Customer Reviews:
 Just a small encyclopaedia, but massively interesting January 5, 2006
12 out of 14 found this review helpful
What a wonderful little book. It's got all these facts that I didn't realise I desperately wanted to know. It's set out as a collection of questions and answers. The questions and their answers (selected from those submitted to The New Scientist's 'Last Word' column) are arranged into chapters covering: 1) Our bodies, 2) Plants and animals, 3) Domestic science, 4) Our universe, 5) Our planet, 6) Weird weather, 7) Troublesome transport and 8) Best of the rest. And finally, there's an index.It's my best (and most reasonably priced, now I come to look) Christmas present. I went straight to chapter 2 to find out what eats wasps. Fascinating! No, I'm not going to tell you. That might discourage you from buying the book and I can assure you that it's a book that anyone who doesn't already know everything will want to read. Next I read the introduction page where a weird phenomenon involving Tia Maria and cream was mentioned. No sooner had I found and read the question and answer involving this rather pleasant beverage, than I went and embarked on my own scientific experiments with the Christmas supply of Tia Maria and cream (now all sadly depleted). And by the time I'd finished, I'd witnessed real science in action and felt so happy I could hardly stand up. I do hope they bring out another of these books for next Christmas. Perhaps if enough people buy this one ...
 Does Anything Eat Wasps?: And 101 Other Questions January 1, 2006
27 out of 33 found this review helpful
This is a very intresting book, it includes questions such as... how fat do you have to be until you become bullet proof? and does beheading hurt? Questions like this are answered by various people some questions have more than one answer.
The only problem is that some of the answers do drag on a bit (over two pages) but most are informative and sometimes whitty.
An interesting and informative read, worth buying.
The perfect toilet book December 31, 2005
14 out of 17 found this review helpful
Not a book you'd want to read from end-to-end in one go, but the small, interesting articles are perfect for those "quieter" moments in the smallest room in the house.
A book for all enquiring minds December 31, 2005
45 out of 47 found this review helpful
A definite must for all students!
I have to admit that when I got two of this book for christmas I figured that my friends really thought I should read it. As a science teacher this is probably one of the best scientific/factual books I have read in a long time. It isn't just for science nuts out there, it's not a heavy read that switches your brain off and can at times be very amusing. I would recommend this to every parent (or teacher) with children that ask the question "why" alot. There is bound to be a question in there that you have pondered yourself and there are loads of little facts that if nothing else will be useful when doing pub quizzes.
Enjoy!
 Dull December 28, 2005
12 out of 60 found this review helpful
Full of answers to those little interesting questions in life, but only if they happen to be interesting to you! Personally I found most of the questions dull and pointless (I would show an example here but frankly I can't find enough interest to transcribe one). A great idea but an opportunity missed, reflecting on the dull pomposity of the column in the magazine itself. Whatsmore you often get not one but two (or more) answers to the same questions posed by the scientifically interested public; all of them containing exactly the same content.This 'kind of works' as a column in a magazine, but in book form you would expect far better content, coverage and editing.
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