The Super Book of Useless Information

Author: Don Voorhees
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101545135
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 201

Book Description
Faster than a speeding bullet, more useless than ever before. The #1 New York Times bestselling series reaches new heights of irrelevance with this powerfully pointless, all-new collection of the things you never need to know. Do you actually care that... there are three feet of DNA in every cell? Saturn has 47 moons? March is National Frozen Foods Month? in 2010 a traffic jam in China lasted ten days? Would it improve your life to know... which movie star wanted to be a funeral director? which state has the most horses per square mile? which dictator was obsessed with Cheetos? what day of the year the most cars are stolen in the United States?

The Incredible Book of Useless Information

Author: Don Voorhees
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101611901
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 272

Book Description
The #1 New York Times bestselling series continues to delight and astound with an all-new collection of surprisingly unnecessary facts and figures. Would it surprise you to learn… •it takes a sloth about a month to digest a meal? •more tourists visit France than any other nation in the world? •the United States still has debt from the Revolutionary War? Do you think you ever need to know… •what type of trees are most frequently struck by lightning? •how much a clerk was paid for penning the U.S. Constitution? •which celebrity uses the pseudonym Slappy White?

The Perfectly Useless Book of Useless Information

Author: Don Voorhees
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101187263
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 257

Book Description
It doesn't get any more useless than this! The most inconsequential entry yet in the #1 New York Times bestselling series proves that information is overrated. Your life won't be improved by knowing that... ? Frank Sinatra's mother was a convicted felon. ? Bugs Bunny was born in Brooklyn. ? The average American home contains $90 in loose change. ? It is illegal to use the American flag in advertising. And there's no good reason to also discover... ? Which game show host previously worked as a garbageman. ? Which day of week is the most popular to rob a bank. ? Which millionaire loaned his kidnapped grandson ransom money at 4 percent interest. ? Which country once had a dog for a king.

The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge

Author: Abraham Flexner
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691174768
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 104

Book Description
A short, provocative book about why "useless" science often leads to humanity's greatest technological breakthroughs A forty-year tightening of funding for scientific research has meant that resources are increasingly directed toward applied or practical outcomes, with the intent of creating products of immediate value. In such a scenario, it makes sense to focus on the most identifiable and urgent problems, right? Actually, it doesn't. In his classic essay "The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge," Abraham Flexner, the founding director of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton and the man who helped bring Albert Einstein to the United States, describes a great paradox of scientific research. The search for answers to deep questions, motivated solely by curiosity and without concern for applications, often leads not only to the greatest scientific discoveries but also to the most revolutionary technological breakthroughs. In short, no quantum mechanics, no computer chips. This brief book includes Flexner's timeless 1939 essay alongside a new companion essay by Robbert Dijkgraaf, the Institute's current director, in which he shows that Flexner's defense of the value of "the unobstructed pursuit of useless knowledge" may be even more relevant today than it was in the early twentieth century. Dijkgraaf describes how basic research has led to major transformations in the past century and explains why it is an essential precondition of innovation and the first step in social and cultural change. He makes the case that society can achieve deeper understanding and practical progress today and tomorrow only by truly valuing and substantially funding the curiosity-driven "pursuit of useless knowledge" in both the sciences and the humanities.

The Book of Useless Information

Author: Publications International
Publisher: Publications International Limited
ISBN: 9781450807463
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
The Book of Useless Information addresses virtually every imaginable topic, from the most unusual tourist attractions in the United States to the legend of Dracula. This 704-page padded hardcover book contains 250 articles, statistics, facts, trivia, and lists that range from absurd to useless to hilarious. Readers learn about the deadliest diseases of the 20th century, the craziest entertainment acts of all time, the world's most unusual museums, the most outlandish laws on the books, the biggest Hollywood blunders, the most dangerous jobs, and much more. Quirky illustrations enhance the stories. Sample chapters include: The Unexplained, Science and Technology, The Arts, History, Around the World, and Death and the Macabre The Book of Useless Information provides hours upon hours of fascinating reading for anyone with a curious mind. Makes a wonderful gift for trivia buffs.

