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What Einstein Told His Barber More Scientific Answers to Everyday Questions

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ISBN-10: 0440508797

ISBN-13: 9780440508793

Edition: 2000

Authors: Robert Wolke

List price: $18.00
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Description:

What makes ice cubes cloudy? How do shark attacks make airplanes safer? Can a person traveling in a car at the speed of sound still hear the radio? Moreover, would they want to...? Do you often find yourself pondering life's little conundrums? Have you ever wondered why the ocean is blue? Or why birds don't get electrocuted when perching on high-voltage power lines? Robert L. Wolke, professor emeritus of chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh and acclaimed author of What Einstein Didn't Know, understands the need to...well, understand. Now he provides more amusing explanations of such everyday phenomena as gravity (If you're in a falling elevator, will jumping at the last instant save…    
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Book details

List price: $18.00
Copyright year: 2000
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Publication date: 3/7/2000
Binding: Paperback
Pages: 288
Size: 5.18" wide x 7.88" long x 0.72" tall
Weight: 0.792
Language: English

Robert L. Wolke is professor emeritus of chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh and researcher in both chemistry and physics. As an educator and lecturer, he enjoys a national reputation for his ability to make science understandable and enjoyable. He is the author of What Einstein Didn't Know: Scientific Answers to Everyday Questions; Impact: Science on Society; and Chemistry Explained, as well as dozens of scientific research papers. His bi-weekly column, "Food 101," in which he answers scientific questions about food, appears in The Washington Post. He lives in Pittsburgh. From the Trade Paperback edition.

Introduction
Movin' and Shakin'
Why do we drive on the right?
Why are cloverleaf intersections so complex?
Can Earth's orbit be changed if a billion people jump at the same time?
Can jumping up at the last instant save you in a falling elevator?
Where does the rubber go when a tire wears out?
Can a bullet fired into the air come down and kill somebody?
Why does the Lone Ranger use silver bullets?
What really keeps an airplane up?
Are astronauts weightless?
If you drive your car faster than the speed of sound, can you hear the radio?
Looky Here!
What makes Day-Glo colors so bright?
Why is snow white?
Why are there two sets of primary colors?
How do fluorescent and halogen lamps work?
Why do mirrors seem to reverse left and right, but not top and bottom?
Why do stagecoach wheels appear to turn backward?
Why do wet things look darker?
Why is glass transparent?
Why do WintOGreen Life Savers make sparks?
Hot Stuff
Is 100 degrees twice as hot as 50 degrees?
What is temperature, anyway?
How cold can it get?
Why is the bathroom floor so cold on your bare feet?
How hot can it get?
How does a flame know which way is up?
Why is a candle flame tapered at the top?
Could we counteract global warming by turning on all our air conditioners?
What's so dangerous about high voltage?
Why doesn't it rain dead sparrows?
The Earth Beneath Our Feet
Why does Earth pull everything toward its exact center?
How does hot air defy gravity by rising?
If hot air rises, why is it colder in the mountains?
Does it ever get too cold to snow?
If Earth is spinning so fast, why don't we fly off?
Can the astronauts see Earth turning beneath them?
Would a polar bear weigh less at the equator?
Do toilets flush counterclock-wise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere?
Can you stand an egg on end during the vernal equinox?
Why is nuclear energy unique on Earth?
How does radiocarbon dating work?
Heavens Above!
How do odors find your nose?
Can you operate a vacuum cleaner in a vacuum?
Why does a lion tamer's whip make such a loud "crack"?
What is the sound barrier made of?
Why does thunder sound the way it does?
Why is the moon so much bigger when it's near the horizon?
Why do the stars twinkle?
How does the moon keep one side always facing Earth?
How do the oceans' tides work?
Does the moon ever turn blue?
Why is it cold in space--or is it?
All Wet
What color is water?
Why are the oceans blue?
And salty?
Precisely where is sea level?
Why does spilled coffee dry to a ring?
Why does your shower curtain cling to you?
Where do your socks go when they disappear in the laundry?
What's the most expensive ingredient in laundry detergents?
(Advertising.) Is glass a liquid?
What makes ice cubes cloudy?
If the humidity got to be 100 percent, would we drown?
How can you clear your fogged-up windshield?
Can a farmer smell rain?
Stuff and Things
Are airplanes safe?
How does an eraser erase?
Why does rubber stretch?
Why are cars noisy?
Why do clothes wrinkle?
How does a skateboard work?
What happens when you shake a bottle of soda?
Can you get electricity out of a lemon?
Are smoke alarms radioactive?
Can fertilizer explode?
How do sailors keep clean?
If you stopped dusting, how long would it take to be buried in dust?
Can you unburn a match?
Some Techspeak Buzzwords
Index