Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Question and Answer Book

Rate this book
More than 250 fascinating questions and amazing answers are illustrated with Eyewitness-style photographs.

Hardcover

First published September 15, 1993

Loading...
Loading...

About the author

John Farndon

645 books32 followers
John Farndon is an internationally known author, as well as a playwright, composer and songwriter, whose work has been performed at such theatres as the Donmar and Almeida in London and the Salisbury Playhouse and selected for showcases, such as Beyond the Gate.

He has written hundreds of books, which have sold millions of copies around the world in most major languages and include many best-sellers, such as the award-winning Do Not Open, which received rave reviews in the USA and became a cult-hit as well as featuring on the New York Times and Washington Post best-seller lists. In earlier years, he wrote mostly for children, and has been shortlisted a record four times for the junior Science Book prize. Books such as How Science Works and How the Earth Works each sold over a million copies worldwide. But recently he has written much more for adults.

Many of his books focus on popular science, and in particular earth science, nature, and environmental issues. His Practical Encyclopedia of Rocks and Mineral is widely used as a reference work by geologists, while The Atlas of Oceans, his big book on endangered life in the oceans for Yale in the USA (A&C Black in the UK and Australian Geographic in Australia), garnered glowing reports prepublication from major figures such as the Cousteaus, Carl Safina, Nancy Knowlton and Harm de Blij.

But he has covered a wide range of topics, from contemporary China to the food market. The history of ideas and intellectual curiosity is a particular speciality.

In 2010, his book for Icon Do You Think You're Clever? was a best-seller, reaching the top 20 on Amazon and the top 10 in South Africa and Turkey, and was shortlisted for the Society of Authors Education Award. The follow-up The World’s Greatest Idea was selected as one of the top 50 Wish List books of the year in South Africa.

He has been interviewed extensively on radio and TV stations around the world, and conducted talks, demonstrations and displays at many events, from the Brighton Science Festival to the Oxford Literary Festival.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
3 (50%)
4 stars
3 (50%)
3 stars
0 (0%)
2 stars
0 (0%)
1 star
0 (0%)
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
Profile Image for Jamie Jonas.
Author 2 books5 followers
December 22, 2020
My highest recommendation on this one--the amount of amazing knowledge compressed into its compact space taxes the imagination. Inventions, the animal and plant kingdoms, sports, warfare--so many topics are covered, and so many gorgeous photographs inserted, that this gets to be an almost dizzying experience. In the best sense. I imagine this short volume would be invaluable to young learners in pointing the way to the manifold fascinating paths they might pursue in life.
Profile Image for Sue-Leigh.
21 reviews16 followers
July 22, 2012
I love Dorling Kindersley books - the ones for kids and for adults. They are well laid out, with good images, and interesting information.

This book has a good compilation of various subjects - like a museum in a book. I would definitely want to have this book for my kids.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews