Can Cows Walk Down Stairs?: Perplexing Questions Answered

By Paul Heiney

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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: The History Press
• Release date: Oct 24, 2011
• ISBN: 9780752474205

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.

Reviews for Can Cows Walk Down Stairs?

[fieldri1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

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.