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Loading... QI: The Book of General Ignoranceby John Lloyd
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. mikal | Jun 15, 2009 |   John Lloyd, one of the co-authors of this book seems to specialise in slightly frothy, snippet based books which can be read in tiny bite sized pieces (I refer the reader to The Meaning of Liff with Douglas Adams). In this case the book is a series of questions, many of which you probably think you know the answer to, but which you are then disavowed of.For instance, what is the 'Ring a-ring a-Roses' about.I, like most people thought it was about the Black Death (Bubonic Plague). But it dates back much further than that and its genesis has been lost in the mists of time. (  )fieldri1 | May 8, 2009 | John Lloyd, one of the co-authors of this book seems to specialise in slightly frothy, snippet based books which can be read in tiny bite sized pieces (I refer the reader to The Meaning of Liff with Douglas Adams). In this case the book is a series of questions, many of which you probably think you know the answer to, but which you are then disavowed of.For instance, what is the 'Ring a-ring a-Roses' about.I, like most people thought it was about the Black Death (Bubonic Plague). But it dates back much further than that and its genesis has been lost in the mists of time. ( )fieldri1 | May 8, 2009 | Ganimede | Mar 11, 2009 | This book is brilliant if you like being pointless facts. I do. It is a literal treasure trove of useless information and proves everything you think you know, wrong. (  )Hammish | Mar 5, 2009 | 0.039 seconds to build listing  no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0307394913, Hardcover)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. (retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:20 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
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