Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

Can Cows Walk Down Stairs?: Perplexing Questions Answered
Can Cows Walk Down Stairs?: Perplexing Questions Answered
Can Cows Walk Down Stairs?: Perplexing Questions Answered
Ebook229 pages3 hours

Can Cows Walk Down Stairs?: Perplexing Questions Answered

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

()

Read preview

About this ebook

What is ear wax for? Do bacteria have sex? How do they put stripes in toothpaste? Does your nose run in space? What are stars made of? This book answers those tantalising or perplexing questions for which you thought you'd never find an answer. A book for the naturally curious, as well as those seekers after scientific truths, it unravels both those things we take for granted, such as when you boil an egg, why does the yolk stay in the middle, or why is the sky blue, as well as questions which probe deeply, such as, what does an atom look like, or what was there before the beginning of time? if you were to write in the dust on the moon, how big would the letters have to be so you could see them from earth without a telescope? Drawing on the expertise of a team of enthusiastic scientists around the world, authoritative, entertaining, and often a touch humorous, it will appeal to anyone who's ever been curious about life on earth.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateOct 24, 2011
ISBN9780752474205
Can Cows Walk Down Stairs?: Perplexing Questions Answered
Author

Paul Heiney

Paul Heiney is a well known writer and broadcaster (TV presenter of That's Life and Countrywise) with seafaring in his blood. His family, originally from Yorkshire, were beach fishermen and lifeboatmen. He has sailed enthusiastically for over 25 years, making many singlehanded passages. He is the author of One Wild Song and Ocean Sailing.

Read more from Paul Heiney

Related to Can Cows Walk Down Stairs?

Related ebooks

Questions & Answers For You

View More

Related articles

Related categories

Reviews for Can Cows Walk Down Stairs?

Rating: 3.3684210526315788 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

19 ratings1 review

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    I received this book as a Christmas present, and I finally got around to reading it. The idea apparently arose from a website which had been set up and funded by the British Government which provided answers to science questions submitted by the public. The website eventually closed down due to lack of funding, but the book was taken from the various questions that had been submitted and answered.I'm a little disappointed when comparing the book to similar ones (see 'Do Penguins Feet Freeze' and 'Does Anything Eat Wasps'). It seems to be poorly edited, with inconsistencies in information between answers and even inconsistencies within a single answer! The language is sometimes muddled, especially when talking about some concepts from cosmology.Anyhow, I'm still reading, so I may change the review later...Okay, so the review is now complete, and it hasn't really changed much. I ended up emailing the company that published this book to ask if they were going to be issuing an errata. Its that full of inaccuracies!My favourite was where they talked about bananas and how they ripen. Correctly they identify one name of this gas as 'ethylene'. However they then incorrectly pronounce the alternative name as 'ethane'. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong!!!!Ethylene is also known as ethene (not ethane). Ethene (formula C2H4) has a double bond which can be broken using catalysis which then causes the ethene to polymerise to create polythene (or polyethylene). Ethane (C2H6) doesn't contain the double bond and won't polymerise.Sorry, I *know* that this review is dull, but as someone who actually did chemistry at University, this sort of thing matters to me. This book isn't accurate, and everything that it tells you needs to be treated appropriately.

