Full Description
This illuminating compendium follows the captivating stories behind far-ranging facts, wherever they lead. No topic is too trivial for serious consideration, from how one might determine the most average-size country in the world to determining who would win in a fight between Harry Potter and Spider-Man. Author Jonn Elledge covers the breadth and depth of human experience, weaving his way through words and numbers, science and the arts, the spiritual and the secular. It's a feast of facts for a hungry mind, including entries on the cosmos, the planet (and the lines we draw on it), questions of measurement, history and politics, the natural world, leisure, and many "oddities" that don't fit neatly into any category but are no less irresistible for it. Bizarre, brilliant, and overflowing with things you didn't know you wanted to know, Elledge's Nontrivial Trivia evokes a sense of awe at the scale of this planet—and the universe of wonders in which it sits.
Publisher's note: Elledge's Nontrivial Trivia was previously published in the UK as The Compendium of (Not Quite) Everything.
Contents
Introduction: Some serious trivia
THE COSMOS, AND EVERYTHING IN IT
THE HUMAN PLANET, AND THE LINES WE DRAW ON IT
QUESTIONS OF MEASUREMENT
HISTORIES AND POLITICS
THE NATURAL WORLD
MATTERS OF COMMUNICATION
LEISURE: ON CULTURE, FOOD AND SPORT
ODDITIES: THE THINGS THAT DON'T FIT ELSEWHERE
THE END
A note on sources
Acknowledgements
