More Curious Questions

Some of us are blessed, or perhaps cursed, with an enquiring mind. We have not lost that child-like thirst for knowledge. As Einstein wrote, “people like you and me never grow old. We never cease to stand like curious children before the great mystery into which we were born”. This book is designed to appeal to Peter Pans, those of us who share this sense of wonder.
Our focus will be on quotidian concerns, queries that add a little colour and understanding to our everyday lives, providing tidbits of information we can sprinkle liberally into our conversations at the bar or the dinner table. There is a glow of satisfaction to be had in setting the record straight and, at the same time, proving how smart you are.
More Curious Questions, a sequel to the Eric Hoffer Book Award category finalist, Fifty Curious Questions, looks at one hundred questions across a wide range of topics including nature, natural phenomena, dates and customs, food and drink, and life’s little mysteries.
Along the way we will be looking at what we used before toilet paper, how we will greet each other in a post-Covid-19 world, why queues snake, why we cannot resist puppy-dog eyes, how a bumblebee flies, how fast snowflakes travel, what was on the menu of London’s first Indian restaurant, why we can see the moon during the day, and much, much more.
Running through the book are more general themes, such as the way behavioural psychology is being used to change our habits, how the Covid-19 pandemic has led to a surge in keeping pets, solving jigsaw puzzles, sorting out lofts, and cardboard boxes, and how scientific experiments, some weird and others just bizarre, have helped push out the boundaries of human knowledge.
Within the pages, figures such as Pliny the Elder, Mark Twain, and the redoubtable Lady Mary Wortley Montagu will pop up with astonishing regularity.
More Curious Questions is a smorgasbord of facts and trivia, written in a light-hearted and informative style. The book is designed to be either devoured in one sitting or to be dipped in and out of. The choice is yours.