John Farndon (born 1960) is a British writer of books, plays and music. He is best known as a writer of, and contributor to, science books for children.

Biography

Farndon studied Earth sciences and English literature at Jesus College, Cambridge University.Daily Telegraph, 13 Oct 2014 ''Oxbridge interview questions: are you clever enough?'' By Sarah Oliver
/ref> He is a Fellow of the

Royal Literary Fund The Royal Literary Fund (RLF) is a benevolent fund that gives assistance to published British writers in financial difficulties. Founded in 1790, and granted a royal charter in 1818, the Fund has helped an extensive roll of authors through its lon ...

Anglia Ruskin University Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) is a public research university in the region of East Anglia, United Kingdom. Its origins date back to the Cambridge School of Art (CSA), founded by William John Beamont, a Fellow of Trinity College at the Unive ...

(Cambridge). Farndon was described by the Royal Literary Fund as "a writer of non-fiction books, and a playwright, lyricist, composer and literary translator. Spurred by intense intellectual curiosity, his interests range widely and he writes on topics from chemistry to China." In 2014 the

Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was foun ...

reviewed Farndon's book for 'would be' Oxbridge students, ''Do You Still Think You’re Clever?'', where he explains how to tackle the toughest “unanswerable” question and win a university place. According to the Royal Literary Fund, Farndon has been shortlisted a record four times for the junior Science Book prize. Farndon was the Chairman of Eurasian Creative Guild.

Publications

His titles include: * ''How the Earth Works'' (1993),

Dorling Kindersley Dorling Kindersley Limited (branded as DK) is a British multinational publishing company specialising in illustrated reference books for adults and children in 63 languages. It is part of Penguin Random House, a subsidiary of German media cong ...

(26 Aug. 1999) . Shortlisted for the Rhone-Poulenc Prizes for Science Books - Junior Prize * ''What Happens When?'' (1 November 1996),

Scholastic Corporation Scholastic Corporation is an American multinational publishing, education, and media company that publishes and distributes books, comics, and educational materials for schools, teachers, parents, children, and other educational institutions. P ...

, . Shortlisted for the Rhone-Poulenc Prizes for Science Books - Junior Prize * ''Pocket Encyclopedia'', (1997),

* ''The Kingfisher First Animal Encyclopedia'' (15 Sept 1998), Contributor, Published by Kingfisher Publications, * ''1000 Things You Should Know About Geography'', (1 Aug 2000),

Miles Kelly Publishing Miles Kelly Publishing is an independent children's publishing company founded by Jim Miles and Gerard Kelly in 1996. It is based in the village of Bardfield End Green near Thaxted in Essex, UK, after moving from its base of 13 years in G ...

* ''Investigate: Human Body'', (2000),

Parragon Parragon Books Ltd, a United Kingdom publishing company, was formed in 1988 by friends Guy Parr and Paul Anderson. In 2001, it became part of D. C. Thomson & Co. History Parragon began its early years by developing business through overstocks ...

Plus, * ''4000 Things You Should Know'', (27 May 2000),

, * ''Children's Encyclopedia'', (3 July 2000),

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

Children's Books * ''4000 More Things You Should Know'', (10 Mar 2001),

, * ''The Complete Book of the Brain'' (18 May 2000), Hodder Wayland, . Short listed for the ' Aventis Prizes for Science Books - Junior Prize'. * ''Big Book of the Brain'', (May 18, 2000), Hodder Wayland * ''Science Experiment series''; (2001; 2002; 2003), published by Benchmark Publications ** ''Color''; ** ''Electricity''; ** ''Light and Optics''; ** ''Sound and Hearing''; ** ''Water''; ** ''Gravity'', ** ''Weight and Balance''; ** ''Flight''; Awarded the 'Best Books for Children' & 'Editors' Choice' by

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

- 'AAAS Science, Books and Films' (2002) ** ''The Human Body''; Awarded the 'Best Books for Children' by

- 'AAAS Science, Books and Films' (2002) ** ''Levers, Wheels, and Pulleys''; ** ''Magnetism''; ** ''Solids, Liquids, and Gases''; ** ''Chemicals''; ** ''Motion''; ** ''Rocks and Minerals''; ** ''Time''; ** ''Buoyancy'' * ''The Big Book of Knowledge'', (Jan 2002), co-authored with Angela Koo,

, * ''1000 Facts on Human Body'', (2 Apr 2002),

, * ''1000 Things You Should Know About World Geography'' (1 May 2005),

, * ''Space'' (2005) * ''Bird Flu, Everything You Should Know'', (2005) published by

The Disinformation Company The Disinformation Company (abbreviated as Disinfo) was a privately held, limited American publishing company until 2012 when it was sold to Red Wheel/Weiser/Conari. It also owned ''Disinformation Books'', which focused on current affairs title ...

