Facts and Figures Books

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Fighter aces are one of the most fascinating elements of military aviation history. Books detailing their exploits continue to be best-sellers. In this 1996 Grub Street volume, noted author Norman Franks concentrates on just one aspect of WWI fighter ace history, unraveling how Allied and German aces died.

In some 200-odd pages, Franks details the deaths of over 300 British, French and German aces from 1915 to 1918. Death claimed those pilots in many ways. Some, like Oswald Boelcke, died in mid-air collisions; James McCudden and others died in 'operational accidents' when their aircraft faltered. Still others fell to ground fire (Frank Luke, Edward Mannock and Manfred von Richtofen). A few were lost in mano-a-mano fights, the classic example being Lanoe Hawker vs. Richtofen. Most however were lost in the swirling, multi-bogey dogfights that characterized WWI air combat. Due to the very nature of those fights, Franks can often only indicate which opposing pilots made claims and which may have been the victor over the ace downed.

In any case, WHO DOWNED THE ACES IN WWI? is a fascinating book, part military history, part detective story. Air combat enthusiasts will want to add it to their bookshelves. Highly recommended.

Facts and figures for all the combatants during the war provide a unique compilation of data covering all aspects of the conflict; from combat divisions and campaigns to events on different fronts of the war. Add maps, charts, and contrasts of military strengths and forces and you have The World War I Databook, a comprehensive military databook invaluable for any researching the specifics of the conflict.

Who, in 2005, scored his first big league run on a homer, even though he wasn't on base when the blast was hit?

Who's first career win came with a club he wasn't even on when the game started?

Better yet, ask yourself... how???

That's just what Madison McIntire achieves in "Big League Trivia." You'll not only learn the names behind the feats, but the entertaining and informative tales that accompany them.

There's plenty of tantalizing nuggets to squirrel away and fire at your buddies.

Pick up a copy and enjoy.

In the six years that I have known Madison McEntire, he always referred to "the book" that he would someday write, and now he has delivered. I would describe "Big League Trivia" as the perfect book to keep on your nightstand. Just before you turn the lights out, pick it up, open to any page and prepare to find something that only a baseball fan can appreciate. For instance, only three pitchers named "Kevin" have pitched no-hitters in MLB history, but all three of them came against the San Francisco Giants. (For the record, the three Kevins were Gross, Brown and Millwood.) I love the idea that this is not the usual Q & A trivia book. To me, that makes this a much more enjoyable volume.

This book is a wonderful collection of odd facts about baseball. I don't call it trivia, even though the title does, since, as the author notes, George Will said "Correct thinkers think that 'baseball trivia' is an oxymoron: nothing about baseball is trivial." Laid out in paragraph form, instead of the usual question and answer form, it frees you from trying to think of answers that you'll never guess. It's sure to give any baseball fan hours of enjoyable reading.

The book has an amusing collection of anecdotes and figures, and I recommend it for some light reading.
But I am surprised by the poor editing. For example, the book insists on using both metric and imperial measurement, which is good, but sometimes the numbers are just plain wrong.
For example, on page 96, it says average double beds are 1.8 metres (or 6'2") long. That would be about 5'11".

Elsewhere, there are some possibly interesting facts, like the work statistics in Europe on page 78, but no source is mentioned, it just says "statistics show that..."
And, in the same page, France is missing from the list of European states.
All in all, makes for a relaxed afternoon, but I would not take anything too seriously.
Oh, according to the author, the Euro is not "proper money" like the UK pound or the US dollar (page 120). British snobbery?

Average. Just the word seems to draw a yawn from the reader. No one wants to be average. In school they tell you that A's are what matters, that C's aren't good enough- unless you're just average. Karen Farrington sticks up for averages, also referred to as the mean in arithmetic, in her book The Lore of Averages: Facts, Figures, and Stories That Make Everyday Life Extraordinary. In her book she tackles the plain old arithmetic mean and turns it into wit. She makes averages interesting. Her book isn't your typical fiction about an average girl who turns out to be extraordinary. She tackles non-fiction in a way most non-fiction authors can only dream of. She takes the statistics, the boring numbers, and makes them interesting. She shows how opposites are funny in her appeal to logos versus humor. Through her style, she is able to make averages seem, well, not average.

