Rating: 
Summary: An entertaining and enjoyable excursion...
Review: "Do Fish Drink Water?" is an entertaining journey through the world of questions, answers, and popular beliefs. Bill McLain, webmaster at Xerox PARC, provides some of the most unusual questions he has received about every topic imaginable, from the Wizard of OZ to the Coriolis effect and the green flash. He presents questions on history, science, folklore, and general trivia, with complete answers and entertaining facts. As an added benefit, the author also demonstrates how to find answers to those improbable questions. The reader can read a little, or a lot, although reading a little is like eating one potato chip. It's hard to stop at just one.An ideal book for the inquisitive, McLain acts as a guide through a labryinth of seemingly unanswerable queries. The result is an entertaining and enjoyable excursion through fact and fiction. This is an ideal gift, especially for yourself.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent read!
Review: A fun, right to the point book about some very interesting and unusual stuff. The whole family enjoyed reading it! Highly recommend buying this.
Rating:
Summary: A fun, educational and informative book.
Review: Do Fish Drink Water? The answer is yes, but it's mostly due to Osmosis. Did I just give away the ending of the book? No, rest assured. This book is a really funny and informative collection of facts that will answer all those questions that you always had. This book is written by Bill McLain who is the webmaster and Xerox and the book is a collection of questions he received. Now I am not sure why people were emailing the webmaster at Xerox to ask him about some of these things, but I am glad Bill collected all of those questions and put them in his book. This is a really fun, educational book and a must-have.
Rating:
Summary: A fun, educational and informative book.
Review: Do Fish Drink Water? The answer is yes, but it's mostly due to Osmosis. Did I just give away the ending of the book? No, rest assured. This book is a really funny and informative collection of facts that will answer all those questions that you always had. This book is written by Bill McLain who is the webmaster and Xerox and the book is a collection of questions he received. Now I am not sure why people were emailing the webmaster at Xerox to ask him about some of these things, but I am glad Bill collected all of those questions and put them in his book. This is a really fun, educational book and a must-have.
Rating: 
Summary: Small quibbles
Review: Hey, everyone: The author, and I, maintained a friendship, by email, for about 5 years. Regrettably, I have to inform all of you, that Bill Died, this past Friday, 1/19/01, of complications for surgery that he had, for esophageal-cancer. I never did get a chance to buy the book or read it, before he died. I am sure that it was top-notch, and well-written. @ least judging from the person that I emailed, back and forth, for the last five years. He will be-missed. Thank you for your time, Bin
Rating: 
Summary: Light, interesting; decent compilation of fun facts/trivia
Review: I can't imagine why so many people would contact Xerox for answers to strange questions, but author Bill McLain is the company's webmaster, and he sure does get lots of e-mail. This book, named after one of the questions received on the website, is a good, mildly entertaining compilation of "gee whiz" trivia and interesting historical facts. The book's twenty chapters (History, Food, Language, Science, etc.) contain answers to 127 questions selected by Mr. McLain from website inquiries. While this number may seem small, each question has a response of several paragraphs, followed by related "Factoids," then several more paragraphs of "Did You Know?" trivia, which may or may not be worthwhile information depending on your interest level. Eloquent prose does not abound, but I found almost all of the topics in this book to be interesting enough for me to hope that the author tries it again with a second volume. Unlike some of the other reviewers, I wasn't as turned off by the goofy asides that follow the questions. The inclusion of dozens of websites pertaining to specialty topics was a BIG plus, in my opinion. If you're a trivia buff, or just love to spend time reading about how everything got to be the way it is, I would recommend adding this book to your collection. However, there are others of its type that are more comprehensive, and perhaps more interesting. Be careful when cross-checking the answers with those found in other references: I found it a little disconcerting that they contained either different or more wide-ranging answers to similar questions (e.g., "mind your p's and q's"). Still, I'm glad Mr. McLain took the time to translate the fun aspects of his job into this enjoyable book. [If I was the parent of a junior high or high school student, I'd buy this book as a gift. Worthwhile websites . . . hint, hint!]
Rating:
Summary: Light, interesting; decent compilation of fun facts/trivia
Review: I can't imagine why so many people would contact Xerox for answers to strange questions, but author Bill McLain is the company's webmaster, and he sure does get lots of e-mail. This book, named after one of the questions received on the website, is a good, mildly entertaining compilation of "gee whiz" trivia and interesting historical facts. The book's twenty chapters (History, Food, Language, Science, etc.) contain answers to 127 questions selected by Mr. McLain from website inquiries. While this number may seem small, each question has a response of several paragraphs, followed by related "Factoids," then several more paragraphs of "Did You Know?" trivia, which may or may not be worthwhile information depending on your interest level. Eloquent prose does not abound, but I found almost all of the topics in this book to be interesting enough for me to hope that the author tries it again with a second volume. Unlike some of the other reviewers, I wasn't as turned off by the goofy asides that follow the questions. The inclusion of dozens of websites pertaining to specialty topics was a BIG plus, in my opinion. If you're a trivia buff, or just love to spend time reading about how everything got to be the way it is, I would recommend adding this book to your collection. However, there are others of its type that are more comprehensive, and perhaps more interesting. Be careful when cross-checking the answers with those found in other references: I found it a little disconcerting that they contained either different or more wide-ranging answers to similar questions (e.g., "mind your p's and q's"). Still, I'm glad Mr. McLain took the time to translate the fun aspects of his job into this enjoyable book. [If I was the parent of a junior high or high school student, I'd buy this book as a gift. Worthwhile websites . . . hint, hint!]
Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: I really enjoyed this book, but I made the mistake of trying to read it all in one sitting - it's a bit like eating too much ice cream (now I don't want anymore). I really like McLain's style of writing and what I *really* liked was that he didn't stop at just answering the question - he gave you more information if you wanted it (which of course I did) and related details that might not be obvious to the layman reader. It's a truly compulsive read and it doesn't matter where your interest lies. A great coffee-table conversation starter, this book keeps on giving - do yourself a favor and grab a copy: it's great.
Rating: 
Summary: Like talking to an old uncle who has had a few drinks...
Review: Mr. McLain attempts to answer those little questions in life that always make you wonder. Unfortunately, his annoying writing style - specifically his long, rambling "answers" - make this opus difficult to enjoy. Moreover, the pun-filled little subtitles at the top of each heading made me cringe. The facts are usually dead on, so no problem with that. But occasionally a question will be answered incompletely - a kind of "nobody knows yet" answer. If you enjoy "geek trivia", as I do, might I suggest Cecil Adam's "Straight Dope" books as being more complete, and infinitely more entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: amazing book
Review: THIS BOOK ASKS YOU QUESTIONS AND TELLS YOU ANSWERS TO EVERY ONE OF THEM. QUESTIONS THAT NO ONE HAS NEVER EVER THOUGHT ABOUT ASKING BEFORE. IT IS A WONDERFUL THING TO READ ABOUT BECAUSE MOST OF IT IS QUESTIONS THAT ARE VERY INTERESTING THAT YOU MIGHT'VE NEVER HEARD ABOUT BEFORE, BUT ARE TRUE. IT IS LIKE RIPLEY'S BELIEVE IT OR NOT, BUT DIFFERENT IN IT'S OWN WAY.
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