Marc Abrahams

Marc Abrahams was the founder of the infamous and hilarious Ig Nobel Prizes, awarded each year for research that "first makes you laugh and then makes you think." Which probably gives you a reasonable idea of the contents of this collection of short pieces, all of which originally appeared in The Guardian. Each one is a little glimpse of some odd, amusing, or hard-to-believe piece of research. (E.g.: a study of people's reactions to someone walking around with a shoelace untied, an analysis show more of the history of Soviet underwear, or a look at the attitude of measurement experts to cheap plastic rulers.) Some of the subjects are clearly just bad science, others are perfectly legitimate research into offbeat topics, and a lot seem to fall somewhere in between. It's entertaining to dip into -- which is probably better than reading it all in a lump -- and Abrahams writes with a pleasantly sly sense of humor. I didn't find the collection, overall, to be quite as much fun as I was hoping for, though, I think mainly because each piece is so short that there's not a lot of room for the "thinking" part. Mostly, I get the sense of him pointing a finger at some scientific oddity or other and basically going, "Here's a quirky thing! Did you see it being quirky? Great, then, bye!" show less

I had high hopes for this book, coming from the founder of the Ig Noble Prizes, but alas it wan’t quite the chatty, easy to read format I’d expected. This is, in fact, a collection of his columns from The Guardian, slightly expanded upon and cited out the wazoo. This makes it an excellent reference for those times when you’re specifically looking for bizarre, twisted or otherwise outlandish research, but rather less excellent if you’re looking for an enjoyable sit-down read.

Still, show more it’s a comprehensive (one would hope) collection of some of the most head-scratching research being done out there in the name of science, and if you’re willing to read through the dry reportage, a few amusing facts. My two favourites were the patent issued in the USA in 1977 for the comb-over – yes, the one you’re thinking of, that oh-so-sexy and not-at-all-obvious disguise for male pattern baldness. And an Australian patent in 2001 for a “Circular Transportation Facilitation Device”. Which is, you guessed it, the wheel.

A more timely and relevant invention for us in these pandemic days is the US patent awarded in 2007 for a “Garment Device Convertible to One or More Facemasks”. A/K/A a bra, that in an emergency, can be quickly converted into a pair of protective face masks. It was awarded an Ig Noble prize in 2009 for Public Health, but one has to wonder just how Ig Noble the invention remains? show less

Every year (and every day, sometimes), landmark research is published and the results amaze, shock, or comfort the world. Cures and vaccines and psychological insights are gleaned from meticulous scientific research. But not all science is groundbreaking and world-changing; sometimes it’s just one person or a small group looking into the unlit areas of the world. They prod and examine the natural world for even the most esoteric knowledge, hoping that one day, it will be understand in a show more much larger context. And even for these off-the-beaten-path researchers, there are yearly awards—the Ig Nobels. Marc Abrahams The Man Who Tried to Clone Himself is a collection of the most delightful, most disconcerting, and most distinguished winners from the last 22 years.

The Ig Nobels are meant to award research and events that first “make you laugh, and then make you think.” Not all science is serious nor is it immediately useful, but it’s still science. Every year, the Ig Nobels, awarded by the Annals of Improbable Research, gather together the awardees at a small auditorium where paper airplanes fly and a sweet little girl annoys recipients to get them off the stage if they stay longer than a minute. The books details the stories behind the awards and anecdotes from the researcher’s trip to the ceremony. From this collection, here are some of my favorites:

• Physics (2001): David Schmidt, for his partial solution on why shower curtains billow inward
• Interdisciplinary Research (2003): Stefano Ghirlanda, Liseolette Jansson, and Magnus Enquist, for a study on chickens’ preference for beautiful humans
• Biology (1997): T Yagyu et al., for a study measuring brain waves while chewing different flavor of gum
• Medicine (1992): F. Kanda et al., for a study into the components of the chemicals that cause foot malodor

Each study looks at the natural world from a perspective previously un-investigated and gives a small piece of the puzzle. While there are many who would argue that this research is frivolous and expensive, most undirected research usually is. And many of the world’s great discoveries were found when no one was looking for them. This was a great book for a quick read into some of the fringe science being done in the world, and some of it is a bit satirical: for example, the Ig Nobel in Peace is usually given to a group who do their best to foment unrest or ignore civil problems. All in all, though, a pretty interesting book. show less

This is one seriously funny book. Ig Nobel prizes are awarded to those who pursue (and publish) research that first makes you laugh, then makes you think. Actual Nobel Laureates present the awards and participate in the general shenanigans that take place during the annual ceremony. Abrahams's descriptions of this selection of winners had me cracking up repeatedly. It's hard to pick a favorite, though I did particularly enjoy Levitating Crime Fighters and High Velocity Birth. And yes, as is show more repeatedly mentioned, all of these experiments are real. Definitely recommended. show less