Introducing The Little Ways To Live A Big Life Series!

Quercus has curated a new collection of bright and beautiful books that teach you all those skills you always wanted to learn, and all those talents you wanted to acquire, until life got in the way. The authors are the absolute crème de la crème in their line of work and each has made their incredible talent and expertise available in such a delightful and accessible way. Publishing on 21st September 2017 are the first five Little Ways to Live a Big Life books, with more to come in 2018!

HOW TO LAND A PLANE

How to Land a Plane is more an introduction to the fundamentals of flying than a practical guide – one that any traveller, armchair or otherwise, might enjoy.  Why focus on the landing? While it’s true that take-offs are great fun—they benefit from the exhilaration, which is to say the acceleration, that accompanies any great beginning—the landing is a better opportunity to describe a number of different skills that pilots learn. This is a beautiful and inspirational read that provides a thrilling dose of escapism that’s simultaneously practical and spiritual, hard-nosed and simply transcendent.

Mark Vanhoenacker is a Senior First Officer for British Airways, flying Boeing 747s to major cities around the world; The New Yorker described him as having ‘the mind of a scientist and the heart of a poet’.

HOW TO UNDERSTAND E=MC²

E=mc² is the most famous theory of all time, the most celebrated equation of one of the world’s most famous scientists, Albert Einstein. But what does it mean? What do those letters stand for? What does it do? Why is it so important? Does anyone really know? Enter Christophe Galfard, world-renowned scientist and expert on all things origin-of-the-universe.

In this delightful guide, Christophe will take you through everything you need to know about this equation – what each letter means, the history behind it, how the theory works and its consequences – all in his typical accessible, enthusiastic and evocative style. Prepare to tackle the world’s toughest equation, and beat it.

HOW TO PLAY THE PIANO

An accessible and inspiring guide by the pianist and international bestselling writer James Rhodes, who promises that this book gives anyone with two hands, a piano or an electric keyboard and just 45 minutes a day the tools they need to learn to play Bach’s Prelude No. 1 in C Major in 6 weeks, even if they know nothing about music and have never even touched a piano before.

James breaks up Bach’s seminal Prelude No. 1 from the Well-Tempered Clavier into manageable segments, teaching us the basics of piano playing (how to read music, the difference between the treble and the bass clef, sharp and flat notes, how to practice, etc.) and encouraging personal interpretation in a way that is guaranteed to soothe the mind, feed the soul and unleash creative powers we didn’t know we still had.

All of this will culminate in an ability to perform one of Bach’s masterpieces.

HOW TO DRAW ANYTHING

Think you can’t draw?  Think again.  This book will help you harness that natural skill, and along the way you will discover how drawing will give your thoughts clarity, trigger memories, invigorate passions and find solutions.

Scriberia are an illustration agency based in London’s King’s Cross and need just a moment of your time to teach you how to draw anything… absolutely anything. And they’ll prove not just that everyone can draw but that everyone should. Because, there’s no better or more enjoyable way to explore, express or explain your ideas… to make plans, solve problems and tell stories.

How to Draw Anything sets out to repair our broken relationship with drawing. This book will give you back the confidence and joy in drawing you never should have lost.  It will equip you with new means of solving problems, sharing ideas and telling stories. It will take drawing out of the art world and put it into your world, introducing you to drawing as a practical tool for everyday life that will change the way you work, think and communicate.

HOW TO COUNT TO INFINITY

You read that right, you can count to infinity! And who better to act as your ‘mathematical Sherpa’ than Marcus du Sautoy, one of the world’s most respected mathematicians. In this fascinating read Marcus will help you get to grips with the concept of the infinite before showing you how, just using the finite neurons in your brain and the finite pages in this book, you can count to infinity. It’s mind blowing stuff.

Marcus is Professor at Maths at Oxford University and holds the prestigious Simonyi Chair of Public Understanding for Science. His passion for mathematics is infectious, and his philosophical musings on the fascination humans have with the concept of the infinite will delight and make you think. Finally, you’ll know the answers to questions like Is there a final number? Does infinity ever end? And what exactly did Buzz Lightyear even mean?

These bright and beautiful little books make up The Little Ways to Live a Big Life series, and they are not only life-enhancing to read, but beautiful on your shelf too! Pre-order any one of these five titles for your chance to win the full set: http://bit.ly/TheLittleWaysSeries