What Are the Seven Wonders of the World

What Are the Seven Wonders of the World
by Peter Depiro

What Are the Seven Wonders of the World
Our Price: $6.95
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


or

Book Summary Information

Author: Peter Depiro
Edition: Paperback
ISBN: 0965068064
Publisher: Doubleday Anchor Book

Summary of What Are the Seven Wonders of the World

Can you name...Newton's 3 laws of motion?The 4 horsemen of the Apocalypse?The 5 pillars of Islam? The 6 wives of Henry VIII?The 7 kinds of plane triangles? The 8 Beatitudes?If you're not sure about the answers to the above, this is the book for you. A compendium of 101 culturally significant particulars from the fields of mythology, religion, literature, history, science, mathematics, art, and music, What Are the 7 Wonders of the World? is a stimulating fusion of facts and fun that makes for an invaluable reference and an entertaining diversion.

Questions are grouped in sections according to the number of items in their answer (all the 3s, all the 4s, all the 5s, etc.), so that the answers are in the form of easily memorized lists. You won't find Luther's 95 theses, or the 264 Popes, for example, but you will find everything from the 3 sons of Adam and Eve all the way up to the 24 letters of the ancient Greek alphabet.

This clever format lends itself well to quizzing and guessing, which gives it a deliciously sophisticated parlor-game quality. But for those who wish to delve a little deeper, there are thoughtful essays to go with each answer that include fascinating details and place the list in its larger cultural or historical context. Much more than a book of trivia, What Are the 7 Wonders of the World? offers a grand overview of the knowledge needed to appreciate many of the finest things in our cultural and intellectual life.
Historic trivia is fascinating stuff. The secret to great trivia reporting is not just in the gathering of the details, however, but in the presentation. Organization is vital, because without an appealing structure, the mind won't grapple with the facts. The human brain needs an inviting presentation to wrap around any new information, and this is what D'Epiro and Pinkowish have done. It's why their compilation of 107 cultural questions is so beguiling.

The elemental secret of their innovative table of contents is the use of numbers. Starting with three and working their way up (with a gap here and there) to 24, they pose a series of intriguing questions which are then answered to everyone's satisfaction on the indicated pages. What are the three Laws of Thermodynamics? Who were the three Furies? and What are the three ages of Vico's historical cycle? These are the sorts of queries they present in the chapter entitled Three. Further chapters inquire after the four properties of a musical tone, the six flavors of quarks, the seven Virtues, the 12 Labors of Heracles, the 14 Points of Woodrow Wilson, and the unofficial Homeric titles of the 18 chapters of Ulysses.

While the questions are appealing in and of themselves, the answers are even better. Going far beyond mere lists, they delve into the histories and texts, the theories and significance of each. The question is the hook, but the answer is the prize, riveting you with more information than you'd anticipated, reminding you of the joy of learning. --Stephanie Gold

Erotica Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Erotica Books
Indiscreet Memoirs ImageIndiscreet Memoirs
by Alain Dorval
Nexus; Published: 1985-12-05; Paperback; Book
Voyeur ImageVoyeur
by Phillip Mason
Hodder & Stoughton; Published: 1999-06; Paperback; Book
Price in other shops: $11.99
Sensual Memoirs of Edwardian 2 (v. 2) ImageSensual Memoirs of Edwardian 2 (v. 2)
by Anonymous
Hodder & Stoughton; Published: 1999-06; Hardcover; Book
Price in other shops: $11.95
Topping From Below ImageTopping From Below
by Laura Reese
St. Martin's Griffin; Published: 1996-04-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $18.94
Salt On Our Skin ImageSalt On Our Skin
by Benoit Groult; Mo Teitelbaum
Hamish Hamilton; Published: 1992; Paperback; Book
Erotic Stories by Women, The Penguin Book of ImageErotic Stories by Women, The Penguin Book of
by Various
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1997-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $86.86
The Seduction (Notorious) ImageThe Seduction (Notorious)
by Nicole Jordan
Ballantine Books; Published: 2010-05-25; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.99
Price in other shops: $5.99
Burning Up: Tales of Erotic Romance ImageBurning Up: Tales of Erotic Romance
by Nina Bangs, Kimberly Raye, Cheryl Holt, Patricia Ryan
St. Martin's Griffin; Published: 2003-07-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.20
Price in other shops: $16.99
In the Cut (Vintage Contemporaries) ImageIn the Cut (Vintage Contemporaries)
by Susanna Moore
Vintage; Published: 2007-08-14; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.93
Price in other shops: $14.00
The Average American Male: A Novel ImageThe Average American Male: A Novel
by Chad Kultgen
Harper Perennial; Published: 2007-03-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.47
Price in other shops: $13.99
Similar Books and other products
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know ImageThe New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know
by E. D. Hirsch, Joseph F. Kett, James Trefil
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; Published: 2002-10-03; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $16.69
Price in other shops: $29.95
Breakthrough Rapid Reading ImageBreakthrough Rapid Reading
by Peter Kump
Prentice Hall Press; Published: 1998-11-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.50
Price in other shops: $17.95
How to Calculate Quickly: Full Course in Speed Arithmetic ImageHow to Calculate Quickly: Full Course in Speed Arithmetic
by Henry Sticker
Dover Publications; Published: 1955-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.16
Price in other shops: $5.95
Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia: Fourth Edition ImageBenet's Reader's Encyclopedia: Fourth Edition
by Bruce Murphy
Collins Reference; Published: 1996-08-30; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $15.00
Price in other shops: $50.00
Sprezzatura: 50 Ways Italian Genius Shaped the World ImageSprezzatura: 50 Ways Italian Genius Shaped the World
by Peter D'Epiro, Mary Desmond Pinkowish
Anchor; Published: 2001-10-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.71
Price in other shops: $17.95
The Book of Firsts: 150 World-Changing People and Events from Caesar Augustus to the Internet ImageThe Book of Firsts: 150 World-Changing People and Events from Caesar Augustus to the Internet
by Peter D'Epiro
Anchor; Published: 2010-03-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops: $16.00
The Memory Book: The Classic Guide to Improving Your Memory at Work, at School, and at Play ImageThe Memory Book: The Classic Guide to Improving Your Memory at Work, at School, and at Play
by Harry Lorayne, Jerry Lucas
Ballantine Books; Published: 1996-08-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.73
Price in other shops: $15.00
Arithmetricks: 50 Easy Ways to Add, Subtract, Multiply, and Divide Without a Calculator ImageArithmetricks: 50 Easy Ways to Add, Subtract, Multiply, and Divide Without a Calculator
by Edward H. Julius
Books; Jossey-Bass; Published: 1995-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.17
Price in other shops: $14.95
Short-Cut Math ImageShort-Cut Math
by Gerard W. Kelly
Dover Publications; Published: 1984-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.94
Price in other shops: $3.95
Secrets of Mental Math: The Mathemagician's Guide to Lightning Calculation and Amazing Math Tricks ImageSecrets of Mental Math: The Mathemagician's Guide to Lightning Calculation and Amazing Math Tricks
by Arthur Benjamin, Michael Shermer
Three Rivers Press; Published: 2006-08-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops: $14.00