Bored of biology? Crushed by chemistry? Perplexed by physics? Does science really matter anyway? Oh, only for... Just about everything! From how to make a flying machine to how to save lives, and from how to bottle lightning to how to live on Mars, this book shows you where science started, why it matters now, and the jaw-dropping places it may lead us to in the future. It will change the way you think about science. Discover how history's most ingenious and daring scientists solved mysteries that had puzzled the ancient world for millennia, triggering an age of discovery that gave us telescopes, flying machines, steam engines, antibiotics, electricity, radio, space travel, and computers. Discover the amazing men and women who challenged conventional thinking and put their lives at risk to learn about everything, from planetary orbits and gold to germs, and from gunpowder to radioactivity.