Editors of Mental Floss - Mental Floss: Instant Knowledge
Here you can read online Editors of Mental Floss - Mental Floss: Instant Knowledge full text of the book (entire story) in english for free. Download pdf and epub, get meaning, cover and reviews about this ebook. year: 2005, publisher: HarperCollins, genre: Detective and thriller. Description of the work, (preface) as well as reviews are available. Best literature library LitArk.com created for fans of good reading and offers a wide selection of genres:
Romance novel
Science fiction
Adventure
Detective
Science
History
Home and family
Prose
Art
Politics
Computer
Non-fiction
Religion
Business
Children
Humor
Choose a favorite category and find really read worthwhile books. Enjoy immersion in the world of imagination, feel the emotions of the characters or learn something new for yourself, make an fascinating discovery.
- Book:Mental Floss: Instant Knowledge
- Author:
- Publisher:HarperCollins
- Genre:
- Year:2005
- Rating:5 / 5
- Favourites:Add to favourites
- Your mark:
Mental Floss: Instant Knowledge: summary, description and annotation
We offer to read an annotation, description, summary or preface (depends on what the author of the book "Mental Floss: Instant Knowledge" wrote himself). If you haven't found the necessary information about the book — write in the comments, we will try to find it.
Editors of Mental Floss: author's other books
Who wrote Mental Floss: Instant Knowledge? Find out the surname, the name of the author of the book and a list of all author's works by series.
Mental Floss: Instant Knowledge — read online for free the complete book (whole text) full work
Below is the text of the book, divided by pages. System saving the place of the last page read, allows you to conveniently read the book "Mental Floss: Instant Knowledge" online for free, without having to search again every time where you left off. Put a bookmark, and you can go to the page where you finished reading at any time.
Font size:
Interval:
Bookmark:
from mental_floss specialty roasters, inc.
Dear Consumer:
Were happy to tell you that you can still get knowledge the old way. mental_floss will always be the family-owned company you can trust for those delicious, slow-roasted facts youve grown to love. But after numerous taste tests and focus groups, weve realized that theres an even better way to serve our most active readersthe ones rushing straight from one draining conversation to the next. Whether youre racing to a cocktail party or the water cooler, a poker game or a United Nations bake sale (you know who you are, Kofi!), mental_flosss Instant Knowledge is a full-bodied jolt for thirsty minds on the go.
Best of all, mental_floss has made sure that these rich blends are ready in seconds. Just look over the AZ, tear into a topic of your choice, and add conversation. Its that simple! And if you need a little guidance on how best to use these facts (who youll be able to impress or where best to drop your newfound knowledge), weve provided that, too.
Just look to the icons for help! If youre in a pinch at a cocktail party, while trying to console a friend, or even desperate to make small talk (at a funeral, no less!), weve got a fact for you. Just search the icons for a stick figure in your situation, and youll find the perfect words for your dilemma. Oh, and weve provided some keywords, too. If you happen to hear one of them in passing, go ahead and spill your knowledge. Youll be glad you did.
So, go ahead and sample a few right now. Skim a few pages, dip into a few facts, and see if you can still taste that robust mental_floss flavor in every delicious sip.
Bottoms Up,
Will and Mangesh
(especially those fond of the devils dandruff)
USEFUL FOR: cocktail parties, whenever the electricity goes out, and anytime youre in Lancaster, Pennsylvania
KEYWORDS: bikers, buggies, or blow
THE FACT: Amish youths experiencing some requisite angst have plenty of ways to rebel (like oh, say, flipping on a light switch!), but these two guys really went above and beyond.
In June 1998, two members of the conservative Old Order Amish sect in Pennsylvania were arrested for buying and selling cocaine. The men, both named Abner Stoltzfus but not related, had apparently been riding their horse and buggy to meet up with a motorcycle gang known as the Pagans (seriously) and then distributing cocaine at their community hoedowns (honestly, were not making this stuff up). Between 1993 and 1997, the wild and crazy pair reportedly purchased over $100,000 worth of cocaine.
