Why Don't Spiders Stick to Their Webs?: And 317 Other Everyday Mysteries of Science

Why can’t we tickle ourselves? When can you drive through the end of a rainbow? What would happen if you fell into a black hole? Is it ever possible to hurt your brain by thinking too much? Most of the great discoveries in science begin with a question. In this bestselling scientific tour of answers both cosmic and quotidian, science columnist and researcher Robert Matthews tackles an array of baffling conundrums, delivering entertaining and enlightening answers from the worlds of biology, physics, meteorology, neuroscience, and much more. From the curious mathematics of odd socks to the real “string theory” mystery – how does string acquire all those unwanted knots? – Matthews reveals the science that proves once and for all that no question is ever too trivial. Robert Matthews is a visiting lecturer in science at Aston University, in Birmingham, England. He has published pioneering research in fields ranging from code-breaking to predicting coincidences, and won the internationally renowned Ig Nobel Prize in Physics for his studies of Murphy’s Law, including the reason why toast so often lands butter-side down. An award-winning science writer, he has contributed to many newspapers and magazines world-wide, and is currently science consultant for Focus magazine, a flagship BBC publication. His book 25 Big Ideas: The Science that’s Changing our World (9781851683918) is also published by Oneworld.