Customer Reviews

Does Anything Eat Wasps?: And 101 Other Unsettling, Witty Answers to Questions You Never Thought You Wanted to Ask

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There are many informative interesting fact books out there, what makes this one different from the rest is that they haven't actually gone and found experts to find out what the actual answers are, instead readers of popular magazine NewScientist (and granted some of these are scientists, lecturers and others who would know what they are talking about, but a lot are just every day people as well) have answered questions pondered by other readers. This book is a collection of a column that appears in each addition of the magazine. So it is comparable to logging onto a forum on Yahoo or somewhere else where questions are posted by one users for anyone else to answer, the answerer may be 100 per cent right then again the again they may be a hundred percent wrong. You could also compare this book to when researching a fact going online to Wikipedia where anything can be posted as fact, instead of looking up an actual encyclopaedia or specific topic research book.

If you like visiting these types of websites, and can take every answer with a grain of salt as they say, then this may well be the book for you. If you actually want answers you know are true to interesting questions or books of facts then there are far better alternatives out there such as Do Blue Bedsheets Bring Babies?: The Truth Behind Old Wives' Tales, Great Mythconceptions: The Science Behind the Myths, Hippo Eats Dwarf: A Field Guide to Hoaxes and Other B.S. and Shocking Science to name just four examples.

Why has nobody reviewed this book yet? It's wonderful. Regular subscribers to New Scientist magazine may recognize some memorable questions and answers from the "Last Word" section that closes each issue. These are great books for parents who don't want to cop out and give a BS answer when their child asks them "Why is the sky blue?" (hint: it's due to a phenomenon called Rayleigh scattering, whereby blue wavelengths of visible light are scattered in all directions by high-altitude atmospheric particles. It's the same phenomenon, though in a slightly different aspect, that causes reddish sunrises and sunsets.) Highly recommended.

A friend sent me the European version of this book for Xmas and I was blown away. How much does your head weigh? Why is snot green? This book not only provides factual, scientificaly proven answers to these questions but also is a fun and page-turning read. New Scientist is a great Brit publication so you know that the answers have real authority.

A perfect gift for friends and also a fun way to introduce kids to science.

This book is great if you're the type who doesn't accept the "status quo" answer to questions. If you don't accept something because everyone else does, but you investigate it and like to know more about the why's behind the what's, you'll love this book.

I've read it twice. Once through wasn't enough because I can use these explanations analogistically in my keynotes and other speaking engagements. Great book!

Tom Carpenter

The 'New Scientist' is a weekly magazine, first published in 1956, that covers the recent happenings in the scientific world. In 1994, the magazine launched a new column called "The Last Word" in which its driven by its readers - not all of whom are geeks in white coats. Here, they could not only pose a science-related question, but also provide the answers. "Does Anything Eat Wasps" is a selection of the questions asked and answered over the column's first eleven years, and proved to be one of the UK's surprise hit of the year.

The book is divided into chapters, depending on the focus of the questions selected - our bodies, our planet and 'wierd' weather for example. While the book is informative, it is equally as likely to raise a smile - the overall tone is not that of a difficult, highbrow scientific paper. Some of the questions that are dealt with include : how long can a human being live if their sole source of food or drink is beer ? (One respondant includes in his answer it would be unethical to conduct such an experiment - though I suspect he would have plenty of volunteers). What causes the changes, in terms of colour and consistency, in earwax ? Can it be scientifically proven that your arse looks smaller in black trousers ? And just how far above the Earth's surface would you have to be before a compass stops pointing north ?

An enjoyable and informative book - though it's one I tend to dip into once in a while, rather than reading it from cover to cover.

I've always been a fan of trivia books -- you know, those books that are full of factoids and/or short bits of knowledge. They often have a problem though -- they tend to run a lot of items without fact checking. The question-and-answer type (as exemplified by David Feldman and Cecil Adams) tend to be better-researched, since they're more than just factoids. This is one of the latter kind, and then some.

