An Answer for Everything: 200 Infographics to Explain the World

By Delayed Gratification

What's the best book ever written?
What would happen if we all stopped eating meat?
What's the secret to living past 110?
And what actually is the best thing since sliced bread?

In An Answer For Everything, 200 of the world's most intriguing questions are settled once and for all through beautiful and brilliant infographics. The results will leave you shocked, informed and thoroughly entertained.

Created by the team behind the award-winning Delayed Gratification magazine, these compelling, darkly funny data visualisations will change the way you think about ... everything

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
• Release date: Oct 28, 2021
• ISBN: 9781526633637

Delayed Gratification

Rob Orchard, Christian Tate and Marcus Webb are the co-founders of The Slow Journalism Company, publishers of Delayed Gratification, the world's first magazine dedicated to Slow Journalism. Launched in 2011 as an antidote to a kneejerk news cycle that prioritises speed over depth, detail and context, it has gone on to attract media praise and subscribers from around the globe. Each issue returns to the events of the quarter after the dust has settled to tell the stories the rest of the media has missed – or mistold. Leading an award-winning team of international journalists, editors Rob and Marcus conduct on-the-groundreporting, interview experts and crunch through vast data sets to capture illuminating truths on subjects as varied as the prospects of cold fusion and the politics of the Eurovision song contest.

Book preview

TO OUR FAMILIES AND FRIENDS, WHO HAVE THE ANSWER FOR EVERYTHING ELSE

…and for over a decade we’ve been using data to try to make sense of it, turning research from expert sources into beautiful infographics for our Slow Journalism magazine, Delayed Gratification.

This book gathers together updated versions of the best of our infographics alongside a whole host of brand new data visualisations we’ve created to answer questions ranging from the serious to the silly.

You may want to celebrate the highs – the incredible achievements of elite athletes (here), the towering feats of human engineering (here) and the unexpected and pleasing reappearance of knobbled weevils after decades of presumed extinction (here).

You may wish to engage with the lows – the overheating of the Earth (here), the scourge of mass shootings (here) and the troubling appearance of locust swarms three times the size of New York City (here).

You may simply be keen to answer some of the questions that have long vexed humanity – what the best thing since sliced bread is (here), what war is good for (here) and whether worse things do in fact happen at sea (here).

In answering these questions and scores of others we have been helped by the unprecedented access to high-quality information enjoyed by the nerdier fringes of 21st-century humanity. We owe a large debt to the bands of meticulous people across the world compiling detailed reports on the widest range of subjects.

There are the archivists at NASA who’ve detailed everything astronauts have left on the moon, from golf balls to falcon feathers (here). There are the admirably precise record-keepers of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization who helped us identify the country which is home to 39 chickens for every person (here). Then there are the people who’ve tallied every war and major conflict (here), every sighting of the Loch Ness monster (here) and the favourite tipple of every nation on Earth (here). It’s been a joy to dive into their rich ocean of data.

We hope that you find An Answer For Everything to be a stimulating read which piques your curiosity, tickles your ribs and leads you into impassioned debates around the dinner table, down the pub or in your favourite corner of the internet. If nothing else, if we leave you creditably well informed about what UFOs look like (here), how much it would cost to buy everything in Vogue (here) and where babies come from (here) then we’ll have done our job.

Enjoy the book!

Rob, Christian and Marcus

WHERE DO I START?

How to navigate this book

You can flip straight to the index and pick a topic that appeals to you. Alternatively, here are a couple of additional questions which will set you off on a solemn or lighthearted journey through the book:

Can we be serious for a moment?

The gravest and weightiest questions in each chapter

Can we be silly for a moment?

The daftest and most frivolous questions in each chapter

WHO ON EARTH ARE YOU?

Questions about life as a human being

How many people have there been?

How did we get here?

When did life on Earth begin?

When did the dinosaurs arrive?

When did our ancestors evolve?

When did Homo sapiens arrive?

When did we turn up?

When did we settle down?

When did the modern world begin?

What have we been up to lately?

What’s the best thing since sliced bread?

Where do babies come from?

How many babies are being born?

What’s a good innings?

How old was the oldest person?

How old was the oldest animal?

Do you want to live like common people?

WHO’S THE GREATEST?

Questions about sport, cities and superstructures

Who’s the greatest sportsperson of all time?

Who’s the greatest Olympian of all time?

Who’s the greatest Paralympian of all time?

