Better Living Through Science

by Mark Frary

How to apply science to your home life to do things better, faster, and cheaper

The Basic Scientific Principles You Need to Solve Every Household Conundrum

For most of us, physics and chemistry are but distant memories, part of the hazy days of high school, no more distinct than gym class humiliations or the particulars of calculus—and certainly no more useful in our daily lives. But is that really true? Or could the fundamentals of science and even math actually turn out to be helpful? Not in the way your math teacher might have imagined, but in practical, useful ways that improve your life?

In Better Living through Science, learn how science can help you do such things as:
-get a piece of furniture around a tight corner
-unscrew the top from a difficult jar
-remove a red wine stain from a carpet without a fancy cleaning solution--and much more!

With charming, full color photographs and illustrations, this book demonstrates how all of the things we learned (or didn’t learn) in math and science class will go a long way toward improving life in and around the house.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction

144 pages, Hardcover

First published October 26, 2010

About the author

Mark Frary is a writer on science and technology and graduated from University College London with a first class degree in astronomy and physics. He has carried out research into spacecraft at the Mullard Space Science Laboratory in Surrey and nuclear physics on the large electron-positron collider at CERN, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics in Geneva, Switzerland.

His work appears regularly in the London Times and other newspapers and magazines. He is the co-author of Codebreaker: the Secret History of Communications, Future Proof, and the author of Freaky Science and Math in your Pocket.

Reviews

[Jina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, I really enjoyed the fun tips and “myth busting” science this book provides. I really didn't understand the flow of the chapters, though. It's not alphabetical or categorized in any obvious way. I also found it funny that they make a point in the intro to say, “Don't worry if the very thought of an equation fills you with fear. You don't need to be adept at algebra or a connoisseur of calculus. This book explains things in an easy-to-understand manner that can be enjoyed by anyone, no matter what grades you got back in school.” Yet, they use a lot of algebra, some geometry, and even a bit of trigonometry in their explanations.

[Christina · Rating 1 out of 5]

Takes the simplest topics and presents them in the most convoluted way. Doesn't present anything that I didn't already know. Everything presented you can google, and with better information and presentation. Don't waste your time!

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

it was a good book, some of the things i already knew others i know i won't ever need. it is a good book to keep around if you run into a problem but i did find some of there equations confusing

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fairly quick read and I found it quite enjoyable. It offers tips on how to use science to tackle common tasks in real life such as both preventing and removing icy buildup on your car windshield. Other tips include things like how to prevent food spoilage, eliminate household odors, and help cakes and bread rise when baking. My one complaint is that several of the sections deal more with math than science. These are mostly tips at how to be better at games like poker and risk that mostly deal with probability and while I found it interesting to read I usually don't think of math as a science. The two are certainly interconnected but I feel like math is more a tool for use in science than a separate science itself.

[Gloria · Rating 3 out of 5]

I probably should review this again to absorb it better. In a nutshell, the author presents a number of common household situations and then presents a solution. Most of the entries are 1-2 pages long and some are useful and some are pretty useless. A couple may provide some cost saving alternatives.

[Martha]

odd combination of facts