Book: Can Cows Walk Down Stairs?

Book: Can Cows Walk Down Stairs?
Author: Paul Heiney

Have you ever wondered if fishes vomitted? Or what causes you to scratch yourself? Or perhaps you need an answer to your chocolate cravings. If you have ever thought of any weird questions to which you cannot seem to find an anwer, fret not. Can Cows Walk Down Stairs? has answers to hundreds of questions posed by hundreds of curious people from all walks of life. Uncommon questions by common people.

This book is a compilation of questions from a project by the government of Britain. In an effort to help raise awareness of the scientific spheres, the government set up a free telephone and internet service whereby anyone with a burning question could submit their questions for scientists to answer. Only condition was that their questions must be scientific, even if it might sound somewhat stupid, like "How easy is it to fall off a log?"

Unfortunately, the programme, ran by young enthusiastic scientists from various fields of studies (biology, chemistry, psychology, etc.), had to be shut down eventually due to lack of funding by the government. Fortunately, all questions and answers were kept save in records, and Paul Heiney kindly took the effort to sieve through thousands and thousands of questions, searching for 'special' questions to be compiled. Questions in the book were selected with a high level of interest in mind, not to bore its readers.

Paul selects questions with certain themes in mind, bringing us through the formation of the universe, to plants and animals, our human body, mathematics, and some other random questions we might have heard of or asked at one point in our lives.

This book isn't quite much of a 'Must Read', but just something to keep yourself entertained. Great book for the young teenager who might be asking alot of questions you cannot seem to answer yourself. Those who enjoy watching television shows like Mythbusters should enjoy this book too.