Who’s the greatest cricketer of all time?

Who’s the greatest golfer of all time?

Who’s the greatest tennis player of all time?

Who’s the greatest boxer of all time?

Who’s the greatest Formula 1 driver of all time?

Who’s the greatest football player of all time?

Who’s the greatest of them all?

What’s so great about Muhammad Ali?

Are athletes getting better?

Could you beat Usain Bolt in a race?

What’s better, men’s or women’s football?

Who’s the champion of the world?

Who’s won an Olympic or Paralympic medal?

What’s the best country in the world?

Which city knows how to party?

Who’s ready for a picnic?

What were the tallest towers of their time?

Where are today’s tallest buildings?

What makes an iconic landmark?

WHAT DO WE WANT?

Questions about vices, desires and puggles

How much would it cost to buy everything in Vogue?

How much is that doggie in the window?

Should I liquidise my assets?

Do you like what you see?

Do you want to get high?

Who are the biggest pot smokers?

Who just says no?

What does $100 of cocaine look like?

What are you drinking?

Who drinks the most beer?

Who drinks the most wine?

What are you thinking?

Who’s with me?

HOW DO WE SAVE THE PLANET?

Questions about flying, energy and mass veganism

Who’s emitting the most CO2?

Who’s full of hot air?

What causes the UK’s emissions?

Are emissions rising or falling?

What does a tonne of CO2 look like?

What if all the UK’s cars were electric?

How many cars are there in the UK?

What if everyone stopped flying in and out of the UK?

How busy are the UK’s airports?

What if the UK closed all its fossil fuel power plants?

How much does the UK rely on fossil fuels?

What if everyone in the UK went vegan?

How much gas does a vegan emit?

What about the animals?

What if the UK planted a lot more trees?

How much CO2 do trees absorb?

What else could we do to capture CO2?

Can we escape to another Earth?

Is there a Planet B?

When are we going to Mars?

What’s a light year?

Are we nearly there yet?

WHAT’S IN OUR NATURE?

Questions about fauna, flora and the rising tide of chickens

What’s that on your wall?

How many lions are left in Africa?

Where could I buy a bit of crocodile?

What’s the most prized part of an elephant?

Are there plenty more fish in the sea?

What’s under threat?

Are extinct animals just hiding from us?

How many chickens are there?

Where are all the chickens?

Who eats the most chicken?

What are plants for?

ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?

Questions about films, music and murderous soap operas

What’s your favourite film?

What’s the biggest blockbuster of all time?

What makes a hit Disney film?

Who rules a galaxy far, far away?

What’s the worst blockbuster?

How many heroes does it take to make $24 billion?

Who’s the best James Bond?

Where have you been, Mr Bond?

Who’s been a double agent?

How do you win an Oscar?

What’s so great about Meryl Streep?

Which songs have stood the test of time?

Who’s the biggest musical act of all time?

What did The Beatles do?

What’s your favourite Beatles song?

What’s your favourite Beatles album?

Who’s the best Beatle?

Who gave a little help to their friends?

Who gets into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame?

What’s better, Broadway or the West End?

What are the 100 best books?

What’s the deadliest soap opera?

Where do soap characters die?

What are the leading causes of soap death?

IS THERE ANYBODY OUT THERE?

Questions about UFOs, space and conspiracy theories

What do UFOs look like?

How many people have been to space?

Who’s been to the moon?

What was the first space station?

What happened in 1986?

Who was the first space tourist?

Where can I see a space shuttle?

Who’s going to space next?

Who’s actually been in space?

Who’s got the biggest rocket?

What’s the biggest rocket never launched?

Why is there so much junk in space?What have we left on the moon?

Who believes the moon landing was faked?

Who’s seen the Loch Ness monster?

Who believes in God?

Where are the least religious places?

HOW DO I MAKE FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE?

Questions about power, politics and Putin’s poses

Who gets to be president of the United States?

Who gets to be British prime minister?

Who gets to be supreme leader?

Who died and made you King?

What makes a memorable speech?

How does Vladimir Putin want to be seen?

How is Nelson Mandela remembered?

Which leader lasted the longest?

How did they leave office?

Who’s had a female leader?

Which is better, Oxford or Cambridge?

Is the honours system even?

Who’s got all the money?

Who’s got all the gold?

How rich is China?

How is China changing?

How is China changing the world?

AM I LIVING MY BEST LIFE?

Questions about hopes, dreams