Many of the questions in this book (culled from the Last Word column in New Scientist Magazine) are distinctly weird -- questions about convection currents in liqueurs, decomposition of a guinea pig corpse, and the use of bromide as an anaphrodisiac all come up, along with a great many others. The interesting thing is the answers -- quite a lot of them are written by multiple contributors, allowing the reader to get different perspectives on an answer.

So if you're into q&a trivia books, get this one. There's quite a lot to learn, and you'll even get some understanding about how scientists disagree.

The book is pretty good at going into the scientific details which explain questions people ask, however, I really can't say I was that interested in wanting to know the details for many of the questions. But, some were interesting, like:

1. Why do darker alcoholic drinks produce worse hangovers? Because of the methanol they contain, as opposed to lighter drinks' ethanol.

2. Why do people have eyebrows? Besides diverting sweat droplets, perhaps mostly to express emotions - like telegraphing friendly intentions for survival.

3. How fat would you have to be, to be bulletproof? Although the human body could never be totally bulletproof because of certain tissues and appendages, about 24 inches of flesh would protect against a 9-mm handgun.

4. How can a person reduce cellulite? By reduction in calories and exercise, that's it.

5. Does beheading (like with a guillotine) hurt? Yes, a few seconds.

6. Is green potato skin toxic? Although the color is harmless, chlorophyll, it is a warning of a toxic level of solanine. A lethal dose for a 160 lb. person would be about five pounds of such potatoes.

7. Does anything eat wasps? Yes, what doesn't, is a better question. Frogs, goldfish and spiders do.

8. Does pickling cause vegetables to lose nutrition? Not much.

9. Why do incandescent lightbulbs turn grayish over time? Evaporation of tungsten from the filament.

10. Why does sea look blue? Seawater absorbs all wavelengths of light except blue, which is scattered.

11. Can two galaxies collide? Although space is expanding, galaxies have their own trajectories which are pulled about by the gravity of other galaxies, and therefore, can collide.

12. Why is it colder at the South Pole? Because of the high mountains.

13. Since wheels are so efficient in getting around, why didn't they evolve in nature? Although bacteria have flagellum and there exist tumbleweeds in nature, for humans - every part is either connected to or communicates with other parts, so wheels would cause all kinds of entanglements. However, with humans, evolution has allowed them to make wheels.

So, for me, the book does make for a fun read, as long as I skimmed over several of the questions and their answers.

I found this book, like i did to the others in this set of books, highly enjoyable and i recommend it to those who love facts and finding answers to strange questions in life. Do you know if anything eats wasps? I do and you can too if you buy this book. :)

This is a excellent compilation of questions and answers to all kinds of things that surround us in our everyday lives. There is hardly a question in this book that one hasn't come across;but normally we simply just take these things for granted;and hardly ,if ever,try to find answers for.Well,here you are,over 100 questions .Some of the answers are much harder to understand,even when the question seems very simple.This reminds me of what John Dean once said during the time of President Nixon's Impeachment,"Questions are a lot easier to ask than they are to answer".And that was from a politician and lawyer;but in the case with the questions in this book ,we get scientific answers from scientists. Questions are presented in 8 chapters,Our Bodies,Plants and Animals,Domestic Science,Our Universe,Our Planet,Weird Weather,Troublesome Transport and a mixed bag of things ,called,Best of the Rest.
Never mind that you went through High School and couldn't begin to answer any of these questions;most who went through University ,even those who obtained Bachelor of Science Degrees wouldn't do much better.Even if ,as a student ,you were to bring up any of these questions,the answer you would have been given,would not compare with what you get here.
Don't shy away from this book because you think it might be too difficult to understand.While some of the answers are getting into fairly difficult theory,the answers are relatively short and the scientists have tried their best,and in fact actually do ,answer them in fairly simple terms.
However,if you are too young at this time for scientific answers;just ask your parents or more particularly your grandparents ,and they can explain many of these things to you.Then,read the book,and tell them what it said.Don't be surprised if they say,"That's what I said;I just didn't use such fancy terms".

I bought this as a present for a friend, he was delighted with it. A great present for a guy (or anyone)who likes interesting and curious facts.