Why am I passionate about this?

I’m an award-winning science journalist at Falmouth University, UK, and have written for just about every major science magazine going. When I’m not teaching, I try and emulate Indiana Jones by going off on incredible adventures – so far, my hunt for stories in the name of science has taken me to 75 countries and every continent. Science writing doesn’t have to be dull: I adore the weird, quirky stories of science history, about humans being brilliant idiots and somehow making our world a better place.


I wrote

Racing Green: How Motorsport Science Can Save the World

By Kit Chapman,

Book cover of Racing Green: How Motorsport Science Can Save the World

What is my book about?

Racing Green is the story of spin-off technologies from motorsport, and how they’ve changed our world in ways we can…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of “Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!”

Kit Chapman Why did I love this book?

Nobel prize-winner Richard Feynman was renowned not only as a physicist but for his antics away from science (not all of them good). This memoir is a collection of stories throughout his life and proves his incredible skills as a raconteur. You might pick up a little science along the way – he was famous for making incredibly complex ideas easy to understand – but you’ll ache with laughter at some of his adventures. They include breaking into other peoples’ safes while making the atomic bomb, going around Las Vegas with ‘Mr. Big’ (probably Frank Sinatra), and absconding to Brazil to join a samba band.

By Richard P. Feynman,

Why should I read it?

6 authors picked “Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!” as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Richard P. Feynman, winner of the Nobel Prize in physics, thrived on outrageous adventures. In this lively work that "can shatter the stereotype of the stuffy scientist" (Detroit Free Press), Feynman recounts his experiences trading ideas on atomic physics with Einstein and cracking the uncrackable safes guarding the most deeply held nuclear secrets-and much more of an eyebrow-raising nature. In his stories, Feynman's life shines through in all its eccentric glory-a combustible mixture of high intelligence, unlimited curiosity, and raging chutzpah.

Included for this edition is a new introduction by Bill Gates.


Book cover of The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements

Kit Chapman Why did I love this book?

A collection of some of science’s greatest stories, Sam Kean’s books are always a fascinating grab-bag of tales that show the wonderful, creative, messy world of how science operates. The spoon in question refers to gallium – a metal with a melting point so low that if you put a spoon of it in a cup of coffee, it would vanish before your eyes. A must-read for anyone who wants a few good science facts to amaze their friends.

By Sam Kean,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Disappearing Spoon as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Periodic Table is one of man's crowning scientific achievements. But it's also a treasure trove of stories of passion, adventure, betrayal and obsession. The infectious tales and astounding details in THE DISAPPEARING SPOON follow carbon, neon, silicon and gold as they play out their parts in human history, finance, mythology, war, the arts, poison and the lives of the (frequently) mad scientists who discovered them. We learn that Marie Curie used to provoke jealousy in colleagues' wives when she'd invite them into closets to see her glow-in-the-dark experiments. And that Lewis and Clark swallowed mercury capsules across the country…


Book cover of Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War

Kit Chapman Why did I love this book?

Mary Roach is an absolute treasure as a science writer: not only hilarious, but often insightful. I’ll admit, when I wrote my first book, I always wondered "what would Mary Roach do?" when I came to a tricky bit. Grunt isn’t her best-known work, but it’s my favourite because it looks at something only she could do well: non-violent science in the military. The only gun, she writes, is the one that fires frozen chickens at windscreens to see if they can withstand the impact. This is a book about how to keep soldiers safe from the enemy, cool in the desert, and stop Navy SEALS from pooping their pants.

By Mary Roach,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Grunt as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Grunt tackles the science behind some of a soldier's most challenging adversaries-panic, exhaustion, heat, noise-and introduces us to the scientists who seek to conquer them. Mary Roach dodges hostile fire with the U.S. Marine Corps Paintball Team as part of a study on hearing loss and survivability in combat. She visits the fashion design studio of U.S. Army Natick Labs and learns why a zipper is a problem for a sniper. She visits a repurposed movie studio where amputee actors help prepare Marine Corps medics for the shock and gore of combat wounds. At Camp Lemmonier, Djibouti, in east Africa,…


Book cover of The Periodic Table

Kit Chapman Why did I love this book?

