Review (PDF) The Book Of Animal Ignorance: Everything You Think You Know Is Wrong
Fast on the heels of the New York Times bestseller The Book of General Ignorance comes The Book of Animal Ignorance, a fun, fact-filled bestiary that is sure to delight animal lovers everywhere. Arranged alphabetically from aardvark to worm, here are one hundred of the most interesting members of the animal kingdom explained, dissected, and illustrated, with the trademark wit and wisdom of John Lloyd and John Mitchinson.Did you know, for instance, that• when a young albatross takes wing, it may stay aloft for ten years• vampire bat saliva—unsurprisingly, when you think about it—is the source of the world’s most powerful blood thinning drug, appropriately called draculin• bombardier beetles fire a boiling chemical spray out of their rears at 300 pulses per second• a bald eagle’s feathers weigh twice as much as its bones• a giant tortoise recently died at the documented age of 255• octopuses are dexterous enough to unscrew tops from jars• spider silk is so light that a strand long enough to circle the world would weigh as much as a bar of soap?So meet the water bears that can live in suspension for hundreds of years, the parasite carried by your cat that makes men grumpy and women promiscuous, and the woodlouse that drinks through its bottom. Marvel at elephants that walk on tiptoe, pigs that shine in the dark, and woodpeckers that have ears on the ends of their tongues.If you still think a pangolin is a musical instrument, that hyenas are dogs, or that sheep are pointless and stupid, The Book of Animal Ignorance has arrived just in time.
Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: Crown; 1st edition (September 2, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 030739493X
ISBN-13: 978-0307394934
Product Dimensions: 6 x 1 x 8.6 inches
Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces
Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #152,491 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #53 in Books > Science & Math > Biological Sciences > Zoology > Animal Behavior & Communication #127 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Trivia & Fun Facts #975 in Books > Science & Math > Nature & Ecology > Fauna
I defy you to read even a few pages of this little book and not be tempted to yell out to whoever else is in the house: "Did you know that ...?" The other person will laugh and say "You made that up!"This is a perfect book for people who love animals and/or arcane bits of trivia. It is a bestiary of 100 animals -- some common, some you've probably never heard of -- all with secrets you would never guess. You'll never look at your dog the same way; did you know that Labrador retrievers can correctly identify lung cancer in humans 99 percent of the time... just by smelling their breath?Each animal gets two or three pages, with a couple of black and white illustrations. Organized in alphabetical order, you won't want to stop until you get to the lowly, fascinating worm. Did you know that ribbon worms will eat their own bodies if their food supply runs out? They can eat up to 95 percent of themselves and still survive.No, I didn't make that up.John Lloyd and John Mitchinson also wrote The Book of General Ignorance.
a book from which i can truly say i gained a wealth of information...whimsically written while maintaining an informational voice...only caveat i can complain of is the authors' consistent failure to provide a simple description of each animal's size...given that some of the animals were previously unknown to me, i would have appreciated the information..
If you have read "Everything you think you know is wrong" and liked it, you will def like this one as well. Most of the topics are intriguing and funny. There are a ton of interesting facts and things that i never knew about animals. A must read for people who like useless knowledge.
If you love animals, as most of us do, you will find interesting new facts in this book titled "Animal Ignorance". Most of the animals are not the cute & fuzzy ones, and as I recall, I skipped one or two chapters that made me feel squeamish, like Bats & Spiders. After all, I read in bed late at night!! But overall, I enjoyed learning new facts about some of the animals I've shared Planet Earth with all my life.
It won't take long to find yourself smiling as you start to read this one. Then you'll look up at whoever is around and say "Did you know...?" Not a heavy, 'break your brain' book, but you will have a ton of knowledge sticking around your brain cells when you finish it.Great for picking it up for a few minutes of entertainment, or a longer relaxing stay, with lots of smiles. I think you'll enjoy it.
For those of us with short attention spans the classic bathroom book is a godsend. No more "Cosmo" sex tests to struggle through; forget the "easy" Sudoku's you try to do in your head. Now, you can learn something, and it isn't the "Ten Stupidest Bank Robberies" or similar fill from the other, less erudite, bathroom book series. Oh no.The Lloyd/Mitchinson books are the gold standard books to go along with your gold plumbing fixtures. They are amiable; they have personality and an appealing attitude. The narrative is conversational and engaging. On any particular topic you can find an almost infinite number of trivial bits of information. That's what makes it trivia. Lloyd and Mitchinson have cordially and good-naturedly sifted through all of that and have emerged with some of the most amusing, or interesting, or shocking, or thought provoking bits. They serve them up with style and tongue in cheek, and the result is diverting and entertaining. What more could one possibly ask?
This is a very fascinating book, so much so that I had to look up the facts to make sure the author wasn't kidding me - and he wasn't! Very interesting. Would recommend for animal enthusiasts.
This book has some regular info about animals and it also includes some very unique facts.While I knew most of the animals talked about in the book, there were some that I had either never heard of or had totally forgot about. Each animal listed has a short section that is all facts. Most anyone could read this and learn something. If I am ever on a game show and need to know some weird fact, I hope I have it covered from reading this book.
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