You know how it is...you're at a party you've had a drink or two & then someone introduces you to a friend. He's a doctor. & it seems like the perfect time to ask all those strange questions you've always wondered about but never had the courage to ask: Can poppy seeds make you test positive for heroin? What are goosebumps? Why does asparagus make your wee smell? Why do old people get hairy ears? Is it possible to lose your contact lenses inside your head forever? Why do some people have an outie" belly button & some people an "innie"? Does warm milk really help you sleep? Is it actually possible to get scared to death? This book gives the answer to these & many more questions
- pretty much everything you've ever wanted to know
- but never had enough Dutch courage to ask!"

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Have you ever wondered why we get ill? Can our thoughts & feelings worsen or even cause conditions like heart disease cancer or asthma? & what
- if anything
- can we do about it? Why Do People Get Ill?" explores the relationship between what's going on in our heads & what happens in our bodies combining the latest research with neglected findings from medical history. With remarkable case studies & startling new insights into why we fall ill this intriguing book should be read by anyone who cares about their own health & that of other people."

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The names of the 300 or so London underground stations are part of the everyday landscape for the Londoners who strap-hang their way across the capital. We hardly ever question their meanings or origins
- yet these well-known names are linked with fascinating stories of bygone times. Until the mid-19th century London was almost unbelievably rural with names belonging to a countryside we could never recognise or imagine today. Who in the twenty-first century thinks of a real flesh-&-blood shepherd lolling back on a specially-trimmed hawthorn bush when travelling through Shepherds Bush underground station? & who travelling through Totteridge & Whetstone on the Northern Line imagines medieval soldiers sharpening their swords & daggers at the aptly named Whetstone just before engaging in the appallingly bloody battle of Barnet? David Hilliam not only uncovers the little-known history behind the station stops below ground but also explores the eccentric etymology of some of Londons landmarks from Acton to Wimbledon offering trivia boxes that will delight the visitor & Londoner alike. This entertaining book will ensure that you will never view your normal journey to work in the same way again.
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This is an engaging & accessible explanation of Einstein's equation that explores the principles of physics through everyday life. Professor Brian Cox & Professor Jeff Forshaw go on a journey to the frontier of 21st century science to consider the real meaning behind the iconic sequence of symbols that make up Einstein's most famous equation. Breaking down the symbols themselves they pose a series of questions: What is energy? What is mass? What has the speed of light got to do with energy & mass? In answering these questions they take us to the site of one of the largest scientific experiments ever conducted. Lying beneath the city of Geneva straddling the Franco-Swiss boarder is a 27 km particle accelerator known as the Large Hadron Collider. Using this gigantic machine
- which can recreate conditions in the early Universe fractions of a second after the Big Bang
- Cox & Forshaw will describe the current theory behind the origin of mass. Alongside questions of energy & mass they will consider the third & perhaps most intriguing element of the equation: 'c'
- or the speed of light. Why is it that the speed of light is the exchange rate? Answering this question is at the heart of the investigation as the authors demonstrate how in order to truly understand why E=mc 2 we first must understand why we must move forward in time & not backwards & how objects in our 3-dimensional world actually move in 4-dimensional space-time. In other words how the very fabric of our world is constructed. A collaboration between two of the youngest professors in the UK Why Does E=MC2?" promises to be one of the most exciting & accessible explanations of the theory of relativity in recent years."


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DID YOU KNOW? Stinky ear wax has been hanging around in the ear canal for nearly a month before it is pickable! Humans share a third of their DNA with lettuce. Cockroaches fart every fifteen minutes. Giraffes never kneel. The average person spends six months of their life on the loo. Amaze your friends & fascinate your family with this book packed with jaw-dropping eyebrow-raising facts. ...

Chris Smith left his Worcestershire home but instead of cycling the routine twelve miles to work he kept on pedalling. 13 months later he arrived in Beijing. This is the account of an epic quest to rediscover a misplaced sense of identity in which exhilaration & exhaustion trade positions against a backdrop of prodigious physical endeavour. ...

What time is it at the North Pole? Should you pickle your conkers? Why does my aubergine look like Elvis? Plus 111 other questions answered. Why Don't Penguins' Feet Freeze?" is the latest compilation of readers' answers to the questions in the " Last Word" column of " New Scientist" the world's best-selling science weekly. Following the phenomenal success of " Does Anything Eat Wasps?"
- the Christmas 2005 surprise bestseller
- this new collection

Includes:: recent answers never before published in book form & also old favourites from the column's early days. Yet again many seemingly simple questions turn out to have complex answers. & some that seem difficult have a very simple explanation. " New Scientist"'s " Last Word" is regularly voted the magazine's most popular section as it celebrates all questions
- the trivial idiosyncratic baffling & strange. This new selection of the best is popular science at its most entertaining & enlightening."




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For all the discussion in the media about creationism & Intelligent Design virtually nothing has been said about the evidence in question
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Catherine Crawford a mother of two young daughters is tired of the indulgent brand of parenting so popular in her trendy Brooklyn neighbourhood. All of the negotiating & bargaining has done scant more than to create a generation of little tyrants. After being exposed to the well-behaved respectful children of her French friends une lumi?re went on
- French children dont talk back! Why French Children Dont Talk Back is a witty & insightful look at how the French manage to bring up obedient well-adjusted kids. It occupies a pragmatic place on the book shelf & in life
- an anti-Tiger Mother approach to parenting.

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The modern world is dominated by ideas that are threatening to kill us: that life is one long battle from conception to grave; that all creatures including human beings are driven by their selfish DNA; that the universe is just stuff for us to use at will. These ideas are seen to emerge from science & hard-nosed philosophy & become self-fulfilling. They have led us to create a world in perpetual strife unjust & in many ways precarious. This remarkable book by an experienced author & thinker argues there's another way of looking at the world that is just as rooted in modern science & yet says precisely the opposite: that life is in fact cooperative; that all creatures including human beings are basically nice; & that there's more to the 'stuff' of the world than meets the eye. This book is both a powerful call to action to rethink our assumptions & a message of hope for those who believe we're doomed to self-destruction. ...