Does Anything Eat Wasps?: And 101 Other Unsettling, Witty Answers to Questions You Never Thought You author: New Scientist rating: asin: 0743297261 binding: Paperback list price: $12.00 USD amazon price: $9.60 USD

This is one of those books that's great to read during your morning commute or if you're going through a period in your life where you find yourself spending a lot of time in waiting rooms. It's a book you can pick up and put down again without losing your place in a plot or dropping the main theme of an argument.

The book consists of interesting questions posed (and answered) by readers of New Scientist magazine in their recurring "The Last Word" column. Examples include "How fat do you have to be to become bulletproof?" and "What would happen if the moon suddenly disappeared?" Some of the questions are serious; some are silly. However even the most inane queries can sometimes lead to intriguing answers, like the question about the interaction of Tia Maria (an alcoholic beverage) and cream, which resulted in a paper on fluid dynamics.

This isn't a deep book; you won't come away feeling as though you've gained a thorough understanding of any one particular topic. Some of what you learn here will be interesting, but perhaps ultimately forgettable in a bar trivia sort of way. On the other hand, something here might tweak your interest enough to encourage further research.

My only beef with the book - and it's the same one I have with the the column itself - is that they usually print two or three answers to a question which essentially say the same thing. I suppose the editors want to demonstrate that there is a consensus of opinion on an answer, but there are other ways of doing this that would leave more room for additional questions and answers without being so repetitive.