Light Elements: Essays in Science from Gravity to Levity

An award-winning columnist for Discover magazine takes a light look at hard science. If science had been this funny in school, maybe you would have listened.

Part stand-up comic, part gonzo journalist, Discover magazine’s Judith Stone can sniff out strange science at five paces. This offbeat collection of her trenchant, witty essays explodes the boundaries of science, with outrageous insights and surprising factual information that will keep you laughing and learning.

Praise for Light Elements

“You need this book, because it contains Amazing Science Facts, such as how the entire world could be destroyed by cows. Also there’s a fascinating chapter on getting yourself mummified. This would be after your death, of course. Which could be any day now, what with these cows. You definitely need this book.”—Dave Barry

“Ms. Stone is a boon to those who stopped listening after fourth-grade science. She is witty and knowledgeable. I can’t believe it’s actually fun.”—Wendy Wasserstein

“It’s full of interesting information and it’s really funny. If that’s not what you’re looking for, you’re not looking for a book. Why not try a good appliance store?”—Penn & Teller

Stone, humor columnist for Discover magazine, brings a relentlessly wacky sense of humor to her essays exploring scientific questions, from how cows contribute to the greenhouse effect (they belch often, producing large quantities of ozone-depleting methane) to why scratching on a blackboard gives us the "willies" (it's a relic of a primal warning mechanismp. 82 ). The author asks us to "rethink what it means to be human" when describing a visit with Koko, a gorilla who uses sign language to express her urge for a baby. And she introduces us to eccentric scientists like Calvin Schwabe, a University of California epidemiologist who advocates alternative protein sources such as "Earthworm Broth," and Alice Gray, the American Museum of Natural History's "doyenne of cockroaches." Stone visits entrepreneur Corky Ra's (ne Nowell) mummification business (your choice of Egyptian, art deco or Renaissance styles), and considers the implications of research into mood-altering fragrances for the workplace. With its comic perspective, this collection makes science not only intelligible but entertaining as well.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Stone may be the Erma Bombeck of science writing. In this collection of humorous essays, most of which are from her monthly Discover magazine column of the same name, she depicts the kinks and quirks of science from the point of view of a layperson who may not possess the technical skills of the scientist, but probably has more common sense. The over 25 essays are loosely arranged in four categories--"Animal," "Vegetable," "Mineral," and "General"--and topics include such serious areas of scientific and technological investigation as bovine flatulence, silent velcro, commercial mummification, and the cultural anthropology of honky-tonk bars. Sure, some of the jokes are corny, and some are real klunkers, but general readers will relate to Stone's approach. This book should be popular in public libraries.
- Gregg Sapp, Montana State Univ. Libs., Bozeman
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.