The Geeks' Guide to World Domination: Be Afraid, Beautiful People

by Garth Sundem

TUNE IN. TURN ON. GEEK OUT.
Sorry, beautiful people. These days, from government to business to technology to Hollywood, geeks rule the world.

Finally, here’s the book no self-respecting geek can live without–a guide jam-packed with 314.1516 short entries both useful and fun. Science, pop-culture trivia, paper airplanes, and pure geekish nostalgia coexist as happily in these pages as they do in their natural habitat of the geek brain.

In short, dear geek, here you’ll find everything you need to achieve nirvana. And here, for you pathetic nongeeks, is the last chance to save Love this book, live this book, and you too can join us in the experience of total world domination.

• become a sudoku god
• brew your own beer
• build a laser beam
• classify all living things
• clone your pet
• exorcise demons
• find the world’s best corn mazes
• grasp the theory of relativity
• have sex on Second Life
• injure a fish
• join the Knights Templar
• kick ass with sweet martial-arts moves
• learn ludicrous emoticons
• master the Ocarina of Time
• pimp your cubicle
• program a remote control
• quote He-Man and Che Guevara
• solve fiendish logic puzzles
• touch Carl Sagan
• unmask Linus Torvalds
• visit Beaver Lick, Kentucky
• win bar bets
• write your name in Elvish

Join us or die, you will.
Begun, the Geek Wars have

Genres: Nonfiction, Humor, Reference, Science, Geek, Trivia, Collections

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Garth works at the intersection of math, science, and humor, with a background including a growing list of bestselling books, a Magna Cum Laude pre-med/music degree from Cornell University, and math-for-hire for mobile app and tech companies. In addition to conferences, colleges, and bookstores, you may have seen Garth's work on the Science Channel, where he's a frequent onscreen contributor, online at his popular blog (scientificblogging.com), or in magazines including Esquire, Wired, Publisher's Weekly, and Congressional Quarterly.

Garth grew up on Bainbridge Island, a short ferry ride from Seattle, where his dad----a former President of the American Accounting Association----taught for 34 years in the UW business school. Garth lives in Ojai, California, with his wife, two small kids, and one large Labrador, commonly found shoulder-deep in Ojai's municipal fountain (the dog, not the kids; the kids only go in up to their knees).

Stay tuned for more fun, fascinating and sometimes useful books nestled at the nexus of pop and science.

Reviews

[Jdorkman301 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Join us or die, you will.
Begun, the Geek Wars have.
\m/[>.<:]\m/

=^_^=

><((((*>

----<--{@

d-(^_^)-b

If you don't recognize these emoticons, this book is for you. :)

[Gemma · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's really helped me in my journey to become Supreme Leader Of The Universe. Now rise my minions,rise! MWAHAHAHAHAA...HAA...Ha...ha 'cough cough'. But seriously, it's awesome.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fantastic book that I would recommend to geeks and nerds alike.

[Charlotte · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hated it and certain parts or what I would consider missing parts pissed me off. "for men" or "male" should have been added to the title. I think it's ironic that our April tag is strong women and this book was the opposite to that. It was SOOO male focused.

I work in tech. I'm routinely the only women in the meeting and am one of 5 women on my 40 person team. The company I'm a vendor for only has 25% women and my company is even worse. I deal with being a woman living in a man's world and have always considered myself a geek. Additionally, after having the chauvinism and challenges of living in this world as part of my daily life, the last thing I want to do is deal with it in a book I'm reading in my free time. I almost stopped reading it but I'm so OCD about finishing books that I've started.

Beyond the fact that there is no rhyme or reason for the order that the random facts, trivia, and opinions are presented in the book. He passed off things as fact when really it was just his opinion. I felt like this was more of a book to present things that he thought was cool. What does making maple syrup have to do with being a geek?!? Back to the male-centric aspect of the book... if you are going to talk about Boy Scout merit badges, levels and things that they do, then why not also provide the same information about Girl Scouts?!? I was in Girl Scouts and was definitely considered a geek for it, but I didn't care. Also, he provided a list of cartoon characters he thought was hot (all women of course) and gave guys tips on how to pick up women.. these tips are easily transferable to both genders to help with socializing with others and not just picking up women.

