Synopsis
Answers questions about detecting counterfeit money, Oscar nominations, the rabbit in the hat trick, dry cleaning, newspaper recycling, voter registration, fake photographs, and shredded wheat
Reviews
YA-- For anyone who has ever wondered how lawyers research members of the jury before deciding whether to challenge them, how clothes are dry-cleaned, how guide dogs are taught to cross at green lights, and much more, this is the book. The authors answer more than 100 questions about science, the natural world, and contemporary life in this delightful collection of trivia. All queries are taken seriously, and responded to in laypeople's terms. Sources are included for each question. This resource is a real treat for those who like to browse for extraneous information, enjoy gathering minutiae, or want to impress their friends and colleagues with their breadth of knowledge. In addition, teachers and librarians could use it to perk up the interest of students gathering information for reports.
- Pat Royal, Crossland High School, Camp Springs, MD
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Like its predecessors How Do They Do That? and How Did They Do That? , the current volume is largely devoted to popular science, but some of the 102 essays deal with law, the arts, the press and various sociological phenomena. Markey and Sutton detail how an electric eel stuns its prey, how margarine is made to taste like butter, how crack is concocted and how scientists determine what dinosaurs ate. Curious about how cartoons are selected for the New Yorker , how People chooses its covers, how the major obituaries in the New York Times come about, or how to teach a bear to ride a bicycle? Look no further. This is a fine book for reading piecemeal. Illustrations not seen by PW.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Your trivia buffs may demand this sequel to Sutton's How Do They Do That? ( LJ 7/82) and How Did They Do That ( LJ 1/84). Readers will learn how the New York Times writes its headlines, how antilock brakes work, how bubbles get into seltzer water, how calories in food are calculated, how shredded wheat is made, and more. Libraries with an adequate core reference collection can answer most of these dilemmas. Each answer lists the source of the information explicated. Compare this title (and others in this series) to David Feldman's Why Do Clocks Run Clockwise? (HarperCollins, 1987) and Imponderables: The Solution to the Mysteries of Everyday Life (HarperCollins, 1989). This is a fun book recommended for secondary school and public libraries that collect trivia titles. --Scott Johnson, Meridian Community Coll. Lib., Miss.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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