Book preview

Can Cows Walk Down Stairs? - Paul Heiney

92^book_preview_excerpt.html[˒FvAF[|Ih2ԃ-Q%dH tٌ^8c;'so&vX#uy>=ެۇϞơS<{C4O?_O?_}g[?ku|izX>xZl$\ks6}b.];f:Or}tiIz'z1&!s1L'!SrC\/޵me^u4:[r=:%׹+v w;_v_{O u:{*N+yӲ<>%˗aR_~؞8Mk^;{ ?ΙCHG?=s<-N@Cb+~qJ}߇~e&$ZϿr|v":wߝV˱=-Wa!УOCu.!-w?{ۄ6W懰76& PJo7/݅dq1 |?oOfl rK1>YhOC@k9[|-D~'1ǛquM{; 8w}…vߎķ>A:Nb$>t-X9q]c4w[+Ti;ƻ+wvx {[$`Y{TfM 53D҉Iol]ہr8kKg /D':r/ p2!'4#ч+l1 U-itzgԷ[͕wZ'䢐pX[;[`|ЊӅpr`ڬ , rcȺf=@1s6s/! 4uwPg^L 0č7a01^?JPL|]>. !_Y{HT$V`z2چf {Pvk4Fl{Zӓ]K&9$b=.ڻ>xbZ j}ӍHnc$p]H}0[@0h'TZ0Ohѹs^5Qa4G\3MxELGJ_Q z8nN.~63! B@ǂPս^SC#DKXO ]&{c1P6r9穅a Ï WZFt 5K S.t@CBnvJNJèkyvecc[X=qvlea;xI2j HTaFk$p%rSmP;)uDJe@:/)K%/rےum듛',W3]jf0nLکP'S$WCD^S=ثd@]J=ܖ'96X%KrPJ$ilM?"U< Sޜ9u U@L-_vc :mCD=p÷[N"BHR=(Hg c'?= qfw|%N3(Ia]ury+9(,pgocTʘcvU. RfszD2*80"om⾃C,`%6фH]7$m3{aY [ׄ .dEwDGp1czN/!" ;Xdpڛ^LQNLw):6R*ᒠ3 D&O]]@t%&C!=׆ _OHEJLgw2Yi HXĠhpW"A+" !,;NS}t ٪^Iz$D_UoN@꫗b Sʚ 2h?,a 0s,T́UW&YRѱnhzvQ!-D. ABcYbU"Ů(kV6{6>V&(FXbG쏺]M.|$Hm'c/`*>ž|]v4:M ,*,$9=i6Y!$%E"} pwR(5*[nv( X>खzU9WDaؐb\=/# D lMù3 Ɓ\j,<$\2R?7^:3IJTgUgYqbk1>cBwe3 O]A=H!bՒfTgN*q>>vSByh)ZJ^DUNS)F68`8' fDXi+0flS0ɍJI6T`Wn^Dq$VHPE 3[:o3#%f@XK u~@ EL'wI/ ؍BssAޭGe44"9,`]Mg Qk X\`Q\V%mr,ǡD^ꇟBB>љA5I#a  !I;wDӕ!5{##C>eRXOb0 2KC suQ/B3O yagRmVzn"8e M\Hjs~+ԁw鲉㸍-6NYoc"UQ93A 4EYL'kQj éM9%72-}jzD܊.'>^r Ҕ.qk:{v)3 $2FqZJ=I1ECb6 u\xajrAA # P@!12'T&#[M> &ݥd wy-_ʰWÂz"GIb^m=߼1˔k)M!,A&B*_ke;$nOyk*T̒SL/%| jJd`, qG]QQ4\ lm:ȥ QNun=P%N$2SCڥ03̶ PK6h 64C #Kw-Bh`Am_QE l*aAV2CI|oy<2 ι>ݕyQ{1`wh0a{D˱剾 ]gh)L/2!\݂bХI:rۅ ;}#y -zȒD {k`qn^Ѱ~?1ER;qjt>l1X ʂ46wT"ȏ~i3YY@V#|f\!]LT39dHP'\Nuv)6Ѭc-$#bTEN3H^.QHs5¡WrCF( A8q9%l<; ?ر6!Ssۥ y~MUOzco~n={7ٸȚ61Hc񄠧6JX ND{XvMm*XK^z&p*E G׍gc0 %7mv+&f`[/fߠtI":e 3QhzQMYN`Y;WZNeI"tm\\(j!bnTDHNGvصykRt0ONM>ٸx\H+VϜLN-jHPکn*;r+@.ZE8;Ai1sJі7K+0S=fAy s~ڰcqF廬wjb*1qGM|H>cװ;u#h!4(Yhh ^FwӎGմ~AxK*y;=^ ^k:έY<i617KVL2ArmFcHWjRTLYE E$1e' ^v4a&A+,͹%g?Tk aoi|yaUC*͓<_G%oUW;K}s/JJCD| p.֍Q Bz%"ᖍ,].^絵N}f dz+ X>_:Bep^z"?{9tųUd? "s{)jUp w;Y9Jh'W,;3mS~G"•Y;Bm˦ULd$X3ɭ2ɤ>#% ,ZLk)롼7pggщ R7i~P5a(CEFؘ&tUmtԘYͣiґFϸC!ITq콖 #Z1Y͌zh+\*"T … uqg[-?O\t*UIyy'_*?SBHo 搃K!4@N#ӫZ_JQBqlYܻbhID#/Zp%zW)_- gjjd2%7ƥLM= k~4`W,n8|rtѾGvzx`xlgI-\Z iNI2<0I vlǤ8-I N6/cN W;_3ӣӧh Oy ץ븓J>o3R:_\⧁n̒ͺ<~TBuwWtu:_[%ƙAxy/v>4Ve>}1k9(لu?rgicSǣǥJ\ur`ѱzul=ussW1&3HmRu|𐽂!]бq/bH,A"o$Tjo)=U6F7_Qrii~Cmb_~'u e%ž{ N[[['YjcSIޱM,C_n, 0&gz[8꭬{ A
Enjoying the preview?
Page 1 of 1