The Pedant's Revolt: Why Most Things You Think Are Right Are Wrong

Barham, Andrea

ISBN 10: 0385340168 / ISBN 13: 9780385340168

Published by Delacorte Press (edition ), 2006

About this Item

With dust jacket. The item might be beaten up but readable. May contain markings or highlighting, as well as stains, bent corners, or any other major defect, but the text is not obscured in any way.

Seller Inventory # 0385340168-7-1-29

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Pedant's Revolt: Why Most Things You Think Are Right Are Wrong
• Publisher: Delacorte Press (edition )
• Publication Date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0385340168
• ISBN 13: 9780385340168
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Fair
• Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included

About this title

Synopsis

Pedants, revolt! In this irreverent, smart, obscenely entertaining book, Andrea Barham shatters the myths, misconceptions, fallacies, and falsehoods about all the things you thought you knew (and a few you never considered).

Lead pencils can give you lead poisoning.… Newton discovered gravity when an apple fell on his head….One dog year equals seven human years….Marie Antoinette said “Let them eat cake!”…Spelling Christmas “Xmas” is disrespectful….Fact or fiction? The Pedant’s Revolt: Know What Know-It-Alls Know sets the record straight on everything from the truth about starving a fever to why you shouldn’t “go for the burn.”

In chapters literary, medical, grammatical, historical, scientific, and biblical, you’ll discover the facts behind the fallacies that have somehow become accepted wisdom. From insects to food, grooming to Greeks, bumblebees to whales…from the animal kingdom to assassinations, Harpo Marx to Shakespeare, and questionable quotes such as “It’s all Greek to me,” this remarkable book reveals the often surprising origins of the legends and folklore we mistake for the gospel truth—and teaches you to think twice before repeating them.

About the Author

Andrea Barham is the author of The Pedant’s Revolt, and is a technical writer in the U.K. While she is a big fan of the world, she feels that there should be less wrongness and more rightness in it. Painfully aware of her inability to correct the bigger issues such as war, poverty, and global warming, she is concentrating on smaller issues more suited to her skills, which consist of “looking stuff up.” By correcting common misconceptions such as the belief that your heart stops when you sneeze, she is hoping to create a domino effect and that eventually all wrongs will be righted, though she is not holding her breath (which, incidentally, you cannot die from). The Pedant’s Return is her sixth book.