Even More Things That Nobody Knows: 501 Further Mysteries of Life, the Universe and Everything

摘要

How does physical activity affect cancer risk? Does the death penalty have a deterrent effect? Are there any limits to machine intelligence? What is the effect of polar warming on mid-latitude regions? Or, perhaps of less concern, are crows impatient? How do dogs catch Frisbees? Who invented the door knob? Does tickling a rat make it optimistic? These are some of the 501 'mysteries' explored in this compact paperback from independent British publisher Atlantic Books. As indicated by the 'even more' prefix to the title, it follows the original Things That Nobody Knows: 501 Mysteries of Life, the Universe and Everything published in 2011. The author of both books is William Hanson who, according to the back cover blurb, "is a Cambridge-educated mathematician, an international chess master . . . (who) writes the off-beat Beachcomber column for the Daily Express and is also one of the viewers on Channel 4's Gogglebox". Hartson's Wikipedia entry also reveals that he is author of Mr. Hartson's Most Excellent Encyclopedia of Useless Information (Hartson 2006) subtitled A Supreme Miscellany of Fantastic Facts. Hartson, it is clear, has form in the exposure of the curious and the questionable.