I think the first 'chapter' that really started my annoyance with this book is the 'Ten Sports Requiring Almost No Physical Exertion'.. it is the first one that made me realize that most of what this guy is saying is his opinion and after that I started taking the rest of the 'facts' with a grain of salt. On his list of 'Ten Sports...' he listed several sports like, NASCAR, Yachting, and Cricket that I know for a fact require physical exertion. There is absolute nothing that backs up his assertion that they don't. His reasoning made me feel like he is just ignorant in a lot of things and states his opinion as fact.

I feel like with a lot of his chapters he tries to be funny and the book is on humor shelves and lists but I think his jokes just fall flat. I thought he was more ignorant and insulting than he was funny.

[Joe Maddox · Rating 1 out of 5]

Look, if you're actually a geek, then right around time the author starts discussing how Gimli both accompanied Frodo to Mordor and went with Bilbo to Erebor (for those of you who are uninitiated, this is not the case) you'll want to throw the book across the room. If you're like me and you read this book while dropping the kids off at the pool (in your bathroom where the wall is ~3 feet in front of your face) then the book won't make it very far.

Come to think of it, that's actually a pretty good allegory for this collection of trivia.

To be fair, this book is decent enough for bathroom reading. I mean, you're already dealing with plenty of shitty material while you're in there, how much can a little extra hurt?

There are some interesting columns in here, it's true. But it seems to me that this book is tailored more for the faux geek chic crowd. If that's you, have fun. If you're actually a geek, then you'll probably have a lot more fun reading random wikipedia pages.

[Eddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sooooo much fun. And Sundem adds humor to descriptions which caused me to laugh outloud enough for my wife to ask, “what’s so funny?”, only to then cut me off while I tried to explain the humor behind Tongue Twisters in Languages Of Less than A Million Speakers.

[Traci · Rating 3 out of 5]

After realizing this title had been on my Amazon wish list for about two years, I gave up and requested it as an inter-library loan. I waited a few weeks for delivery, and voila! Geekdom at my fingertips! Joy and much singing in the land until..... I realize this is not exactly what I thought it was.

For some weird reason, I was under the (obviously mistaken) impression that it was more of a typical non-fiction book. Or perhaps I thought it was a novel, I don't know. In any case, it was not what I thought it would be, which sort of set me asea as it were. Sundem's work is a collection of some 300+ "geek" factoids and trivia, a worthy feat in and of itself. However, the majority of these snippets are true geek nirvana of the math, computer, and role-playing variety - and sadly, I am not that sort of geek. The math went way over my head, as did much of the computer fun. I did get some of the RPG references, having dabbled a wee bit with the classic Dungeons & Dragons back in the day, but I've never done any of the online stuff. (I don't even play "Farmville" on Facebook, for crying out loud).

I will give the author big props for including the Dewey Decimal System - GO DEWEY! He's right: it gives you a unique way to classify everything in the world, going from uber-general subjects to the specific equivalency of the head of a pin. Love me some Dewey, even as it's been sliding into obscurity due to the shift of many libraries to the Library of Congress system, or - heaven forbid - the general categories found in most book stores.

There were some other chapters/sections/snippets I liked, including but not limited to: Quotable Yoda, Five Classic Macgyver Hacks, Moral Lessons brought to you by the Monster of "The Odyssey", 10 Most Valuable Comic Books (not the books, but the point he makes about they're only as valuable as you can collect on), and Quotable X-files.

Overall, I'd still say I enjoyed the book. It's very easy to jump around and digest, which is great. It's also easy enough to skip over entries that you have no interest in (or that are too complex for mine, and possibly your, non-geek self). I have to admit that I'm disappointed that I lack the geekdom I thought I had, but that's OK. I do believe I'm still geeky enough for the club.