,Disinformation (company) Google Books, 2005, ''Bird Flu'' by John Farndon
/ref> * ''Science Investigations: Electricity'', (7 September 2006) Hodder Wayland. Shortlisted for Royal Society / Committee on Public Understanding of Science (CoPUS) Science Book prize.John Farndon, Awards
/ref> * '' Do Not Open: An encyclopedia of the world's best-kept secrets'' (October 25, 2007) published by

* ''Great Scientists: from Euclid to Stephen Hawking'', (2007), * ''The Complete Guide to Minerals, Rocks and Fossils of the World'', (1 Jun 2009), Co-author with Steve Parker, Lorenz Educational Press, * ''The World's Greatest Idea'', (2010), Icon Books, * ''Do You Think You're Clever?: The Oxford and Cambridge Questions'', (3 Jun 2010), Co-author with

Libby Purves Elizabeth Mary Purves, (born 2 February 1950) is a British radio presenter, journalist and author. Early life and career Born in London, a diplomat's daughter, Purves was raised in her mother's Catholic faith and educated at convent school ...

. Icon Books, . Short-listed for the ' Society of Authors Education Award'. * ''The Story of Science and Technology (A Journey Through History)'', (15 August 2010), Published by

Rosen Publishing The Rosen Publishing Group is an American publisher specializing in educational books for pre-kindergarten through grade 12. Originally established in 1950 as Richards Rosen Press, the company is headquartered in New York City. In 1982, it change ...

, * ''What do We Know About Stars and Galaxies'', (1 Aug 2011), Raintree Publishing, SBN13 9781410941862 * ''Atlas of Oceans'', on endangered life in the oceans. (2011) Published by

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day and Clarence Day, grandsons of Benjamin Day, and became a department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and ope ...

in the USA,

A & C Black A & C Black is a British book publishing company, owned since 2002 by Bloomsbury Publishing. The company is noted for publishing ''Who's Who'' since 1849 and the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' between 1827 and 1903. It offers a wide variety of boo ...

in the UK,

Australian Geographic Australian Geographic is a media business that produces the ''Australian Geographic'' and Australian Geographic Adventure magazine, australiangeographic.com.au and operates, either itself or business partners, Australian Geographic stores, Aus ...

in Australia. Listed by ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'' (Canada) as a 2011 top ten science book. * ''Atlas of Oceans: An Ecological Survey of Underwater Life'', (22 Feb 2011),

, * ''Atlas of Oceans: A Fascinating Hidden World'', (15 Mar 2011), Thomas Reed Publications, * ''Oil'', (January 16, 2012),

, * ''Discover the Extreme World'' (2012), Camilla de la Bedoyere, Clive Gifford, John Farndon, Steve Parker, Stewart Ross and Philip Steele,

, . Sh* ''Atlas of Oceans'', on endangered life in the oceans. Published by

in the USA,

in the UK,

in Australia. Listed by ''

'' (Canada) as a 2011 top ten science book. Shortlisted for the

Blue Peter Book Award The Blue Peter Book Awards were a set of literary awards for children's books conferred by the BBC television programme ''Blue Peter''. They were inaugurated in 2000 for books published in 1999 and 2000. The awards were managed by reading charity ...

for the 'Best Book with Facts'. * ''Super Bright Baby: 50 Things You Really Need to Know'', (7 November 2013),

Quercus An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

, * ''Do You Still Think You're Clever?: The Oxford and Cambridge Questions'', (6 Nov 2014), Icon Books, * ''Do You Still Think You're Clever?: Even More Oxford and Cambridge Questions!'', (Feb 17, 2015) Icon Books, * ''The Illustrated Wildlife Encyclopedia: Bugs & Minibeasts: Beetles, Bugs, Butterflies, Moths, Insects, Spiders'', (April 7, 2015) contributory author with Barbara Taylor and Jen Green * ''Stuff You Need to Know'', (30 July 2015), co-author with Rob Beattie, Firefly Books, * ''Project Body'' (1 Aug 2015),

Toy edition, . Short listed for 2016 Royal Society's young people's prize.The Guardian, 19 May 2016, Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize shortlist 2016 - in pictures
/ref> * ''Stuff You Should Know'', (15 Oct. 2015) QED Publishing, * ''The Illustrated Guide to Rocks & Minerals: How to Find, Identify and Collect the World’s Most Fascinating Specimens,'' (15 October 2015), Southwater; * ''So, You Think You're Clever?'' (10 May 2016), Icon Books, * ''The Omnipaedia: Learn Everything you Need to in a Year'' (1 Dec 2016), Square Peg Publishing,

Awards

Books

* Royal Society/Committee on Public Understanding of Science (CoPUS) - Science Book prize shortlist: ''How the Earth Works'' * Royal Society/Committee on Public Understanding of Science (CoPUS) - Science Book prize shortlist: ''What Happens When'' * Royal Society/Committee on Public Understanding of Science (CoPUS) - Science Book prize shortlist: ''Investigations: Electricity'' * Royal Society/Committee on Public Understanding of Science (CoPUS) - Science Book prize shortlist: ''Big Book of the Brain'' * Royal Society/Committee on Public Understanding of Science (CoPUS) - Science Book prize shortlist - 2016: ''Project Body''The Guardian 21 Nov 2016 Royal Society's young people's prize. John Farndon shortlisted
/ref>

Plays

* Academia Rossica Russian translation prize shortlist: ''The Naked Guest'' plus ''Pushkin poems''

Notes and references

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Farndon, John 1960 births Living people British science journalists English male journalists English science writers English children's writers Children's non-fiction writers