Popular Science FYI – 229 Curious Questions Answered – edited by Bjorn Carey is a book to consider if you like to immerse yourself brightly and quickly into a wide assortment of interesting science questions and answers. Popular Science FYI (ISBN 978-1-61628-120-5) is a well-illustrated work published by Weldon Owen Inc. and is list priced at $17.95 in the U.S.
Popular Science FYI Asks and Answers 229 Questions in Six General Science Discipline
This book is divided into 6 sections titled:
- The Final Frontier with 50 questions and answers about outer space and the universe
- Human Extremes contains 44 interesting questions and answers about us
- The Animal World of 33 intriguing questions and answers of mosquitoes, birds, cats, dogs, whales and more
- Here On Earth with 27 answers for earthly thoughts of dirt and soil, oil, cigarettes
- Everyday Life contains 41 not so common or mundane musings and good responses
- Wonders of Medicine 34 things to wander and wonder about
Above you can see a 6 section framework on which this book is organized, but what about the specific contents and those questions and the answers within? Whenever a question is asked I as an ordinary person, reviewer and teacher always like to ask: Is that a good question? And when the answer is given I also like to ask: Is that a good answer? In the next section, those big questions and answers will be reviewed further.
Popular Science FYI Contains Interesting Questions and Provides Thoughtful Answers
In reviewing this book I looked at each question first and then thought about the possible answers to that question. This approach made the book fun to read and challenged my reading and thinking – one question at a time. This exercise or approach is one I would recommend for anyone who is thinking about acquiring this book since doing this helps develop thinking and reasoning skills.
Here are ten sample questions directly from the book:
1. Just how old is dirt?
2. Will we run out of breathable oxygen?
3. What does space smell like?
4. What is the smallest animal in the world?
5. Why not just dispose of nuclear waste in the sun?
6. How fast would someone have to sprint to run on water?
7. Why do some people dream more than others?
8. How many ways can a chess game unfold?
9. Should I be worried about electromagnetic pulses destroying my electronics?
10. Can the food I eat affect my descendants' genes?
Finally, there are 229 of these intriguing questions. Some of the questions in this book are ones you might never think of asking, nevertheless almost all the questions and answers are interesting in one way or another. This book is enjoyable and informative. If you like to read, think and evaluate science, space, medicine, animals and the world around you, then this book is a good choice.
Source
Carey, B. ed. 2011. Popular Science FYI – 229 Curious Questions Answered – Weldon Owen Inc., San Francisco, Ca. (ISBN 978-1-61628-120-5)
Donald Reinhardt - Think, read, write & live well always. DJR has a PhD in Biology/Microbiology & is a Fellow & Diplomate, ASM Amer Acad Micro.
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