Things That Nobody Knows: 501 Mysteries of Life, the Universe and Everything

With an epigraph from Thoreau about the necessity of ignorance for personal growth, it’s clear from the start of the book that it isn’t Hartson’s intention to clarify these 501 mysteries. He provides plenty of interesting information, but most of it comes in the form of speculation as to why certain questions—“At what speed did J.S. Bach intend his compositions to be played?”; “Why do narwhals have spiral tusks?”; “Is free will an illusion caused by quantum uncertainty?”; “Can yeast think”—remain (and in some cases will forever remain) unanswered. Readers looking for answers will be thwarted at every turn, but those hoping to learn a little more about what they don’t know have a reliable guide in Hartson, a Cambridge-educated mathematician, two-time British chess champ, industrial psychologist, and master question-asker. Hartson (The Encyclopedia of Useless Information) is admirably game to tackle any subject: biology, philosophy, history, geology, physics, fantasy—it’s all here, organized according to topic. With humor and an inquiring mind, he examines perennially confounding quandaries, and his investigations will surely pique the curiosity of kids and scholars alike. (June)