[Christopher · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is essentially bathroom reading. 314 different snippets of trivia and thought that should interest the average geek.

I'm a little leery of some of the facts though since some content was off-base (no Gimli was not one of Bilbo's companions in The Hobbit, that was his father, Gloin).

Interesting when you don't have much else at hand, but not much good for reference (no organization what-so-ever) and not really compelling tom read through in order.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard to classify this book but it's a fun collection of geekish trivia and short-and-sweet info nuggets.

If nothing else, I'm beholden to this book for reminding me how to use that abacus that's collected dust on my desk for decades ever since I forgot how to use it. Strange, given that it's the only calculator I've ever owned other than ones that come pre-bundled with computer operating systems. ;)

I also know how to tap maple trees and make syrup.

There. Haven't I sold you on reading this book already?

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

We will rule the world someday, so everyone might as well begin to accept it now. Hilarious how-to guide and reference book for all sorts of esoteric and fun things. From 5 Cool Constants from the World of Physics(such as g) to How to Brew Your Own Beer and How to Build a Laser, this book has tons of interesting tidbits to explore. I'll definitely be keeping this close at hand as the Geek Revolution begins.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

made me laugh out loud so many times. its like a hilarious, condensed dictionary of thing that really are important in life. like star trek/che guevera quotes, impossible math problems, and how to brew your own beer! ha ha ha

[Glynis · Rating 4 out of 5]

An oddball collection of how-tos, what-ifs, and wonderfully obscure trivia written in a fun--and intelligent--way.

Enjoyed.

[Taylor]

OMG IT WAS SOOO GOOD I AM A GEEK FEAR ME

[Tessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

i loved this book and liked knowing all the random information that came with it. And i never got bored especially since there was so many brain teasers and puzzles.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS IS THE BEST BOOK IN THE WORLD!

[Driver · Rating 1 out of 5]

Gods be good...this was simply dreadful. I had such high hopes for this book which was recommended to me by someone who described it as the "Schott's Original Miscellany" for Geeks and Nerds respectively. But honestly, to me this was nothing but a bunch of utter - and often incorrect or misunderstood - shit.

First of all, I'm not sure if the author really is the giant arrogant asshole he comes across as or if there is a problem with...I don't know...having zero humor at all/being socially inept/not knowing how to write a fun trivia book? Even the foreword was dripping with pretentiousness and self-importance. And it only got worse throughout the book. It was as though he was writing himself into some sort of narcissistic, better/smarter/more superior than thou-frenzy.

There were several problems with this book, but especially these completely ruined it for me personally:

a) the classification of religion, religious or spiritual organizations and so-called "alternative" medicine (formerly known as, well...traditional healing/medicine!) as pseudoscience, nonsense, hippie hogwash and other colorful (hateful?) terms...

b) The translation for asking for the restrooms in Norwegian and German is not reallllly correct like this. A restroom is NOT the same as a bathroom, the latter is found in private households only and includes - like the name suggests - a bath tub or shower, toilet and sink. If you as a waitor at the restaurant you are dining at where the bathroom is they will most likely goggle at you as if you've lost your mind, wondering why you want to take a shower at their restaurant. In German you would just say, "Wo sind Ihre Toiletten?" or more informally, "Wo ist das Klo?" and in Norwegian, "Hvor er toalettet?"/"Hvor finner jeg toalettet?"

