The Velocity of Honey: And More Science of Everyday Life - Softcover

Ingram, Jay

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1560259116 ISBN 13: 9781560259114

Publisher: Basic Books, 2006

Synopsis

Why does the journey to a new location always take longer than the trip home? What is the science behind the theory of "six degrees of separation?" Why doesn't honey flow out in all directions? In this delightful and amusing text, Jay Ingram explores the extraordinary science behind ordinary happenings. Ingram, host of the Discovery Channel Canada's "Daily Planet" and best-selling author of The Science of Everyday Life has written an engrossing work which broadens our knowledge of the everyday world and deepens our appreciation for the mysteries of science. Addressing a diverse set of topics and reaching unorthodox conclusions, he explores the science behind proverbial expressions, delves into the uncharted territory of the connection between history and the contemporary scientific world, and highlights mysterious links between the worlds of art and science.

About this title

About the Author:

Jay Ingram is the author of several bestsellers, including Talk, Talk, Talk; The Science of Everyday Life; and The Burning House, which won the 1995 Canadian Science Writers Book Award. He has also written three children's books and has hosted several radio documentary series, including Cranial Pursuits and The Talk Show.

From Publishers Weekly:

Science can uncover the origins of the cosmos and the blueprints of life itself, but it can also explore some of the most inconsequential phenomena known to man. No less than three essays in this charming collection concern the spillage of breakfast foods, including the title piece on dripping honey and further investigations of why toast always falls with the buttered side down and why coffee stains are ring-shaped. Other topics probed by Ingram, host of the Discovery Channel's Daily Planet and author of The Science of Everyday Life, include the physics of coin-spinning, stone-skipping and paper-crumpling; the math talents of animals and infants; the six degrees of separation myth; and the cognitive psychology behind a range of desultory human capabilities, from catching a fly ball to working an ATM machine. Though the scientific theories Ingram unearths are fascinating, more hilarious is the disproportion between effort and importance, as with the elaborate experimental protocols scientists have developed to investigate the feeling people sometimes get of being watched. Ingram's deft, witty writing gives a real feel for science as a human process of trying to answer the questions, no matter how inane, that happen to get stuck in one's craw.
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About this edition

• Publisher: Basic Books
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 1560259116
• ISBN 13: 9781560259114
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224