The Book of General Ignorance
by John Lloyd, John Mitchinson
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Book Summary Information
Author: John Lloyd, John MitchinsonEdition: Hardcover
Format: Bargain Price
Published: 2007-08-07
ISBN: N/A
Number of pages: 288
Publisher: Harmony
Book Reviews of The Book of General Ignorance
Book Review: Open your Eyes to Real Knowledge and be Amazed
Summary: 5 Stars
(With foreword by Stephen Fry and Four words by Alan Davies)
This number-one bestseller, will set you right.
Be the focus of any social gatherings with impressive historical knowledge as the number of wives Henry VIII did have; trivial data as the number of nostrils we have; the length of time a chicken can live without its head and brainstorming questions as, What has a three-second memory?
Other interesting facts as how polar bears disguise themselves will have you wondering how much you really know. As Stephen Fry says in the Foreword, `Read it wisely, Little One, for the power of ignorance is great.'
Alan Davies' four words, `Will this do, Stephen?' makes us think about what we believe we know and what the facts really are.
We find out other facts like who introduced tobacco and potato to England and who invented the telephone - not Alexander Graham Bell as we are lead to believe - surprising isn't it?
Culinary and scientific facts such as:
Where the popular Indian dish, Chicken Tikka Masala comes from - this is really interesting.
French toast and France - I hadn't have known this.
What makes a hunk-hunk noise - a natural response and amusing.
How many senses a human being have - I thought of 6 but there are more.
How many states of matter there are - very interesting scientific knowledge.
What is three times as dangerous as war - a true known fact.
What killed most sailors in an 18th century sea battle - this fact is surprising.
What we have Thomas Crapper to thank for - what we use daily and surprising too.
Who America was named after - not Amerigo Vespucci as widely thought - and someone I'd not heard of before.
Where baseball was invented - I hadn't have thought of this country.
Who the first American President was - not who I'd first thought of.
What George Washington's false teeth was made of - very interesting.
What is most likely to survive a nuclear war - not cockroaches as widely thought - something more scientifically expressed.
More importantly, who blew the nose off the Sphinx - amusing and surprising.
These facts will astonish even the non-culinary experts and trivial pursuit enthusiasts.
With humour, facts and anecdotal explanations, you'll become an expert at such `important' trivia and general knowledge that you'd be asked back to more social events and more than those you can fill in your diary.
Where the authors add a touch of humour, you'll like the explanations given and where facts are necessary, you'll like the way they set out the details so you can remember them well and have them stored in your vital memory bank for those occasions when you need to show how much you really know as opposed to how much others think they know and that will get you on a good footing for next time.
It's near Christmas so where Santa Claus is from is of the utmost importance - not Lapland or the North Pole as we would have thought but somewhere as far from my thoughts as you can imagine.
This has to be in your Christmas stocking - the recipient of this book will be forever thanking you for opening their eyes to facts we would never have known otherwise.
They will astonish even the literary, science and general knowledge quiz buffs.
Summary of The Book of General Ignorance
Think Magellan was the first man to circumnavigate the globe, baseball was invented in America, Henry VIII had six wives, Mount Everest is the tallest mountain? Wrong, wrong, wrong, and wrong again.Misconceptions, misunderstandings, and flawed facts finally get the heave-ho in this humorous, downright humiliating book of reeducation based on the phenomenal British bestseller. Challenging what most of us assume to be verifiable truths in areas like history, literature, science, nature, and more,
The Book of General Ignorance is a witty ?gotcha? compendium of how little we actually know about anything. It?ll have you scratching your head wondering why we even bother to go to school.
Revealing the truth behind all the things we think we know but don?t, this book leaves you dumbfounded about all the misinformation you?ve managed to collect during your life, and sets you up to win big should you ever be a contestant on Jeopardy! or Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.
Besides righting the record on common (but wrong) myths like Captain Cook discovering Australia or Alexander Graham Bell inventing the telephone, The Book of General Ignorance also gives us the skinny on silly slipups to trot out at dinner parties (Cinderella wore fur, not glass, slippers and chicken tikka masala was invented in Scotland, not India).
Thomas Edison said that we know less than one millionth of one percent about anything: this book makes us wonder if we know even that much.
You?ll be surprised at how much you don?t know! Check out THE BOOK OF GENERAL IGNORANCE for more fun entries and complete answers to the following:
How long can a chicken live without its head?
About two years.
What do chameleons do?
They don?t change color to match the background. Never have; never will. Complete myth. Utter fabrication. Total Lie. They change color as a result of different emotional states.
Who invented champagne?
Not the French.
How many legs does a centipede have?
Not a hundred.
How many toes has a two-toed sloth?
It?s either six or eight.
How many penises does a European earwig have?
a)Fourteen
b)None at all
c)Two (one for special occasions)
d)Mind your own business
Which animals are the best-endowed of all?
Barnacles. These unassuming modest beasts have the longest penis relative to their size of any creature. They can be seven times longer than their body.
What is a rhino?s horn made from?
A rhinoceros horn is not, as some people think, made out of hair.
Who was the first American president?
Peyton Randolph.
What were George Washington?s false teeth made from?
Mostly hippopotamus.
What was James Bond?s favorite drink?
Not the vodka martini.
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