c) I was raised a Germanic polytheist and so I take this a tad more seriously than many people will be able to understand I presume.
But damn, the fire giants name is NOT "Sutr", it's Surtr. And it's not "Pryrmr", the name of the giant is þrymr (=Thrymr). (Already drove me nuts in Vikings when they decided to spell the name "þorunn" (Thorunn, meaning "Thor's rune" = Thurisaz) as "Porunn". The "P" is actually the rune "Wunjo" (the letter V or also W) so with the incorrect spelling it would basically sound like "whore-rune"... yeah, not really.
And why are you spelling Vánaheimr with an "r" as in Old Norse but not Midgard (which by the way would be Miðgarðr in Old Norse), Muspelheim or Niflheim? And you can spell Bohuslän with an "ä" but you can't spell Ragnarök with an "ö"? And where the heck did "Hel" go, there are more than eight worlds in our cosmology!
I'm sorry, but if you want to make a fun trivia book like this your information should still be correct. Googling this stuff would have taken five minutes tops.
This is exactly why I kept questioning the reliability of some of the other things I read in the book that I'd previously known nothing about. Half of the things I did have knowledge on were incorrect. Not good.
I started just browsing and skipping several paragraphs/"chapters" about 50% halfway through and stopped reading after the Norse cosmology debacle.

Garth Sundem, I hope this will remain the last book you ever publish.

[Randy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know what this book is about, but decide to take a look.

It contains a lot of short, and usually interesting items from many diverse fields. Although I skipped quite a few, this is still a nice book (and I probably can add a lot of new entries as well :-)).

A few errors:

Page 63: on definition of meter. Yes, it's originally defined by the size of the earth (meridian, to be accurate). However, he shouldn't complain about that "it's based on human rather than natural definition". Since 1960, the definition was changed to use a specific light from an element. Then it's changed to base on the speed of light.

Page 144: on caffeine toxicity. He realize that the unit is mg (caffeine) per kg of body.

Page 163: the answer to the 2nd equation on page 243 is wrong.

[Chris Ellis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting mix of geeky stuff, breaking the mold of your usual fact book or useless information book, however not arranged in any particular way, and for me, it just got old too quickly.

There is however a little bit of just about everything in this book, so if you're into that kind of read - have at it.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dumb title. A collection of trivia and puzzles that geeks supposedly would be interested in, and some of the facts are wrong.

[Elizabeth]

I love this book!

[Maggie Gould · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just 'Uncle John's Bathroom Reader' but with an emphasis on science and math.

[Ernesta · Rating 2 out of 5]

Žiauriai smagi knygelė, bet neina daugiau 2.25* duoti nors tu ką, nes tada reikės imtis ir gerai sudarytų kryžiažodžių vertinimo…

Žodž, literatūrinė pastanga baigiasi ties šmaikščia įžanga, o toliau įdomybės ir dar kas tik nori…

Jei turit jaunimėlio, kuris domisi tiksliaisiais mokslais ar tiesiog logika, drąsiai pirkite. Manau, kad sudomins, o ir perskaitę tikrai kvailesni neliks. Kiek vyresniems skaitytojams didelė dalis gali būti jau girdėta.

Šiaip atrodo, kad smagaus laiko apturėjo pats autorius sudarinėjant, o vien jau tai yra faina!

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes, I consider myself a geek. But despite what the author claims, this book seems to be meant for geeks and non-geeks alike. For non-geeks, topics such as nuclear energy, thermodynamics, and the subtleties of the Klingon language are explained in easy-to-understand terms that even the non-geek brain can grasp. For geeks, there are ample opportunities to indulge in our various geeky obsessions...for me, the sections on J.R.R. Tolkein were particularly satisfying. This book gives geeks a reason to be proud of their geekiness, and gives non-geeks the ability to pretend they are geeks...which of course all geeks wish they could do.

Reading this book will give one the ability to impress anyone he or she encounters. You'll be able to show off your shadow puppet making skills, impress people with your expert martial arts moves, and help out your friends be making them chain mail armor. In all seriousness, this book is both entertaining and informative. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to improve their knowledge of both absurd and useful topics.

[B. Doane · Rating 5 out of 5]

An awesome book.

Perfect for any true geek.

It's sorted out into small categories, so you can easily find whatever information you need. The notes in the end clarify any issues you may have had, and the last few pages are reserved for notes.

