¿Hay algo que coma avispas? 100 preguntas idiotas y apasionantes sobre la ciencia

New Scientist: Last Word #3

by Mick O'Hare

How fat do you have to be to become bulletproof?
Why do people have eyebrows
Why do pineapples have spines?
How much does a head weigh?
What affects the color of earwax?
How quickly could I turn into a fossil?
Have you ever thought up a question so completely off-the-wall, so seemingly ridiculous, that you couldn't even find the courage to ask it? Maybe at the sports bar you were transported by the beauty of your beer to wonder, "How long could I live on beer alone?" Or, cycling through the park, you mused, "Did nature invent any wheels?" Or looking up at the night sky, you had a moment of angst, "What would happen if the moon suddenly disappeared -- if it were vaporized or stolen by aliens?"
Full of fun factlets,Does Anything Eat Wasps? is a runaway bestseller around the world. It celebrates the weird and wacky questions -- some trivial, some baffling, all unique -- and their multiple answers culled from "The Last Word," a long-running column in the internationally popular science magazine, New Scientist. Tackling the imponderables of everyday life, sparkling with humor, and bursting with delightful erudition, Does Anything Eat Wasps? is irresistibly entertaining and utterly engrossing.
So, go on. Put away your lab coat and your pencil -- science is fun again.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Reference, Trivia, Popular Science, Humor, Nature

253 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Mick O’Hare (* 1964 in Mirfield, England) is a British editor and writer who travels between the US and the UK.

Currently, he is an editor for New Scientist, the leading British weekly for science, writing among other things the "The Last Word" column of questions and answers. He edited Profile’s bestselling book "Does Anything Eat Wasps?" and its successors "Why Don’t Penguins’ Feet Freeze?" and "Do Polar Bears Get Lonely?".

Mick joined New Scientist in 1992 after being the production editor for Autosport. He still occasionally works as a rugby league writer and also edits sports books. He has a geology degree.

Reviews

[Neha P · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's like a book version of Philomena Cunk

[Elisala · Rating 5 out of 5]

J'ai appris des trucs (1) et je me suis bien amusée (2), que demander de plus?

(1)
"Certains invertébrés [...] ne se nourrissent que de viande, d'autres, tel le coléoptère appelé dermeste, que de peau ou de poils. Les musées d'Histoire naturelle où sont préparés des spécimens d'animaux gardent des colonies de dermestes pour nettoyer les carcasses."

(2)
"Pour peser votre tête, vous devez effectivement l'isoler du reste de votre corps. La décapitation a cependant un inconvénient : vous ignorerez à jamais le résultat."

[Daisy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was interesting, but quite boring at the same time. The questions people asked were pretty cool (excepting the ones about beer, which for some reason was quite a lot of them) but towards the end I felt like the same person must be answering them all under different names because they all had this droning tone to them and went way too in depth on stuff they didn't need to. I felt the different chapters were random and illogical and I had no idea who that Ed guy was who kept adding footnotes to people's answers. However, the question-and-answer format made me continuously want to pick this book up, and that doesn't always happen with non-fiction, so it's got that going for it. A pleasant enough read, but not an exceptional one.

[Darnell · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mixed bag. There were some good questions and some that were enjoyably odd. But the answers varied in quality - I was most frustrated by the "How long could you live on only beer?" one, in which they didn't even try to answer the question, just gave facts about beer.

[Stephen Curran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Light reading on curious questions. An easy read

[David Campton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I originally bought this and another in the series for my eldest son who was quite scientifically focussed at the time and wasn't a great reader in the hope that the bite sized responses may have appealed, but it remained unopened on the shelf until the recent coronavirus crisis when frustration with scientifically illiterate people pronouncing on serious matters on social media drove me to read this, which is largely made up of scientifically trained people offering possible insights into largely trivial and often alcohol induced or focused questions. Not a book to read in a large chunk, but better in similar portions to the original magazine feature which I always enjoyed when I was a regular reader of New Scientist, although my own scientific endeavours are now ancient history and I haven't bought the magazine for decades. It was slightly strange given the context in which I picked up the book off the shelf, that in the closing section there was a question concerning how long coronaviruses survive on surfaces... But given that the previous answer suggested that human brains have a tendency to read meaning into random patterns I won't read more into that than I might do...

[Yulia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am that kind of person who always asks annoying questions about the world so this book is just for me.
This is an informative and seems to be very well researched book. The questions people asked were pretty cool (except the ones about beer and other alcoholic drinks, which for some reason were quite a lot). There are many very interesting facts in this book along with some boring stuff. But I think different people like different things. Fortunately, you can just skip through the questions and answers you find boring. The question-and-answer format made me continuously want to pick this book up.

My main problem with the book is that I don’t really like the numbers and calculations so I skimmed over them as well as over some silly questions I wasn’t interested in.
4.5/5

[Don · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of questions and answers from the New Scientist 'Last Word' column is as amusing, erudite and eclectic as you could wish. As the introduction points out, the readers of the magazine include some very witty, knowledgeable people, characterised by a sense of curiosity.

If that sounds anything like you, then you will enjoy this book: specialist scientific knowledge not required.

[Bram · Rating 2 out of 5]

Full of facts - fun facts on odd questions, but the book doesn't quite deliver. Perhaps because it's a collection of columns and thus doesn't lend itself to lengthy reading, but probably more so because it tends to be repetitive in its answers (often stating the same thing but by different respondees) and because the book calls itself 'witty' but rarely is.
Randall Munroe's What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions and What If? 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions do this better.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of questions and answers from New Scientist's "Last Word" column, in which readers would write in with questions, and others would answer. Unfortunately, not what I was expecting at all.

