Q&A: Cosmic Conundrums and Everyday Mysteries of Science

by Robert Matthews

A lighthearted guide to scientific conundrums shares accessible information on a wide variety of topics from the possible causes of the Big Bang and the mysterious fate of odd socks to what would happen to someone in a black hole and the reason it is so difficult to pour ketchup from a full bottle. Original.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science

240 pages, Paperback

First published November 21, 2005

About the author

Robert Matthews is a visiting lecturer in science at Aston University, in Birmingham, England. He has published pioneering research in fields ranging from code-breaking to predicting coincidences, and won the internationally renowned Ig Nobel Prize in Physics for his studies of Murphy’s Law, including the reason why toast so often lands butter-side down. An award-winning science writer, he has contributed to many newspapers and magazines world-wide, and is currently science consultant for Focus magazine, a flagship BBC publication.

Reviews

[A · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full of interesting trivia and explanations of common curiosities.

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was pretty interesting.. some of it I knew already. It would be a good gift for a kid who is into learning anything he or she can get thier little hands on.