The Bumper Book of Things That Nobody Knows: 1001 Mysteries of Life, the Universe and Everything

Description

There are many, many things that nobody knows... Do animals have a sense of humour? Why do we have five fingers? What did Jesus do in his youth? Has human evolution stopped? Can robots become self-aware? What goes on inside a black hole? Bringing together The Things That Nobody Knows and Even More Things That Nobody Knows, this bumper volume takes us on a guided tour of 1,001 gaps in our knowledge of cosmology, mathematics, animal behaviour, medical science, music, art and literature.

William Hartston is a Cambridge-educated mathematician and industrial psychologist. Between 1962 and 1987 he played chess competitively, becoming an international master and winning the English chess championship in 1973 and 1975. He runs competitions in creative thinking for the Independent newspaper and the Mind Sports Olympiad, writes the off-beat Beachcomber column for the Daily Express and is the author of a number of books on chess, mathematics, humour and trivia. Hartston is also one of the viewers on Channel 4's Gogglebox.

Each mystery is delightfully penned in bite-sized chunks that often includes humorous repertoire... highly enjoyable... Captivating and inspiring. * New Scientist on The Things That Nobody Knows * Properly researched, and the elegance of its pop-cosmology or pop-biology mini-narratives rivals that of many specialists. It is slyly witty, and pleasingly optimistic. -- Steven Poole * Guardian on The Things That Nobody Knows * Discovering the many undiscovered things that one thought had been discovered already is one of the joys of this book... You might have thought that wallowing in ignorance is a tedious and fruitless occupation. As Hartston proves entertainingly, how wrong you would be. * Daily Express on The Things That Nobody Knows *