The cover is often the first thing a reader looks at. While the saying goes, "Don't judge a book by its cover," most readers do. This cover illustrates Farrington's witty humor that she exhibits in the book. The rain cloud in the desert hanging solely over the man is an example of averages. It can be interpreted that if one takes the average of where clouds cover, when they rain, and over whom it rains, then it is surely possible for such a scenario to occur. It's just not probable. This is where the "lore of averages" becomes extraordinary.
Farrington opens her book with a section titled "Ask the Audience" where she addresses the boredom of averages. You add all the data collected then divide by the number of participants (or whatever you've collected), and there's your average. But her opening story puts interest into the mind of the reader because she gives an instance where finding the average brought about something extraordinary and unexpected. She continues this throughout the entire novel. Her anecdotes don't just give the average, but give stories where they become the extraordinary part. Sometimes they are surprising.

Logos can be surprisingly interesting. Farrington demonstrates that as she combines her wit to the "bore" of averages. Some may ask, "How are numbers fun?" If you're interested in this book, you're probably already interested in numbers. But, if you stumbled upon it like me and aren't too interested in statistics, don't worry; Farrington makes up for the bore with the lore. Like the cover, she has researched incredible average stories that don't seem probable but are true. The numbers add to the truth of the book. Logos makes the averages seem unbelievable. But since this is non-fiction, you know the averages and numbers aren't made up. No longer are the numbers boring.

Another tactic Farrington uses to keep the attention of her reader is her use of short examples. A long statistical book would be boring to read, unless you're interested in the topic. But that's not most people. To broaden her scope of audience, Farrington uses short examples to keep her readers interested, not just the number-loving ones. She keeps the stories short and fresh with new numbers and topics to hook her audience. To capture readers, authors must "hook" them at the beginning or they put the book down. Since she starts new topics every page, she must create a new hook for every topic. This she accomplishes easily.

Along with her quickly changing topics comes also the grouping of topics. Certain statistics dealing with the same topic are sometimes grouped together. This way the statistics from the last example are still fresh in your mind. I'd give an example, but I don't want to give away the amusement.

Not only does she group alike statistics together, she puts opposites together. "Opposites attract" and Farrington uses this to her advantage. She'll put a more boring, number-filled article next to a witty one, or add a short burst of humor to break the boredom. An example can be seen on the back cover. "It costs an estimated £164,000 to bring up a child in Britain." How depressing for parents. And if that's what it is in Britain, think of what it's like in America. Beneath this depressing thought, Farrington writes, "Thirty minutes of chat shows per day raises your IQ by an average of five points." That's a little more uplifting; I can go watch "Live with Regis and Kelly" to my heart's content now. And below that, "On average, one in every 3,400 Americans is an Elvis impersonator." That's just sad. But it's amazing how funny it is at the same time. This type of humor can be seen throughout the entire book as Karen Farrington allows her wit to shine.

There is a small cultural issue. Karen is obviously British. One article I came across dealt with the area of a "football" goal. As an American, I was thinking football, the rough-and-tumble game where you kick the ball to score a field goal after making a touchdown. Other Americans would think of the same thing. I started reading and it became a little confusing. It wasn't until half-way through the article I realized she means European football (a.k.a. soccer). It is especially confusing when other articles about "football" call it soccer. As a British author, she may not think much about it. As an American, I didn't think about it either. Once you establish that she's British, though, (which you've now done) it doesn't detract from the book. She's British, I'm American, and we still find the same things amusing.

Amusement is the key when writing about numbers and averages. Karen Farrington amuses her audience while at the same time writing non-fiction. Her appeal to logos makes the stories more incredible, and the cover art illustrates the humor found behind averages. But her key to keeping her readers amused is her use of short burst of information and her knowledge of how opposites are funny.