(a.k.a. Chicken Throat for the Soul)
USEFUL FOR: waiting rooms, chatting up scientists, and hitting on pharmacists
KEYWORDS: penicillin, Alexander Fleming, or chickens
THE FACT: Believe it or not, biologist Selman Waksman discovered a revolutionary antibiotic in the back of a chickens throat.
In the 1930s, Selman Waksman, working at Rutgers University, became interested in isolating antibiotics from fungi, hoping to find another penicillin. To aid his quest, he asked his colleagues to send him samples of any unusual species they encountered. One day a farmer came to see a Rutgers veterinarian with a sick chicken in tow. All of his chickens, he said, were suffering from the same kind of disease as the sample. The vet found that the bird had a fungal throat infection, and remembering Waksmans request, he sent him a throat swab. From a culture of this fungus, Waksman eventually isolated streptomycin, an antibiotic that revolutionized the treatment of infections, particularly tuberculosis. So the next time youve got strep throat, make sure to thank a chicken for the cure.
(for construction)
USEFUL FOR: making small talk at the salad bar
KEYWORDS: iron stomach, all you can eat, or Im so hungry I could eat a plane
THE FACT: Looking for inspiration when trying to down your mother-in-laws meat loaf? Just consider the story of Michel Lotito, the French gent who once ate an entire Cessna 150.
Yes, thats an entire plane were talking about, and the guy who did it goes by the nickname Monsieur Mangetout (French for eats everything. See what he did there?). Lotito engaged in the stunt to earn a place in the Guinness World Records (his actual record is for the Strangest Diet: 2 pounds of metal per day), but his iron stomachs downed a lot more than just a plane. Hes also the proud eater of 18 bicycles, a bunch of TVs, a wooden coffin, and several supermarket shopping carts. Not to mention all the lightbulbs, razor blades, and other knickknacks hes downed on variety shows. Looking for a reason why you shouldnt try this at home (or with your home)? Well, Lotitos got a natural advantage because his stomach lining is twice as thick as a normal persons. Hes also aided by the fact that hes French, which means hell eat just about anything if prepared right (escargot , anyone?).
(youre not the only one who hates it)
USEFUL FOR: irritating your math teacher, impressing your (other) liberal arts profs, or just plain comforting anyone who hates math
KEYWORDS: asymptote, parabola, or quadratic equations
THE FACT: Despite the fact that it can be applied to just about everything, theres still no Nobel Prize given out for mathematics.
When dynamite inventor (thats not a comment on his abilities; he really did invent dynamite) Alfred Nobel stipulated in his will that his fortune be used to establish a fund to award five annual prizes to those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind, he mysteriously left out math. And all kinds of theories have popped up to explain the omission, most of which claim that Nobel hated all mathematicians because his wife was schtupping one on the side. Nope. The most likely reasons for Nobels ditching math are 1) He simply didnt like math all that much, and 2) Sweden already had a big, fancy prize for mathematics, from the journal Acta Mathematica . Although math is still a Nobel bridesmaid, a prize for economics was added in 1968, thereby giving the extremely boring sciences their due.
(and your tee-tee)
USEFUL FOR: cocktail parties, explaining yourself at the urinal, and chatting up people from the Philadelphia Historical Society
KEYWORDS: kites, Ben Franklin or I really, really have to powder my nose
Font size:
Interval:
Bookmark:
Similar books «Mental Floss: Instant Knowledge»
Look at similar books to Mental Floss: Instant Knowledge. We have selected literature similar in name and meaning in the hope of providing readers with more options to find new, interesting, not yet read works.
Discussion, reviews of the book Mental Floss: Instant Knowledge and just readers' own opinions. Leave your comments, write what you think about the work, its meaning or the main characters. Specify what exactly you liked and what you didn't like, and why you think so.