Mitchell Symons - Numberland: The World in Numbers

First published in Great Britain in 2013 by Michael OMara Books Limited 9 Lion Yard Tremadoc Road London SW4 7NQ Copyright Michael OMara Books Limited 2013 All rights reserved. You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN: 978-1-78243-060-5 in hardback print format ISBN: 978-1-78243-194-7 in paperback format ISBN: 978-1-78243-159-6 in e-book format Designed and typeset by Ana Bjezancevic The publishers would like to thank Oliver Redding for selected images and www.shutterstock.com www.mombooks.com The author and publishers have endeavoured to verify all the facts and statistics in this book with bona fide sources. Pythagoras thought that numbers rule the universe and he was right theyre everywhere: in every tiny thing we do, from the number of bed bugs in our beds (an amazing number, go on, look it up) to the length, in metres, of all the eyelashes shed by a human in their lifetime. Pythagoras thought that numbers rule the universe and he was right theyre everywhere: in every tiny thing we do, from the number of bed bugs in our beds (an amazing number, go on, look it up) to the length, in metres, of all the eyelashes shed by a human in their lifetime.

We dont often think about these numbers, but when we do, they can be incredible. Numbers have always fascinated me and when I started collecting number-related trivia, I found that I just couldnt stop. Theres something about nuggets of information that is so satisfying, and attaching numbers can bring those facts into sharper focus. For instance, who knew that every time you lick a stamp, youre consuming one-tenth of a calorie, that the human heart pumps 55 million gallons of blood by the age of seventy, that just one litre of oil can ruin one million litres of fresh water, or that there are 60,000 miles of blood vessels in the human body. In this book Ive tried to look at our everyday world from a different angle. If we stopped every now and again to consider some of the workaday things we do, see, or are a part of, we would in some cases probably be quite shocked, and its these types of numbers Ive included here.

Ranging from the natural world to music, the arts, the human body, creepy-crawlies, love and marriage and beyond, Numberland is a book for those who are fascinated by details and the minutiae of life. I hope you become as addicted to it as I have

Id like to thank my editor Louise Dixon and her talented team, especially assistant George Maudsley and designer Ana Bjezancevic. In addition, Id also like to thank the following people for their help, contributions and/or support: Gilly Adams, Jonathan Fingerhut, Jenny Garrison, Philip Garrison, Bryn Musson, Nicholas Ridge, Charlie Symons, Jack Symons, Louise Symons, David Thomas, Martin Townsend, Clair Woodward and Rob Woolley. The number of airports in Monaco (the nearest is Nice in France). The number of continents that are wider in the south than they are in the north. The number of countries that officially measure their nations total Happiness (Bhutan). The number of countries in the Middle East that dont have deserts (Lebanon). The number of countries that dont have a rectangular flag (Nepal). Only one of the Seven Wonders of the World still survives: the Great Pyramid of Giza. The number of countries that have every type of climate (New Zealand). The number of countries that have a national flag with a Bible in it (The Dominican Republic). The number of towns in the world whose names begin with ABC (the Dutch town of Abcoude). The number of countries that are entirely higher than 1,000 metres above mean sea level (Lesotho). The number of countries that start with a Q (Qatar). The number of countries that end with a Q (Iraq). The number of English-speaking countries in South America (Guyana). The number of countries where you can see the sun rise in the Pacific and set in the Atlantic (Panama). The number of countries with a jaguar preserve (Belize).