Len Fisher

Ok, this one completely appeals to my inner geek. I was trained as a scientist but it's been a while since I've done anything that looks like science. This satisfies that desire to unlock how the world works. In this case, the book is a series of short essays on particular subjects that may sound like daft questions, but have some need to understand the science in order to answer the question. So the title, "how to dunk a doughnut" starts with a discussion of the difference between doughnuts show more & biscuits and perfects the art of the biscuit dunk. yes, it's light hearted and (scientifically) superficial, but it was a fun read. A lot of the applications are food related - the author being a food scientist - but that at least makes them readily applicable by the non scientist. I imagine any food scientist would find it trivial in the extreme, but for a non scientist or someone at school, it would be a good general informative book. i liked it, but like I said, my inner geek needs feeding every now & then. show less

Fisher's offering is a work written by a scientist but well and accurately aimed at the non-scientist. Where many before him have failed, Fisher has succeeded in crafting a work which does well at dancing the line between too technical and downright insulting. The author very carefully defines his terms once upon first use and then rightly expects his audience to remember them. He is accessible without being annoying.

As to his content, Fisher is widely varied while staying fundamentally true show more to his background in physics. In his 200 pages he touches on liquid uptake of permeable foods (the eponymous dunking of the doughnut), the protein transition of cooked eggs, the physics of simple tools, math tricks to make your trip to the supermarket less costly, boomerangs, beer foam and ball games. He closes with chapters on the physics behind the sense of taste and human sexuality.

Throughout, Fisher provides not only factual content but historical anecdotes to lighten the mood a bit. Most memorably for me, he relates the brief tale of an Australian man in the 1930s who protested loudly and publicly that the use of an erect penis during intercourse was simply too forceful. He argued that a flaccid state was more respectful and appropriate and one that allowed the woman to draw the instrument of insemination into herself at a time of her own choosing. Personally I suspect this was a case of a movement founded in the fertile ground of a personal shortcoming but regardless of the cause for the statement, it does give one a proper sense for the character of the book. show less

Fisher's offering is a work written by a scientist but well and accurately aimed at the non-scientist. Where many before him have failed, Fisher has succeeded in crafting a work which does well at dancing the line between too technical and downright insulting. The author very carefully defines his terms once upon first use and then rightly expects his audience to remember them. He is accessible without being annoying.

As to his content, Fisher is widely varied while staying fundamentally true show more to his background in physics. In his 200 pages he touches on liquid uptake of permeable foods (the eponymous dunking of the doughnut), the protein transition of cooked eggs, the physics of simple tools, math tricks to make your trip to the supermarket less costly, boomerangs, beer foam and ball games. He closes with chapters on the physics behind the sense of taste and human sexuality.

Throughout, Fisher provides not only factual content but historical anecdotes to lighten the mood a bit. Most memorably for me, he relates the brief tale of an Australian man in the 1930s who protested loudly and publicly that the use of an erect penis during intercourse was simply too forceful. He argued that a flaccid state was more respectful and appropriate and one that allowed the woman to draw the instrument of insemination into herself at a time of her own choosing. Personally I suspect this was a case of a movement founded in the fertile ground of a personal shortcoming but regardless of the cause for the statement, it does give one a proper sense for the character of the book. show less

How to dunk a doughnut was a wonderful mix of good writing, and science! A solid book of applying science to every-day life is a good thing all in itself, but Fisher's writing did not come off as mere scientific babbling. Though the actual science was often complicated, the method of writing and story telling made it incredibly accessible. There certainly needs to be more writing like this!