I feel sure my husband and daughter are sick of hearing me read from this book, but I can't help it. This book is full of great little witty facts that will keep you smiling for days. For example, did you know that 1 in every 3,400 Americans is an Elvis impersonator? How about that 1 in every 200 men alive today are descended from Genghis Khan? This book is full of delightful details, i.e., how many cars American buy; how many hours the British work per week; that 3 out of every 100 pets in Moscow is hooked on hard liquor. Well you get the idea! If you like knowing little tidbits of information no one else (except Jeopardy contestants) seem to know then buy this book. I highly recommend it and had a lot of fun reading it.

In "The Bird Almanac", ornithologist David Bird has attempted to create a reference volume packed with a wide variety of information that bird enthusiasts of every level of expertise will find interesting and useful. The first 213 pages of this 460-page book is a World Checklist of Birds, which lists all of the world's bird species by their order and includes notation as to their threatened, endangered, or other status where it is applicable. This is followed by 70 pages dedicated to information about the birds themselves. There is a useful chart giving American and British equivalencies in names of birds. There are diagrams, definitions, and many fascinating statistics on bird anatomy and physiology. There are more diagrams and statistics relating to eggs and incubation as well as statistics on mortality and avian diseases. And there are several pages listing truly amazing world records among birds that are sure to make a trivia buff out of you. The next 142 pages contain information about birding, past and present. Included is a Who's Who in Bird Biology and Conservation, information about major ornithological organizations, the birding codes of ethics from both the American Birding Association and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, and tips for attracting and feeding birds. There are also extensive listings of bird-watching and bird-banding organizations around the globe, birding hotlines, magazines, newsgroups, festivals, and tours. And there is a glossary of terms in the back of the book. Most of the information in "The Bird Almanac" pertains to North America and Great Britain. The book might have been more aptly named "The Birding Almanac", since it contains more information on birding than about the birds themselves. But the bird information that is here is quite fascinating and has been gleaned from so many different sources that it would be difficult to find elsewhere. Where else could I learn that a peregrine falcon can dive at speeds of 117 mph (wow!), that the largest nesting colony contained 136 million passenger pigeons (scary), or that a group of cormorants is called a "gulp" (funny)? Ornithologists, birders, backyard bird watchers, students, conservationists, and those whose curiosity is stirred by fascinating facts are sure to find something of interest in "The Bird Almanac".

The amount of information in The Bird Almanac, and the diversity, is staggering, and there is far too much to cover in a short review. The information covers both birds and bird watching, starting with a complete checklist of the world's birds. There is a chart showing the suggested fossil history of birds. The sections on anatomy include not only the traditional bird diagram, but also labeled drawings of the skeleton, digestive system, brain, eyeball, feather tracts, and other systems. There are charts on heart rates, metabolic rates, hearing range, and number of taste buds in various species, and dozens of others in the physiographic section. There are also charts on wing loading, flight speed, daily flight distance, average altitudes of migrating birds, and the ability of birds to transport prey after capture. The mortality section includes charts on the relative occurrence of a long list of diseases and lists of threatened and endangered birds.

There is a section on biggest, smallest, longest, most traveled birds, etc. A section on who's who in bird biology and conservation includes not only the expected names, but important figures less well-known. Do you want to know who was president of the AOU in 1938, or any other year? Who are the recipients of the Elliot Coues Award? It's all here, as well as which teams have won the World Series of Birding and who has won the Duck Stamp competition. There is a section on resources for bird watchers that includes a list of the world's bird watching and ornithological organizations, with addresses, lists of Internet resources, a compilation of the world's bird watching magazines, lists of rare bird alerts, tour companies, CD ROMs, and on and on.

This is one of the most impressive, and useful, one-volume collection of information about birds and bird watching available anywhere. Readers will find themselves delving into it for pleasure over and over, and it will be one of the most frequently used references on the shelf. My copy is going on the shelf next to the Birder's Handbook and the small set of references that are my first line of defense whenever anyone asks a question or I need a quick answer. This book belongs in every bird watcher's library.-Eirik A.T. Blom

I found a little more practical use from this than in his first volume. I doubt the average part-time woodworker would reach for this first if he had a question. It is packed with expert informaiton; it's just that most of us will never use it. Of course, I've been worng before.

