book review

Book Review: AsapScience by Mitchell Moffit and Greg Brown

March 27, 2015
What did I get myself into?

I started reading AsapScience; Answers to the World’s Weirdest Questions, Most Persistent Rumors and Unexplained Phenomena by Mitchell Moffit and Greg Brown.

I thought that this was going to be another book like What If? by Randall Munroe. It was and it wasn’t. The beauty of science, one where an answer is black and white… and yet, not.
It was like What If?, because it explained weird science questions with humor and pictures. I even like the adding of the blue to the pictures, gives it a very calming cartoon vibe. Every question was well-researched and delivered in a fun and to the point manner.
Why it isn’t What If?, because I can not burn the image out of my retinas of the cure for hiccups that has been medically proven. My cousin suffers from chronic hiccups and I am even going to spare her the details of this one. I think she will forgive me.  Thanks, AsapSCIENCE, I know you think I’m a bad person for not sharing, but once you read it you will agree with me one hundred percent.
Gross cure for the hiccups aside, this is a fun book. I enjoyed the piece about which came first, the chicken or the egg. I’m not going to spoil the debate, but the book did look at both sides with some seriously interesting science.
What started as a YouTube channel now boasts over three million subscribers and has spawned AsapThought (another YouTube channel) as well the above mentioned book. The Canadian creators have fun every week coming up with a new question to explain. I have to give them credit. This was an exciting (albeit at times disgusting) book that I was able to enjoy very quickly.
I did have to share a few of the facts with my husband. Particularly the one about silent but deadly farts. It’s not a thing some guy made up. There is real science behind this. No pun intended.
The one that I didn’t agree on was what hurt more: Giving birth for women or getting kicked in the “family jewels” for men.
I  understand that getting kicked there may indeed hurt, I may have in fact done this to my brother at least once in my life, and I would like to take a second to apologize for my eight year old self. But I have given birth.
I have suffered 17 hour labor and the walking like I rode a horse for six weeks, in its aftermath.
Pain is objective, or it’s all in your head, and as I have a high pain tolerance, but I want to point this simple fact out.
To have that wonderful bundle of joy that you as a father, get to take to little league games, or throw a football around with, or your little princess that you have tea with, will cause your spouse a world of forced-upon pain.
There is no way around it. Baby = severe amount of pain.
How often is a man kicked down there? Maybe once in his life? Or if he had a sister like me maybe twice….three times….four at the most. Very, very sorry.
I offer this. For every time that a woman gives birth, the male counterpart that gets to sit there with the camera to film the wonderful moment gets kicked where the sun don’t shine. I think that this is the only way to solve the debate.
Volunteers?
Little off topic, back to the book.
This book is just as smart and fun as the YouTube channel.
What I found amusing is that every family get together we have we break out a book of something humorous, and as a family read aloud.
I will be pulling this one out at Easter brunch. My family will have a blast trying to guess the answer before I read aloud the science behind it, and see who guessed right.
I see this book as a great gift for any man. No matter what level of science they have behind them, it is written and drawn in a way that is infectious. I read the entire book in one sitting.
The book could have been longer. With all the pictures, the 247 pages flew by. The book could be twice as long and I would have still been transfixed to read it- it’s a great book, and I’m glad it’s published. 
Craving more after reading, I went on to the YouTube channel. Will there be a sequel to the book? This one was just released so it is hard to say.
But I do know this, there is a lot of material on YouTube that they didn’t include in the book. Also, with a new video out every week they will have lots of material to follow this book up with. I do want to say, even after reading this book and the science behind it, I’m still not going to eat my snot.
Yuck!

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