All Facts Considered

Kee Malesky

Description

For the bestselling miscellany market, an NPR librarian's compendium of fascinating facts on history, science, and the arts

How much water do the Great Lakes contain? Who were the first and last men killed in the Civil War? How long is a New York minute? What are the lost plays of Shakespeare? What building did Elvis leave last? Get the answers to these and countless other vexing questions in a All Facts Considered. Guaranteed to enlighten even the most seasoned trivia buff, this treasure trove of "who knew?" factoids spans a wide range of intriguing subjects.

• Written by noted NPR librarian Kee Malesky, whom Scott Simon has called the "source of all human knowledge"
• Answers questions on history, natural history, science, religion, language, and the arts
• Packed with valuable nuggets of information, from the useful to the downright bizarre

The perfect gift for every inquiring mind that wants to know, All Facts Considered will put you at the center of the conversation as you show off your essential store of inessential yet irresistible knowledge.
Introduction.

PART ONE: ON MEMORY AND HISTORY.

1. Battles and Bigwigs.

Ancient and Modern, Sacred and Civil History.

2. Deviations and Wonders.

The Natural History of Land, Sea, Animals, and Vegetables.

3. Fish or Weapon?

The Natural History of Crafts and Manufactures.

PART TWO: ON REASON AND SCIENCE.

4. Links in the Chain of Being.

The Science of God: Theology, Religion, and Superstition.

5. Letters in Plain Sight.

The Science of Humanity: Thinking, Remembering, Communicating.

6. Sin versus Virtue.

Ethics and Law.

7. Modus Mundi.

The Science of Nature: Physics, Mathematics, Geography.

8. Ugly Bags of Mostly Water.

Zoology, Physiology, Medicine.

9. The Wild Blue Yonder and What’s Below.

Astronomy, Meteorology, Botany, Mineralogy, Chemistry.

PART THREE: ON IMAGINATION, POETRY, AND ART.

10. Perfect Circles.

Sacred and Profane Art: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture.

11. Rhapsodies in Bloom.

Music Theory and Practice.

12. Love Songs and Lost Words.

Literature, Drama, Narrative.

Acknowledgments.

Notes and Sources.

Index.

Sujets

• Curiosities
• Reference
• Questions and answers
• Wonders
• NPR

Informations

• Publié par: Turner Publishing Company
• Date de parution: 05 novembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780470882016
• Langue: English

Extrait

Table of Contents
 
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Introduction
 
PART ONE - ON MEMORY AND HISTORY
 
Chapter 1 - Battles and Bigwigs
 
The Start of History
Ancient Crossroads
The Rome of China
The Face of Amateur Archaeology
Pristine Civilization
Go Goth
Barbarians at the Gate
Lost Knowledge
Dating Epochs
Lovers Asunder
Cradle Books
Out of Africa
No Prenups?
Naming the Big Apple
The Cost of Wars
The Gateway Gap
Eighteenth-Century Networking
Built by Bondage
Battling for Booze
Presidential Secrets Revealed
To the Pacific
Melancholy Meriwether
Books a Million
Numismatically Speaking
Presidents in the Line of Fire
Artist, Inventor, Bigot
The First and the Last Man Killed
The Kidnapped President
The Great Hunger
The Prince of Cranks
The King of Censors
A Visit from the Merry Monarch
The Golden Door
The Bonus Expeditionary Force
Temp Jobs
Throwing Off the Shackles
Presidential Nanas
A Rare Honor
He Should Have Said It
Plenty of Presidents
Killed in the Line
Party Changers
SCOTUS: Confirmed or Rejected
 
Chapter 2 - Deviations and Wonders
 
Planet Earth 101
Forest Primeval
Lunar Labels
The Greatest Lakes
A Deep Blue Lake
Deep in the Ocean
Jaws
Jaws and Julia
Arid Areas
Flatland
Chew on This
Put That in Your Pipe
Lunar Lagomorph
Volcanic Explosivity
Freak Waves
Underwater Caves
Sometimes Speed Is of the Essence
The Roots of Red Hair
 
Chapter 3 - Fish or Weapon?
 
The Highest Honor
A Special Span
Fish or Weapon?
Rockets’ Red Glare
Bombs Bursting in Air
From Featherie to Polymer
Hard as Rock
The White City
The White House
Rising from the Ashes
Pleasant Transit
A City for “Useful Manufactures”
The Salad Dressing of the St. Lawrence
All Things Peanut
Spoiled Milk
Italian Food Translated
Something to Write On
Steinway Grand
 
PART TWO - ON REASON AND SCIENCE
Chapter 4 - Links in the Chain of Being
 
The Great Chain of Being
One God
Two Natures
Three Fates
Four Truths
Five Pillars
A Six-Pointed Star
Seven Happiness Beings
Eight Immortals
Nine for Hindus
Ten Commandments
Soul Guides
Jesus and Mary
Cow Protection
The Piasa
The Numbers of the Faithful
Don’t Annoy the Gods
Jinxed
Lucky Seven
 
Chapter 5 - Letters in Plain Sight
 
A Man of Puzzles
The Infinity of Lists
Hometown Names
They Carried the Mail
Main Street, U.S.A.
Project Gutenberg
The Implements of Communication
Alternate Writing
Unsyentifik, Unskolarli, Ilojikal Speling
Alpha Bravo Charlie
Funny Papers on the Radio
A Deadline for Real
A Few Billion from the People
The Cost per Vote
SOTU Loquaciousness
Initial Letters
Little Old Ladies Laugh Out Loud
Please Don’t BTQ
My Favorite Punctuation
The Department of Redundancies Department
A Lot of Letters
All the Others
Endangered Languages
Euskera Spoken
The Forest of Rhetoric
Mixed Metaphors
 
Chapter 6 - Sin versus Virtue
 
Sin against Virtue
Green with What?
The First Charter of Human Rights
Curse You, Book Stealer
Let My People Go
General Tubman of the Railroad
From the Handbook of Robotics
Who Can Be a Justice?
The Secret Ballot
And Throw Away the Key
How Much Should I Pay Myself?
 