All of the thought puzzles in it are fun to solve.

It makes a perfect guide I've used mine until the cover fell off and the pages wore out. It's great for travelling, both for usefulness and just for fun.

My only complaints:


NASA's Scientific Method is incorrect. According to it, there is no possibility that the hypothesis is wrong.

Achilles and the Tortoise Paradox The thought experiment is wrote about like it's a paradox, but, in actuality, it just doesn't give sufficient details.





All in all, it is an amazing book. I highly recommend it.

[Joe Woolworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book in comic book store in Chapel Hill while killing some time one afternoon. It is a humor book by Garth Sundem. The Tagline is:

be afraid, beautiful people
There are exactly 314.15 entries in this geek manifesto that is a homeage to all things geek from “The quotable Yoda” to “Things that will make your brain hurt” this book had me interested all the way through.

The writing style is sarcastic and dripping with satire. If you are interested in joining the geek army for the global-takeover than this book is for you.

My favorite entries:

Five Latin Phrases to Shout While Riding into Battle

Nine Australian Animals Most People Think are Fake

Five Classic MacGyver Hacks

Caffeine Levels in Designer Coffee

and 80′s Dance Moves that Deserve Resurgence

[Tom Bryant · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn't exactly a book you read from cover to cover. It contains a variety information that is randomly dispersed throughout. It's style is not unlike one of the many Uncle John Bathroom Readers, but unlike those books, Geeks' Guide is concise and to the point with its information. However, there isn't much of a narrative in the way the info is presented in the Geeks' Guide.
I did find a lot of tidbits that made me think, "Hmmm...I never knew that". Things such as how to make your own beer, write your name in Elvish, and how to hook up on Second Life are explained. (It's actually easy - make your character gay) BTW, the beer making comes with a disclaimer, so do this at your own risk.

[B. Barron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, I thought I was lord of the geeks – apparently not. While I knew most of the stuff in the book, some was new to me (I didn’t know Fabio had released an Album! OMG). The real shocker was the stuff I knew but didn’t really care about (Klingon is cute, but I don’t understand peoples obsession with a Science Fictional Language – same as I don’t understand Elvish speakers. To deal with that I am about to read covers invented languages)..
This book really isn’t aimed at geeks, more for those who know a geek and want to understand what the Hades they are talking about. So for a real Geek I think it definitely rates a 4.

[Elvis Rodrigues · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Era da Informação é dominada pelos nerds, então é previsível que surjam livros como este. O autor se propõe a listar fatos variados, alguns interessantes e outros estúpidos, mas todos aparentemente relacionados com nerdice.
A edição nacional é bonita e o papel é bom, mas a revisão da tradução é falha, de forma que há piadas mal traduzidas, e muitas outras falhas.
Ainda assim, a leitura não foi prejudicada e Sundem consegue apresentar alguns fatos realmente divertidos. Não passa de uma coleção de curiosidades, e provavelmente todas encontráveis online, mas reuni-las em uma encadernação torna mais fácil a leitura.

[JJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's an alright book if, as the title suggests, you're a complete TRIVIA geek.

I emphasize TRIVIA because that's really all you're getting here. As a Web Developer by trade, I sort of took "geek" to mean television, computers, science fiction etc. (...and just reading the back page alone before purchase I saw they mentioned Search Engine Optimization and agreed, I am the geek they're talking about here.)

Upon finishing, I realized I wasn't exactly that geek. I found a majority of the trivia rather boring.

This is better as a bathroom reader.

[Mohsen · Rating 2 out of 5]

A fun read, filled with interesting information for a person in high school. Not any older than that.
The title has so much more potential for it, and to be honest it's the reason why I bought the whole thing, but it let me down.

The style of writing is catchy, but not enough, I have to admit I skipped some chapters because they were slightly boring and not that interesting.

I would have hoped to see something sarcastic and geeky enough to grab my attention, but it failed me. Yet the three stars are well deserved for the interesting collection of information.