RUSSELL STANNARD

Mr Tompkins is back! The mild-mannered bank clerk with the short attention span and vivid imagination has inspired, charmed and informed young and old alike since the publication of the hugely successful Mr Tompkins in Paperback (by George Gamow) in 1965. He is now back in a new set of adventures exploring the extreme edges of the universe - the smallest, the largest, the fastest, the farthest. Through his experiences and his dreams, you are there at Mr Tompkins shoulder watching and taking part in the merry dance of cosmic mysteries: Einsteins relativity, bizarre effects near light-speed, the birth and death of the universe, black holes, quarks, space warps and antimatter, the fuzzy world of the quantum, and that ultimate cosmic mystery of all love. This new text is revised, updated and expanded by best-selling popular-science author Russell Stannard (who wrote the much-acclaimed Uncle Albert series of books for children).

100 years ago Einstein s theory of relativity shattered the world of physics Our comforting Newtonian ideas of space and time were replaced by bizarre and counterintuitive conclusions if you move at high speed time slows down space squashes up and you get heavier travel fast enough and you could weigh as much as a jumbo jet be squashed thinner than a CD without feeling a thing and live for ever And that was just the Special Theory With the General Theory came even stranger ideas of curved space time and changed our understanding of gravity and the cosmos This authoritative and entertaining Very Short Introduction makes the theory of relativity accessible and understandable Using very little mathematics Russell Stannard explains the important concepts of relativity from E mc2 to black holes and explores the theory s impact on science and on our understanding of the universe ABOUT THE SERIES The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area These pocket sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly Our expert authors combine facts analysis perspective new ideas and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable

A classroom-tested English course designed to develop real life communicative skills and powers of self-expression. Written by teachers for teachers, Inside Out provides a thoroughly enjoyable and lively course for adults and young adults built around structured work on grammar and lexis, planned speaking tasks and engaging writing and listening texts. Personalized tasks which focus on learners'' own experiences and encourage meaningful language practice Structured planning time built into tasks improve fluency and accuracy Focus exercises which highlight and recycle lexis help students build a bigger and more active vocabulary Imaginative activities based on pop songs, book extracts and magazine articles maximize motivation Inductive grammar presentations enable students to organize and develop their knowledge. Easy-to-use exercises put these rules into practice and are then recycled as personalized speaking activities. Workbook: - Grammar exercises and vocabulary practice - Complete writing syllabus linked to the language and situations in the Student''s Book - With and Without Key editions available at Elementary, Pre-intermediate and Intermediate levels - Without Key editions include a short story from the Macmillan Readers Series.