The Ig Nobel Prizes: The Annals of Improbable Research

Rating:
Summary: Is Science Funny? You Bet!
Review: I have kept up with the 'Annals of Improbable Research' for several years, and must say that this book reflects the best of the highbrow, yet offbeat sense of humor found in 'AIR'.

For those unfamiliar, the Ig Nobel prizes are awarded every year for "achievements that cannot or should not be reproduced" in an elaborate spectacle of a ceremony at Harvard University. Among the participants are many genuine Nobel Prize winners, proving beyond doubt that scientists do have a sense of humor.

There is something for everyone in this book, even for those who hate science; in fact especially for those who hate science. The subjects coast gracefully from the bizarre ("Elevator Music Prevents the Common Cold") to the absolute fringe of science ("The Effects of Ale, Garlic, and Soured Cream on the Appetites of Leeches"; the sour cream was the biggest appetite stimulant, by the way). There are subjects you would have never thought of (unless you are a scientist with way too much time and Federal grant money on your hands) from levitating frogs to "Chicken Plucking as Measure of Tornado Wind Speed". The subject matter is dizzying and amusing.

I eventually settled on a four star rating for a couple of reasons. First, in a majority of cases, these studies are supported through tax dollars, and I generally resent the glorification of wasted money, which this book surely is in great, if unintentional, part (only a small percentage of these studies have genuine follow on benefits; most were clearly done for square-filling publication in the 'publish or perish' world of academia). Second, the politically motivated selection of some recipients, notably Edward Teller, is an undeserved slap at scientists who did and do work on defense projects (where a huge number of genuine scientific advances actually occur) by what is an obviously smug class of academics, who clearly seek to advance their own political agenda. I find that to have tarnished what would have otherwise been a superior work of science reporting and humor.

Despite my reservations, I overall recommend the book, as it does generally meet its stated goals of making a person laugh and think.

Rating:
Summary: Science can be funny
Review: This book brings together two areas of human endeavor that don't normally go together: science and humor. The Ig Nobel Awards (actually held every year at Harvard University) honor those achievements which "cannot or should not be reproduced."

Did you know that elevator music may help prevent the common cold? Companies like Enron, Global Crossing, Tyco, Waste Management and WorldCom shared an award for adapting the mathematical concept of imaginary numbers for use in the business world. A man from Lithuania created an amusement park called Stalin World. To save money, the British Royal Navy has barred trainees at its top gunnery school from firing live shells and ordered them to shout "bang." It has been determined that, biochemically, romantic love may be indistinguishable from severe obsessive-compulsive disorder. A college professor from Pennsylvania fed prozac to clams (at the cellular level, clams and humans show remarkable nervous system similarities), resulting in a whole lot of reproducing going on. A man from France is the only winner of two Ig Nobels, for demonstrating that water has a memory, and that the information can be transmitted over the phone and the Internet.

Then there are the "classics," like the scientific investigation of why toast often falls on the buttered side; an Australian man who patented the wheel, and the Australian Patent Office who granted it; a man from Arizona who invented software that detcts when a cat is walking across your keyboard; the Southern Baptist Church of Alabama for their county-by-county estimate of how many Alabama citizens will go to hell if they don't repent; the sociology of Canadian donut shops, and the optimal way to dunk a biscuit. Last but not least, a solution has been found to the age-old problem of how to quickly start a barbecue. It can be done in less than four seconds with charcoal - and liquid oxygen.

This book is hilarious. It's humor of a slightly more highbrow variety, designed to make people laugh, then think. It's highly recommended for everyone, even those who think that they hate science.