Overview

The mind behind the infamous Ig Nobel Prizes presents an addictive collection of improbable research all about us – and you Marc Abrahams collects the odd, the imaginative and the brilliantly improbable. Here he turns to research on the ins and outs of the very improbable evolutionary innovation that is the human body (brain included): • What’s the best way to get a monkey to floss regularly? • How much dandruff do Pakistani soldiers have? • If you add an extra henchman to your bank-robbing gang, how much more money will you 'earn'? • How many dimples will be found on the cheeks of 28,282 Greek children? • Who is the Einstein of pork carcasses?

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9781780743615

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Reviews

Abrahams is doing vital work here... From this deeply improbable book, you will learn that male chess players take more risk in their play when they are playing attractive female opponents, and that British bank robbers don't make as much money as you might think. - Daily Mail Praise for Marc Abrahams' This Is Improbable Science nerds and comedy junkies unite! Your book has arrived. -- Reader's Digest Hilarious... You'll never look at scientists in the same way again. -- Terry Jones, Monty Python Marc Abrahams is a perfectly calibrated filtration system into which all of science is poured and out of which comes pure, giddy goofball delight... A delicious, addictive treat. --Mary Roach, author of Gulp and Stiff Delightful... A pleasure to read in the bathroom and in the bedroom, and the kind of book that makes you seem smarter when you share it with your friends (just make sure you wash your hands first). -- Dan Ariely, author of Predictably Irrational Human beings are weird, the world is weird, and human beings--just can't stop 'em--like to research the world. The result is a triple-rainbow of weirdness, all compiled with wit and aplomb by Marc Abrahams, the world's leading impresario of strange-ass science. -- Amanda Palmer Rationalism taken to intoxicating extremes. -- Guardian

Rationalism taken to intoxicating extremes. Guardian Hilarious... You'll never look at scientists in the same way again. -- Terry Jones, Monty Python Science nerds and junkies unite! Your book has arrived. Reader's Digest Wonderful! The definitive compendium of quirky, jaw-dropping research. -- Richard Wiseman, author of :59 Seconds and Quirkology 'Abrahams is doing vital work here... From this deeply improbable book, you will learn that male chess players take more risk in their play when they are playing attractive female opponents, and that British bank robbers don't make as much money as you might think.' Daily Mail 'A detailed map of the most arcane byways down which members of the scientific community have travelled' Independent on Sunday

Author Information

Marc Abrahams writes the 'Improbable Research' column for the Guardian and is the author of This Is Improbable. He is the founding editor of the science humour magazine Annals of Improbable Research and founder of the Ig Nobel Prizes, which are presented at Harvard University each year. Abrahams and the Ig have been covered by the BBC, New Scientist, Daily Mail, Times, and numerous other outlets internationally. He lives in Massachusetts.

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