John Farndon lives in London and is the author of over 200 books on a wide range of subjects, including the best-selling Harper Collins Children's Encyclopedia, the Dorling Kindersley Pocket Encyclopedia, How the Earth Works, The Wildlife Atlas and many more. His speciality is science, and he has been short-listed three times for the Copus Junior Science book prize.
Anne Rooney gained a degree and then a PhD in medieval literature from Trinity College, Cambridge. After a period of teaching medieval English and French literature at the universities of Cambridge and York, she left to pursue a career as a freelance writer. She has written many books for adults and children on a variety of subjects, including literature and history. She lives in Cambridge. She has written many books on science and technology, and was long-listed for the prestigious Aventis Science Prize in 2004.