A bona fide classic of scientific memoir and short stories, Primo Levi’s The Periodic Table has been considered the gold standard of science writing since it was published. Levi writes about different events in his life, linking them with a different elements on the periodic table. There are many great chapters in his book, but it can be a tough read at times: Levi was imprisoned in the Auschwitz concentration camp, where his skills as a chemist saved him from certain death in the gas chambers at the hands of the Nazis. 

By Primo Levi, Raymond Rosenthal (translator),

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked The Periodic Table as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An extraordinary kind of autobiography in which each of the 21 chapters takes its title and its starting-point from one of the elements in the periodic table. Mingling fact and fiction, science and personal record, history and anecdote, Levi uses his training as an industrial chemist and the terrible years he spent as a prisoner in Auschwitz to illuminate the human condition. Yet this exquisitely lucid text is also humourous and even witty in a way possible only to one who has looked into the abyss.


Book cover of Strange Angel: The Otherworldly Life of Rocket Scientist John Whiteside Parsons

Kit Chapman Why did I love this book?

Ever heard about the founder of NASA who ran a devil-worshiping sex cult? Strange Angel is a story that, when you read it, you think it has to be fiction. John Whiteside Parsons was an eccentric who, in his short life (spoiler alert: he blew himself up) helped create the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, became a cult leader and summoned a demon woman, got into a court battle with L. Ron Hubbard, and was accused of spying for both the Communists and the Israelis. His life was so astonishing it was made into a HBO TV show: it ran for two seasons and it didn’t even get to the best bits.

By George Pendle,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Strange Angel as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'Forget geek stereotypes. Parsons' life seems straight out of a Hollywood thriller ... Pendle's book leaves us with a taste of genius's energy and fragility' Los Angeles Magazine

'You couldn't make it up' Physics World

'As a history of space travel, STRANGE ANGEL is a cornerstone ... Highly recommended' Ray Bradbury

BRILLIANT ROCKET SCIENTIST KILLED IN EXPLOSION screamed the front-page headline of the Los Angeles Times on 18 June 1952. John Parsons, a maverick rocketeer whose work had helped transform the rocket from a derided sci-fi plotline into a reality, was at first mourned as a tragically young victim of…


Explore my book 😀

Racing Green: How Motorsport Science Can Save the World

By Kit Chapman,

Book cover of Racing Green: How Motorsport Science Can Save the World

What is my book about?

Racing Green is the story of spin-off technologies from motorsport, and how they’ve changed our world in ways we can barely imagine. If we’re going to beat climate change, we need green technologies that are being trialled on professional race circuits around the world. 

From cars made of flax and tyres made of dandelions to electric- and hydrogen-powered racers, to 3D-printing and AI drivers, future technologies are pioneered in a world where the difference between victory and defeat can be a tenth of a second. During the COVID pandemic, race even played a part in protecting the sick and saving lives.  Motorsport has already changed our world. And now it’s going to play a role in saving it.

Book cover of “Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!”
Book cover of The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements
Book cover of Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War

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Book cover of Leora's Letters: The Story of Love and Loss for an Iowa Family During World War II

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Joy Neal Kidney Author Of Leora's Letters: The Story of Love and Loss for an Iowa Family During World War II

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Why am I passionate about this?

Author Keeper of family stories Collector of old stuff that have stories Saver of sepia photos Leora historian Fan of stories behind stories

Joy's 3 favorite reads in 2024

What is my book about?

The day the second atomic bomb was dropped, Clabe and Leora Wilson’s postman brought a telegram to their acreage near Perry, Iowa. One son was already in the U.S. Navy before Pearl Harbor had been attacked. Four more sons worked with their father, tenant farmers near Minburn until, one by one; all five sons were serving their country in the military–two in the Navy and three as Army Air Force pilots.

Only two sons came home.

Leora’s Letters is the compelling true account of a woman whose most tender hopes were disrupted by great losses. Yet she lived out four…

By Joy Neal Kidney, Robin Grunder,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Leora's Letters as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The day the second atomic bomb was dropped, Clabe and Leora Wilson’s postman brought a telegram to their acreage near Perry, Iowa. One son was already in the U.S. Navy before Pearl Harbor had been attacked. Four more sons worked with their father, tenant farmers near Minburn until, one by one, all five sons were serving their country in the military. The oldest son re-enlisted in the Navy. The younger three became U.S. Army Air Force pilots. As the family optimist, Leora wrote hundreds of letters, among all her regular chores, dispensing news and keeping up the morale of the…


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