The Quirks & Quarks Question Book: 101 Answers to Listeners' Questions

by Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

• Is there really such a thing as a blue moon?
• What time is it at the North Pole?
• Why don’t woodpeckers get concussed?
• Why don’t snorers wake themselves with the racket they make?
• Do insects sleep?

These are just a few of the intriguing questions asked and answered in The Quirks & Quarks Question Book, the first question and answer book to come out of CBC Radio’s enormously popular weekly science program. Quirks & Quarks producers have combed through ten years’ worth of archives to find the most puzzling questions – or the most fascinating answers to apparently simple questions – from the program’s Question of the Week segment or its once-a-season all-question show. The scientists and researchers with the answers (many of whom updated their answers for the book in light of new research findings) come from all scientific disciplines and all parts of the country. What they have in common is their ability to explain serious, complicated science in layman’s terms. This isn’t science made simple, but science made understandable.

Introduced by the program’s host for the past ten years, the genial and ever-curious Bob McDonald, The Quirks & Quarks Question Book has the answers to questions you may never have thought to ask (why does Uranus spin on a different axis from all the other planets in our solar system?) or have spent idle time wondering about (why is there a calm before a storm?). Whether you want to know if you can sweat while you swim or what the view would be like if you could travel at the speed of light, or perhaps you just want to peruse the latest scientific thinking on a wide range of topics, The Quirks & Quarks Question Book has the answer.

Quirks & Quarks has been keeping Canadians up to date on the world of science for more than 25 years. Every week, the program presents the people behind the latest discoveries in the physical and natural sciences. The program also examines the political, social, environmental, and ethical implications of new developments in science and technology. Over its lifetime, Quirks & Quarks has won more than 40 national and international awards for science journalism.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction

208 pages, Paperback

First published March 19, 2002

About the author

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation / Société Radio-Canada, branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television.

CBC is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its English-language and French-language service units known as CBC and Radio-Canada, respectively.
CBC radio broadcasts first aired on November 2, 1936 and the first CBC television broadcast aired on September 6, 1952.

Reviews

[Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and thought-provoking questions with well thought out answers

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a very interesting book full of fascinating science questions and answers. The book is introduced by Bob McDonald, host of the CBC radio program Quirks & Quarks. Questions are sent in by listeners and Bob finds the appropriate specialist to answer their questions. Amazing facts.

This book begins with Introduction by Bob McDonald and is divided into sections by topic:
1. Rivers, Rocks, and Raptors: Geography, Geology, and Archaeology;
2. Brains, Bones, and Behaviour: Physiology and the Human Body;
3. Fur and Fangs: Biology and the Animal Kingdom;
4. Creepers and Crawlers: The Insect World;
5. Puzzles and Problems: The World of Physics;
7. Sizzling Suns and Magnificent Moons: Space Science and Astronomy;
8. Hail and Hurricanes: Environmental Science and Weather.

I chose this book for the 2026 52bookclubchallenge, prompt “Started on the 26th of the month.”

[Dee Robb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick and quirky read. Lots of interesting facts and theories presented.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read.

[Salem · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved some of the questions in this book. I'm always fascinated by other people's questions because they indicate someone else's way of thinking, oftentimes more clearly than someone's answers.

On the other hand, I may be reaching some critical trivia point of saturation, as there wasn't much new to me in the answers. (I'm not claiming to know everything, just maybe the majority of what's know-able as a lay person. That's what I get for being a geek, I guess.)

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a compilation of the questions submitted by viewers to the television show Quirks and Quarks and the subsequent answers. The television show is hosted by science journalist Bob McDonald and news reporter Peter Mansbridge. The show is so interesting and the answers witty and informative without talking down to the viewers, yet explaining complicated scientific phenomenon. The book is the show exactly. It is informative and entertaining. I loved the book. Keep 'em coming Bob!

[Rainey · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Rains not cats nor dogs
But hamburger buns, I'm told
Read to find out why"

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