Despite our clever linguistic abilities, humans are spectacularly
ill-equipped to comprehend what's happening in the universe. Our senses
and intuition routinely mislead us. The Complete Guide to Absolutely
Everything (Abridged) tells the story of how we came to suppress our
monkey minds and perceive the true nature of reality. Written with wit
and humor, this brief book tells the story of science--tales of fumbles
and missteps, errors and egos, hard work, accidents, and some really bad
decisions--all of which have created the sum total of human knowledge.
Geneticist Adam Rutherford and mathematician Hannah Fry guide readers
through time and space, through our bodies and brains, showing how
emotions shape our view of reality, how our minds tell us lies, and why
a mostly bald and curious ape decided to begin poking at the fabric of
the universe.
Rutherford and Fry shine as science sleuths, wrestling with some truly
head-scratching questions: Where did time come from? Do we have free
will? Does my dog love me? Hilarious sidebars present memorable
scientific oddities: for example, hypnotized snails, human-sized ants,
and the average time it takes most animals to evacuate their bladders.
(A surprisingly consistent twenty-one seconds, if you must know.)
Both rigorous and playful, The Complete Guide to Absolutely Everything
(Abridged) is a celebration of the weirdness of the cosmos, the
strangeness of humans, and the joys and follies of scientific discovery.
