Neville Moir at Polygon has acquired world rights in a trilogy of novels dramatizing the three wholescale revolutions in astronomical thought that have punctuated human history. The author is the acclaimed astronomy writer Stuart Clark, senior editor for space science at the European Space Agency and former editor of the UK's best-selling popular astronomy magazine Astronomy Now. The trilogy has already been sold to publishers in Greece, Korea and Japan, in deals totalling more than $100,000.

Collectively known as the COSMO-THRILLER trilogy, the novels tell the story of Johannes Kepler and Tycho Brahe, who in the sixteenth century precipitated the modern study of the universe; Newton, who in the seventeenth century performed his great synthesis of earthly and heavenly motion; and Albert Einstein, who in the twentieth century finally revealed the nature of space and time.

'Wars, persecution, religious belief, political instability, sexual scandal and royal readjustments all had their role to play in shaping the breakthroughs that transformed our perception of the universe', says Stuart Clark. 'By allowing these brilliant men to be painted in their true colours, I hope to spark the public's imagination as never before.'

Neville Moir says: 'We are thrilled to have the opportunity to publish this exciting and imaginative trilogy'. Polygon plans to publish the first book, 'The Sky's Dark Labyrinth', in Spring 2011, with subsequent instalments following a year apart.

Nicholas Dunbar appeared on BBC Radio 4’s 'Today' programme on Monday, talking about Greece concealing its debt using derivatives. This was a story that Nick broke about six years ago on the same programme, and features in his forthcoming book, THE DEVIL'S DERIVATIVES – and has now become very topical. If you missed the Radio 4 interview, you can listen again below.

Three new authors join the Science Factory at the start of 2010, with new deals for Michael Nielsen (REINVENTING DISCOVERY: How Open Science is Making Us Smarter, Princeton University Press), Georgina Ferry (ROUGH MAGIC: Shakespeare's World of Science; Bloomsbury) and Angela Saini (GEEK NATION: How Indian Citizens are Creating the World’s Next Science Superpower; Hodder).

The Science Factory is delighted to welcome two new science writers whose books have just secured deals with publishers in the US: Daniel Bor (consciousness) and Brian Switek ('missing links').

SciencePunk.com blogger and science writer Frank Swain's ZOMBOLOGY: The New Science of Zombies, Reanimation and Mind Control has just been sold to Oneworld. The book explores the 100-year scientific quest to control the bodies and minds of fellow humans, tying together seemingly disparate subjects from the most incredible annals of scientific literature – unsuspecting citizens dosed with zombifying drugs by secret agents; Soviet experiments in which organs are kept alive when separated from the body; parasites that force unnatural behaviors, sex changes and suicide; psychologists reducing crime through urban design; doctors treating schizophrenia with antibiotics in Ethiopia – to reveal how, despite our supposed intelligence, we all remain extraordinarily susceptible to manipulation. Marsha Filion acquired UK & Commonwealth rights in the book (excluding Canada), for publication in Autumn 2010.