Philip Ball is a freelance science writer and a Consultant Editor for Nature. He worked as an editor for physical sciences at Nature for over ten years, where his brief extended from biochemistry to quantum physics and materials science. His writings on science for the popular press have covered topical issues ranging from cosmology to the future of molecular biology.

Philip is the author of several popular books on science, including works on the nature of water, pattern formation in the natural world, colour in art, and the science of social and political philosophy. He has written widely on the interactions between art and science, and has delivered lectures to scientific and general audiences at venues ranging from the Victoria and Albert Museum (London) to the NASA Ames Research Center and the London School of Economics.

He writes regularly for News@Nature, in particular for the editorial column muse@nature. He has contributed to publications ranging from New Scientist and Nature to the New York Times, the Guardian, the Financial Times and New Statesman. From October 2005 he will write a science column for Prospect magazine. He has broadcast on many occasions on radio and TV, and in June 2004 he presented a three-part serial on nanotechnology, 'Small Worlds', on BBC Radio 4. He is also Science Writer in Residence at the Department of Chemistry, University College London.

Philip has a BA in Chemistry from the University of Oxford and a PhD in Physics from the University of Bristol.