Some questions were more interesting than others ("what would bagpipes sound like with helium?", for example...), and the answers were as varied as the questions. Some questions have multiple answers published, and there are instances in which these answers contradict one another. Rarely are these answers succinct; contributors of this column love to ramble and exhibit the depths of their knowledge. Some of the questions and answers are very informative, others not so much; it really is a mixed bag.

Perhaps reading this book out of the context of this column, and some 20+ years after publication, I might not be experiencing the content as intended. Or maybe I'm just missing the point of the "Last Word" entirely.

[Harrison Large · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a science book with answers to trivial but somewhat intriguing questions. Some of the questions have 3 similar, very long, technical answers. Others have one which barely stands as a paragraph.

I got this book for Christmas 2007 and flicked through it a lot as a kid, but never sat down to read it until March 2018. Science is a constantly evolving issue and the advent of the internet has basically obsoleted these books (content and format), so I'm getting rid of them. That said, I've still only read this one despite having collected a fair few in the set, so I'm reading them before they go to charity.

I generally find certain types of questions interesting - humanities ones such as language accents, or space ones such as "what if the moon vanished". There weren't very many of those in this book to hold my interest and I don't feel as if the rest will have so many that will either.

[T.A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was given this book as a gift at Christmas many years ago, so long ago that I’m not actually sure who gave it to me. I’m pretty sure I read it at the time but as I’m currently trying to reduce the amount of stuff I have I thought I would read it before passing it on.

It was a mixed bag of some interesting facts and some not so interesting facts for me, I’m sure that if you asked two people their views on which were which would vary.

If you have a copy it’s worth reading just because it’s format of questions and answers makes it easy to pick up and put down. I did learn some new things just don’t ask me to remember them as I’ve already forgotten.

[Faiz Kermani · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a kid if you were the one who always asked annoying questions about the world...and still haven't stopped as an adult...then this book is for you. Good fun to read with some utterly bizarre questions (yes, what would happen if aliens 'stole' the moon?).
In a few places the answers went on and on...and then scientists wonder why people assume them to be nerds ;-)

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m perplexed as to why this book has a lower rating. It is very informative and seems to be very well researched. If you don’t like to learn random facts, this isn’t the book for you. It answers random questions and individuals with knowledge in the particular answer them. There is no better format for this so don’t complain. If you don’t like non-fiction, don’t read it!

[loonchies · Rating 3 out of 5]

หนังสือรวมคำถามเกี่ยวกับสิ่งรอบตัวที่น่าสนใจและรวมคำตอบจากผู้รู้จากแหล่งต่าง ๆ บางคำถามอาจจะมีคำตอบมากกว่า 1 คน แต่ตอบด้วยมุมมองต่างกันไป ก็น่าสนใจดี
มีบางคำถามที่น่าสนใจดี บางช่วงก็อธิบายละเอียดมาก ๆ จนเกินความรู้ที่เรามีเลยรู้สึกน่าเบื่อไปบ้าง

[Lindsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are some really interesting facts in this book along with a lot of snoozers. Different people will find different things interesting. Fortunately, you can just skip through the questions and answers you find boring.

[Cat · Rating 3 out of 5]

.

Enjoyable. Informative. A decent bathroom book or coffee table occupant. Good to pick up, peruse, and learn something irrelevant but interesting enough for a pub quiz or discussion

[Ed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty funny in places and always interesting (if admittedly and openly pointless). A testament to the power of everyone to pull together and pool their irrelevant but deeply specific knowledge reservoirs. And I now know how fat I need to be if I want to be bulletproof.

[Toby · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun book of weird and wonderful questions with (mostly) scientific answers.

My main problem with the book is I read the American version which doesn’t use metric so I skimmed over all the numbers and calculations (I can only think in metric).

[Lasar · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 out of 5, because although there were some real gems in there, I wasn't interested in most of it

Read properly up until like page 100, but then started skimming instead to find the questions that really intrigued me.

An ok book, one of a time thing.

[Matthew Caldwell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately, this fell short for me. There were few actually interesting questions, and there were lots of answers which were overly complicated. That, I am sure, is my fault for not understanding the science.
It did, however, introduce me to Mal De Debarquement.

[Chloe Bragança · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book! Huge variety of questions and answers, I liked how the questions were categorised and the way that the answers came from general public input but were still interesting and scientific! Very good!

[Caitlin Begg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good factual information presented well. Interesting and random questions asked and answered. Helpful input from the editor as well. I wish there was more of a closure or outro to surmise everything or something, just so it was less last question answered end of the book bye bye.

[Deke · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun little book. The format - a couple different answers to each question - takes a bit of getting used to, if you're not familiar with the magazine. A perfect "bathroom book."

[Tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you regularly read "The New Scientist" you should pretty much know most of the answers in this book already, lol.

[Mohammed Shihon · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is much better than (what if? )

[Manfred Souza · Rating 3 out of 5]

Na verdade eu li a tradução em português que saiu pela Editora Record: "Quanto preciso pesar para ser à prova de uma bala perdida?" (tradução de carolina duarte). Muio divertido.

[Carrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read! Fun and educational facts written with a lot of humor. Highly recommend!

[LadyBanshee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it but I previously read How to fossilise your hamster and I found that book more interesting than this one. I skipped some questions but I found very interesting information as well.

[Diana Aragón · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a book to devour, but to enjoy reading one question per night