The Friday Evening Discourses of the Royal Institution were initiated in 1826 and form one of the most prestigious series of science lectures in the world. These public lectures and demonstrations are published each year, forming a collection of superb, popularly written essays by active scientists on issues of general scientific interest. This latest volume, the first to be published by Oxford University Press, contains chapters that cover a diverse range of topics, including Supernovae: The Death of Stars, by Paul Murdin, Superconductors: Past, Present, and Future, by Peter Day, The Candle Revisited, by P.W. Atkins, and Our Genes Under the Microscope, by H. John Evans. Each chapter makes fascinating reading for all readers interested in scientific discovery and technological progress.Proceedings of the Royal Institution of Great Britain: Volume 65, First Edition was published 1994 under ISBN 9780198558361 and ISBN 0198558368.