. 95; January 31, 1994, review of Einstein, p. 71; November 28, 1994, review of In the Beginning, p. 59; April 17, 1995, review of Schroedinger's Kittens and the Search for Reality, p. 46; November 6, 1995, review of Darwin, p. 78; March 27, 2000, review of The Birth of Time, p. 60; September 11, 2000, review of Stardust, p. 76; February 21, 2005, review of Deep Simplicity, p. 165; August 29, 2005, review of The Science of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials, p. 60.
Reader's Digest (Canadian edition), February, 1993, review of A Brief History of Stephen Hawking, p. 154.
Reference and Resource Book News, April, 1989, review of The One Per-Cent Advantage, p. 9; August, 1990, review of Children of the Ice, p. 9.
Saturday Review, April 14, 1979, Alan Harrington, review of Timewarps.
School Library Journal, December, 1992, Dennis Mc-Faden, review of Stephen Hawking, p. 153; February, 1995, Margaret M. Hagel, review of Time and Space, p. 118.
Science, January 26, 1996, William Montgomery, review of Darwin, p. 455.
Science Books and Film, May-June, 1983, Eric Del-son, review of The Monkey Puzzle; January, 1986, review of In Search of Schroedinger's Cat, p. 147; September, 1986, review of In Search of the Double Helix, p. 46; November, 1986, review of The Breathing Planet, p. 88; March, 1987, review of In Search of the Big Bang, p. 217; March, 1991, review of Children of the Ice, p. 39; March, 1992, review of Blinded by the Light, p. 39.
Science Fiction Chronicle, September, 1993, review of Innervisions, p. 33.
Science Fiction Review, August, 1985, review of In Search of Schroedinger's Cat, p. 16.
Science News, June 18, 2005, review of Annus Mirabilis, p. 399.
SciTech Book News, September, 1986, review of In Search of the Double Helix, p. 16; July, 1990, review of Children of the Ice, p. 2; September, 1990, review of Hothouse Earth, p. 10; February, 1992, review of Blinded by the Light, p. 9; January, 1993, review of Unveiling the Edge of Time, p. 10; September, 2005, review of Annus Mirabilis.
Sky and Telescope, January, 1994, review of In the Beginning, p. 58.
Time, June 8, 1992, Leon Jaroff, review of Stephen Hawking, p. 88.
Times Educational Supplement, January 10, 1986, review of In Search of the Double Helix, p. 26; November 13, 1987, review of The Omega Point, p. 28; July 15, 1988, review of The Hole in the Sky, p. 23; September 9, 1988, review of The One Per-Cent Advantage, p. 31; November 16, 1990, review of The Hole in the Sky, p. R1; May 15, 1992, review of In Search of the Edge of Time, p. 6; May 28, 1993, review of In the Beginning, p. 10.
Times Literary Supplement, August 1, 1986, review of In Search of the Double Helix, p. 836; December 12, 1986, Colin Ronan, review of In Search of the Big Bang, p. 1407; February 25, 1994, review of In the Beginning, p. 5.
Wall Street Journal, September 26, 1989, review of Cosmic Coincidences, p. A24; January 21, 1993, Jim Holt, "Music and Other Mysteries," p. A12.
Washington Post, September 24, 1982, David Burns, review of Future Weather and the Greenhouse Effect, p. C3; December 21, 1982, June Goodfield, review of The Monkey Puzzle, p. C2; June 7, 1992, Gregory Benford, "Master of the Universe," p. 11.
West Coast Review of Books, Number 3, 1987, review of In Search of the Double Helix, p. 44.
World Magazine, March, 1990, Joy Dutton, review of The Stuff of the Universe, p. 90.
ONLINE
Penguin UK Web site, http://www.penguin.co.uk/ (March 25, 2006), biography of John Gribbin.