Uncle John's Bathroom Reader: Extraordinary Book of Facts and Bizarre Information

Author: Bathroom Readers' Institute
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1607106019
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 546

Book Description
From cannibals to conspiracy theories to the origin stories of candy, a compendium of thousands of fun facts to read behind closed doors! Our readers asked for it, and here it is: Uncle John’s first collection of his greatest short facts and quick reading material. Open up to any page of Extraordinary Book of Facts and you might find a list of, say, obscure words (“exocannibals” eat enemies; “indocannibals” eat friends). Flip to another page and there’s a whole bunch of facts about how long things take (a yak’s gestation period: 258 days). On another page: kid facts (the average four-year-old laughs 400 times per day; grownups, about fifteen). Get smarter and laugh a lot more with this amazing collection that features thousands of great facts, plus word origins, myth-conceptions, conspiracy theories, and much, much more. Arranged for simple and speedy reference, this book is the perfect companion for trivia buffs and knowledge junkies everywhere!

The Book of General Ignorance

Author: John Mitchinson
Publisher: Crown Archetype
ISBN: 0307405516
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 290

Book Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Misconceptions, misunderstandings, and flawed facts finally get the heave-ho in this humorous, downright humiliating book of reeducation based on the phenomenal British bestseller. Challenging what most of us assume to be verifiable truths in areas like history, literature, science, nature, and more,The Book of General Ignorance is a witty “gotcha” compendium of how little we actually know about anything. It’ll have you scratching your head wondering why we even bother to go to school. Think Magellan was the first man to circumnavigate the globe, baseball was invented in America, Henry VIII had six wives, Mount Everest is the tallest mountain? Wrong, wrong, wrong, and wrong again. You’ll be surprised at how much you don’t know! Check out The Book of General Ignorance for more fun entries and complete answers to the following: How long can a chicken live without its head? About two years. What do chameleons do? They don’t change color to match the background. Never have; never will. Complete myth. Utter fabrication. Total Lie. They change color as a result of different emotional states. How many legs does a centipede have? Not a hundred. How many toes has a two-toed sloth? It’s either six or eight. Who was the first American president? Peyton Randolph. What were George Washington’s false teeth made from? Mostly hippopotamus. What was James Bond’s favorite drink? Not the vodka martini.

The Book of Unusual Knowledge

Author: Ltd Publications International
Publisher: Publications International, Limited
ISBN: 9781450845809
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 704

Book Description
The Book of Unusual Knowledge is a mammoth 704-page hardcover book crammed with a cornucopia of information--some useful, others not so much--but all of it completely captivating. It's perfect for anyone with a curious mind and a passion for learning. With quirky illustrations and a vast array of articles, anecdotes, lists, and games, this book will provide hours of fascinating reading. It will also expand your knowledge on a range of topics, including the animal kingdom, art, sports, technology, history, politics, the universe, and much, much more. Sample topics include: * Are plastic bags killing sacred cows in India? * Does NASCAR have roots in bootlegging moonshine? * Did Ronald Reagan see not one--but two--UFOs during his lifetime? Gorgeous leatherette binding with gilded accents makes The Book of Unusual Knowledge a handsome addition to your library.

The Book of Useless Information

Author: Noel Botham
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 9780399532696
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 308

Book Description
What you may so cavalierly call useless information could prove invaluable to someone else. Then again, maybe not. But to The Useless Information Society, any fact that passes its gasp-inducing, not-a-lot-of-people-know-that test merits inclusion in this fascinating but ultimately useless book... Did you know (or do you care)... • That fish scales are used to make lipstick? • Why organized crime accounts for ten percent of the United States’s annual income? • The name of the first CD pressed in the United States? • The last year that can be written upside-down or right side-up and appear the same? • The shortest performance ever nominated for an Oscar®? • How much Elvis weighed at the time of his death? • What the suits in a deck of cards represent? • How many Quarter Pounders can be made from one cow? • How interesting useless information can be? The Book of Useless Information answers these teasers and is packed with facts and figures that will captivate you—and anyone who shares your joy in the pursuit of pointless knowledge.

The Book of Totally Useless Information

Author: Don Voorhees
Publisher: M J F Books
ISBN: 9781567312669
Category : Games & Activities
Languages : en
Pages : 200

Book Description
Provides answers to such questions as "Was there ever a real Aunt Jemima?" "What is the difference between bourbon and Scotch?" "Why do trains have a caboose?" and "Why do we give names to hurricanes?"