Can Reindeer Fly?: The Science of Christmas

Description

A lighted-hearted scientific look at the rituals and icons of Christmas. How does snow form? Why are we always depressed after Christmas? How does Santa manage to deliver all those presents in one night? (He has, in fact, little over two ten-thousandths of a second to get between each of the 842 million households he must visit.) This new edition has been extensively updated and contains information on how drugs might make us see flying reindeer, how pollution is affecting the shape of Christmas trees and the intriguing correlation between the length of our Christmas card list and brain size.

Roger Highfield is Science Editor of the Daily Telegraph. He broadcasts frequently on radio and television.

An extensively revised edition of a light-hearted scientific look at the rituals and icons of Christmas from such questions as the thermodynamics involved in cooking a turkey to the likely celestial candidates for the Star of Bethlehem and what happens to us physically when we over-indulge in alcohol. And there's a new chapter on how religion can help your entire life.