Summary

Simple answers to 100 truly perplexing questions.Curiosity spans all ages as kids, teenagers and adults have lots of questions about everyday occurrences they never think to ask.Why does syrup spiral off the spoon? Which metals can be recycled? The answers to these and 98 other important questions about life, the universe and a whole lot more are found in Why Does a Ball Bounce?Fully illustrated with color photographs, this book explains complex ideas in easy-to-understand terms. The book's 100 questions are organized into the following topics: Air: bouncing balls, bursting bubbles, fizzy drinks Earth: mountain-making, lava, the age of the Earth Plants: sowing wild oats, why the numbers 3, 5, 8, and 13 crop up so often in plants Fire and ice: the sparkler's sparks, why skates slide, what is dew Water: why water ripples, how soap works, bouncing rain Food: seeing underground, why barley needs the sun Weather: overflowing drains, sky color, seeing the wind Electricity: why electricity sparks, hair standing on end, shrinking computers Mathemagic: seeing musical notes, how knots work, swinging pendulums Little critters: worm heads, how slugs breathe, patient spiders Health and sickness: dilating pupils, smoking facts, vaccination safety Technology: level playing fields, stone age tools, the first computer.Why Does A Ball Bounce? is the ideal title for anyone who needs to explain these ideas to children, students... or just to themselves.

Author Biography

Adam Hart-Davis is a scientist, photographer, writer and broadcaster.

Introduction	p. 8
Air	p. 10
How does a balloon burst?
Why does hot air rise?
What is the greenhouse effect?
What are greenhouse gases?
How do feathers work?
What keeps the fizz in champagne?
Earth	p. 22
How old is the Earth?
How are rocks made?
How can rocks move?
What is lava?
What is brimstone?
What is artificial stone?
What is an element?
What is sand?
Is asbestos dangerous?
When did the penny drop?
What is the attraction of mountains?
How do they dig tunnels?
Water	p. 46
How do water drops bounce?
Why does a milk drop make a crown?
Why does water form drops?
Who cares about splattering?
Why is a shower warmer in the middle?
When will the water run out?
Where does "spend a penny" come from?
Which way will a whirlpool whirl?
How can a paperclip float?
Does oil really calm troubled water?
Fire	p. 66
Why does a match catch fire?
How does a candle burn?
Why are flames bright?
What are firework sparks?
Why does electricity make sparks?
Why does your hair stand on end?
Who made the first electric battery?
Light	p. 80
What is limelight?
Why does the ruler look bent?
Why are rainbows colored?
Why are bubbles colored?
Why is the sky blue?
How do TV shows travel down a cable?
Why do pupils dilate?
Can shadows form in space?
Ice & rain	p. 96
Why does ice cool your drink?
Why do ice cubes crack in your drink?
Why do some icicles have bubbles up the middle?
What's the difference between hail, snow and frost?
How do you make snow?
What is morning dew?
What inspired the cloud chamber?
Why can't they predict the weather?
What is acid rain?
Mathemagic	p. 114
What shapes will tessellate?
What shape is a satellite dish?
How do crystals grow?
Who was Fibonacci?
Which numbers are angular?
How big is a million?
How long is a centimeter?
How does a pendulum swing?
How fast does a pendulum swing?
Technology	p. 132
Why don't knots come undone?
Why does a ball bounce?
What are machines?
What was the first precision device?
Which are the world's oldest toilets?
How do you get a level playing field?
Why are sand ripples interesting?
How do radar guns work?
How hot are your lips?
Plants	p. 150
How do nettles sting?
What are plants made of?
What are roots for?
How do you make a blue carnation?
What are flowers for?
Why do leaves have veins?
Are seeds alive?
How do plants spread?
Are hollyhocks masochistic?
Why do they all lean to the right?
How alike are two peas in a pod?
Who eats leaves?
Do vegetables have protein?
How can you grow better vegetables?
What's the oldest thing alive?
Animals	p. 180
Could dinosaurs swim?
What are sea urchins?
What use are seashells?
What are stem cells?
How do spiders catch flies?
Why do bees make hexagons?
How bright are rats?
What is slug slime?
Health	p. 196
What happens where in your head?
Why do some plants affect the mind?
Is there a pill for every ill?
What are pills made of?
Why bother with vaccination?
How do diseases spread?
How do surgeons learn?
What happens in a cardiac arrest?
Technical details	p. 212
Index	p. 222
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

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Excerpts

IntroductionThis book is about my love for photography and science.I have enjoyed photography since I was given a Brownie Cresta at the age of about 10, and I remember taking a picture of our cat asleep on the bird table. When I was 18 I spent a year doing Voluntary Service Overseas in India, and took hundreds of photographs in that vast and fascinating country. I started using slides then, on my brother's advice, in order to be able to give talks about my travels. In the late 1970s I began to take my photography more seriously, acquiring a 35 mm camera with interchangeable lenses, and 10 years later I began also to use medium-format equipment.Meanwhile, I have spent my whole working life trying to explain science ideas in words and pictures. My first job was editing science books; I went on to be a researcher and then producer in the science department at a local television network. I now have no job, but I write articles and books, present radio and television programs, take photographs, and all these activities are aimed at illustrating and explaining ideas in science and technology.Whether the question is "How does a balloon burst?" or "Why do icicles have bubbles up the middle?", I want to tease out the answer. Photographs may pose the question, or they may help to provide a solution, but for me at least they are part of the beauty of science. In this book you will find some truly scientific pictures, some pictures of mundane things that I find scientifically interesting, and some pictures that cannot be called scientific at all, but are included because they give me excuses to tell stories.Writing this book was a bit scary, because in many of the topics I am way out of my depth and could make terrible mistakes, which is why I enlisted the help of a gang of friends and experts to check most of the text. In spite of their help I expect I have managed to include some errors.The logical way to write a book like this would be to compile a list of interesting questions, and then set about taking photographs to answer them. I did it the other way round. I looked for good photographs, wrote what I hope are interesting things about them, and then tried to think of sensible questions.Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading it and looking at the pictures as much as I enjoyed writing it and taking them.Adam Hart-Davis