This is Improbable Too: Synchronized Cows, Speedy Brain Extractors and More WTF Research

by Marc Abrahams

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?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781780743615
Publisher:	Oneworld Publications
Publication date:	08/12/2014
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.70(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Marc Abrahams writes the 'Improbable Research' column for the Guardian and is the author of This Is Improbable (978-1-85168-975-0). He is editor of the science humour magazine Annals of Improbable Research and founder of the Ig Nobel Prizes, which are presented annually at Harvard. Abrahams and the Igs have been covered by the BBC, New Scientist, Daily Mail, The Times, and numerous other outlets internationally. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts.

Table of Contents

Contents

Prologue, Between the Second and Fourth Digits

1. The Brain's Behind
2. High, Brainy Mindedness
3. Ears, Tongues, Noses and All That
4. Bones, Foreskins, Armpits, Slime
5. Thinking, on Your Feet and Fingers
6. Navel Gazing, Curious Consuming
7. Some Things Stick Out
8. What Comes after the Colon?
9. Stuff in the Air (and Elsewhere)
10. Soft Is Hard

Acknowledgments
Extra Citations
Illustration Credits

Editorial Reviews

06/16/2014
As this sequel from Abrahams (This Is Improbable: Cheese String Theory, Magnetic Chickens, and Other WTF Research) nicely illustrates, some scientific endeavors are outrageously unnecessary—and outrageously entertaining to read about. The book’s unrelenting flood of hilarious headlines, however, grows excessive, particularly for a science enthusiast. Most of the silly studies are covered in one to three short pages. As a result, readers can’t glean much in the way of deeper understanding from the silliness, merely the knowledge that it silly. That said, some studies are sure to pique the reader’s interest. One scientific paper finds that some mothers can distinguish their own babies’ poop from unknown infants’, raising the question of whether this faculty might be another clue to the power of the mother/child bond. Most of the papers never rise above the level purely novelty: witness “Expletives of Lower Working-Class Women” or the study that examines potential causes of “beer bellies in Germans.” Die-hard fans of the very witty Abrahams and his unconventional science reporting will find much to love here, but those who prefer a bit more science should look elsewhere. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

"Hilarious... You'll never look at scientists in the same way again."

Terry Jones

"Science nerds and junkies unite! Your book has arrived."'s Digest

"Rationalism taken to intoxicating extremes."

Guardian

"Wonderful! The definitive compendium of quirky, jaw-dropping research."

Richard Wiseman

‘A detailed map of the most arcane byways down which members of the scientific community have travelled.’

Independent on Sunday

‘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

"Science nerds and junkies unite! Your book has arrived."

Reader's Digest

‘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

06/15/2014
Editor (cofounder, Annals of Improbable Research) and Guardian columnist Abrahams has chronicled unusual but amusing research for over two decades. From this reserve he draws material for his various publications and discovers the winners of the annual Ig Nobel Awards, of which he is the founder. Unsurprisingly, the author also accumulates a backlog of research stories too bizarre to keep to himself. Many of those accounts are found in this funny, easy-to-read sequel to his This Is Improbable (2012). As strange as some of these topics may seem, many are not so unusual (who would have thought there were a half-dozen studies on the efficacy of salt pork as a cure for nosebleeds and even more than that assessing how many Greek children have dimpled cheeks?). Similar research is grouped together along with citations for all articles and patents mentioned. An extensive bibliography gives complete retrieval information for the additional studies cited between sections. The author's stated purpose is to bring attention to research that "first makes people laugh, then makes them think," and it is clear that he is delighted by the weirdness of what he uncovers. VERDICT This book, packed with wordplay, will appeal to lovers of puns, curious anecdotes, and those who like their social and scientific research leavened with humor.—Cate Hirschbiel, Iwasaki Lib., Emerson Coll., Boston

Library Journal