Chapter 7 - Modus Mundi
 
I Seem to Be a Verb
The State of Plasma
Elementary, My Dear Gell-Mann
Fullerenes and Buckyballs
A Gas Can Be Noble
The Seven Billion
Who They Are and What They Do
Bulls and Bears on Wall Street
A New York Minute
How Many Cubic Dekameters in a Gill?
China Was First
You Must See These Wonders
Dreyfus and the Tour de France
Just a Friendly Game
A Freak Pitch
Uniquely True-Going in Australia
Dying from the Heat
From Senusret to Suez
Can Queen Victoria Eat Cold Apple Pie?
Squeezed into South Dakota
What Ice Can Tell Us
Salt and Ice
Ides, Kalends, and Nones
As Time Goes By
I Can’t See for Miles
A Sticky Syndrome
 
Chapter 8 - Ugly Bags of Mostly Water
 
All Pongidae
Take Me to Your Insect
Enlightened Beetles
Thanks for the Topsoil
Big Ugly Birds
Beautiful Little Butterflies
A Monotreme Mammal
A Horse of a Different Color
American Dromedaries
Grunting Cows
Crossbred Dogs
Birds of War
Ugly Bags of Mostly Water
The Chemistry of Humans
How the Nose Knows
Cleanliness Was Next to Impossible
Scrubbing Bubbles
Wine as Ancient Health Food
Ah-Choo!
The Deadliest Virus
Lather, Rinse, Repeat
Plasticized Hair
Zzzzzzz
Calculus: Mouth, Not Math
Face Bugs
 
Chapter 9 - The Wild Blue Yonder and What’s Below
 
Solar Circle
The First Sky Map
The Wild Blue Yonder
We Are Not Alone
Space Fireflies
Space Junk
Balanced in Space
A Thing High Up
The Costliest, Deadliest, and Most Intense
The Same, Only Different
The Great London Fog
Plastic Soup
The Measure of Great Rivers
Minuscule Blooms
Giant Meat Flowers
Ancient Evergreens
Herbal Remedies Used Up
Killer Weed
The Wine of the Bean
The Drink of the Gods
Fruit or Vegetable?
Pink and White Petals
Glistening Ice Plants
The Tiniest Park
An Uncommon Park
Consuming Minerals
A Barrel of Energy
Oil Futures
Sweet Medicines
What’s in Your Food?
 
PART THREE - ON IMAGINATION, POETRY, AND ART
Chapter 10 - Perfect Circles
 
The Start of Art
What Is Art?
The Goddesses of Inspiration
Too Much Excitement
A Perfect Circle
In a Man’s World
Done with Mirrors
The Madman of Arles
Maori Moko
Seduction of the Innocent
Everyone a Rembrandt
No Straight Lines
Nourished by Marble Dust
The Greatest Rivalry
Cultural Vandalism
Carving a Mountain
The Art of Packaging
Brunelleschi’s Dome
Mimetic Architecture
Scary Waterspouts
A Secret Spire
 
Chapter 11 - Rhapsodies in Bloom
 
An Audible Sign of Life
The Sound of Music
Music of the Winds
Eeee-Oooo-Eeee
The Sibyl of the Rhine
Papa Bach
Teaching Little Fingers to Play
A Self-Playing Instrument
Rhapsody in Blue
Musical Embellishments
Yankee Doodle Boy
The Subtle Beauty of the Guitar
A Music Hall on Goat Hill
The Wordless Chorus
The Mother of Gospel
Radio Perennials
In the Jungle, the Mighty Jungle
Rock Launched
Egyptian Surfer Girl
When Did He Leave the Building?
He Chose Poorly
Feel the Music
Your Brain on Jazz
 
Chapter 12 - Love Songs and Lost Words
 
Little Songs of Love
Lost Words of the Bard
Fairy-Tale Finders
Some Light on the Subject
A Real Detective
Unreal Books
The Father of Film
A Noble Actor
’Twas Not Beauty Killed the Beast
Four Universal Frankensteins
Yak’s Greatest Stunt
A Chilly Reception for Boris
Fear on Trial
A Naked Literary Hoax
Moral Fiction
Banned in the U.S.A.
In Conclusion
 
Acknowledgments
Notes and Sources
Index
Colophon

Copyright © 2010 by Kee Malesky. All rights reserved
 
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey
Published simultaneously in Canada
 

 
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Malesky, Kee, date.
All facts considered : the essential library of inessential knowledge / Kee Malesky.
p. cm.
“Published simultaneously in Canada”—T.p. verso.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-470-55965-9 (cloth); ISBN 978-0-470-88199-6 (ebk); ISBN 978-0-470-88200-9 (ebk); ISBN 978-0-470-88201-6 (ebk)
1. History—Miscellanea. 2. Science—Miscellanea. 3. Arts—Miscellanea. I. Title. D10.M35 2010
001—dc22
2010016888
 

 
For my dear parents, Joe and Marilyn Shields, who taught me to love reading, and that education is never wasted
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