This book is a must for "New Guys" to be on your shelf, and give you a quick reference. It is jamb packed with information! It is non-technical, practical and written by a technical guy. There are many things I have learned in "fixing things" and I come up with novel ways of doing it, but this guy is good! If you work with both hand tools and power tools, as I do, you may neglect a tool and find it rusty. Inside this book is alchemey magic for the small shop. Reversing the rusting process! Each page has something for us. It also tells me why, and if I want more, the facts behind it. Only one draw back, but it probably kept the cost of this book affordable. I'd like it to be on better paper, and have a few more pictures of what the project or technique looks like, so I can have a visual reference point.

This was an interesting book. I probably would not have read this book if my great-grandfather wasn't a member of von Braun's rocket team that came over from Germany. I learned a lot about World WarII from this book. I even learned a little about rocket propulsion(how a rocket goes).

This is a very good book that covers the life of Dr. Wernher von Braun without getting too deep in details. The book is a quick read at about 130 pages but you still get a good overall view of von Braun's life. The best part of the book is where the authors cover the years before von Braun became involved with NASA. They do not shy away from his involvement with the German SS and the problems he faced from his past after he moved to the United States, yet they do not paint him as a war criminal as some have attempted to do. This book sites sources and contains a glossary and is well indexed. There are a few technical and editing mistakes (the Apollo-Soyuz mission did not take place in 1957 as stated on page 117, nor were Saturn rockets used for any Gemini missions as stated on page 104), but these problems do not override the main thrust of the book. If you have heard of Dr. von Braun and have wanted to know more, this is a great introduction to the man and his interesting life.

I didn't really need to buy this or it's sequel "More Essential ....". Perhaps this is meant for contractors (which I'm not), but I could have done without both of these. Not that there isn't stuff of interest in here, but I have the nuts & bolts of that from other sources. This is not a book for someone starting in woodworking. It's very hard to give a rating on this. If you need this technical information, they are both probably five star books. If you are a hobby woodworker like me, however, they are at best two stars worth of practical usage.

This is just the book I needed - good, practical procedures. I like the alternatives provided, some with and some without math needed.

This books provides the best collection of cliches ever.
With some historical background for eac cliches, it's enjoyable as a book.

The first cliche I looked up wasn't even in the book. I have now started making a list on the back cover of the cliches NOT in the book. What a waste of time and effort. If you're buying this book used, check the back cover!

I'm now shopping for a replacement.

This informative, well-researched and amusing reference explains the meaning, origin and subsequent usage of over 2000 cliches, sayings and expressions made familiar through their continued, and sometimes exaggerated, use. It's a wonderful resource for writers, researchers and editors, for trivia enthusiasts, and for people who just love words, language and slang.
Each entry in this comprehensive collection is presented in a paragraph-length format, and is written in a clear, concise and humorous style that invites browsing, but is also appropriate for easy consultations, for which an index of cross-references is also included. Here you'll find the well known "head over heels," "fit as a fiddle" and "right as rain" and also the not so common "eager for the fray" and "Simon pure."
Although not all the cliches ever used are contained in this volume, it is by far the most complete compilation of its kind available on the market today.
Overall, this book is a delightful trip of exploration and discovery into the treasury of our language's most colorful remarks.
--Reviewed by Maritza Volmar

It has a lot of cliches listed but not enough for me though. But I still enjoy flipping through it.

Love the opening when it says not to beat around the bush or hedge the bet, this is a must-read for every Tom, Dick and Harry under the Sun-- by PEOPLE magazine. Origins of almost every phrase you've ever heard. It's the cat's meow. I'm a writer of books and articles and it is one of half dozen books I keep on the desk, not the shelves-- Great when you want to ROCK THE BOAT or are afraid to RISK LIFE AND LIMB -- fun for using when coming up with a title for an article or when you've got writer's block. Even if you're rolling in the money you need to roll with the punches and get the show on the road....gives the origin, derivation and a sentence as to how the phrase is used . Compact little book 370 pages packed with hundred-- maybe thousands of phrases...don't miss it.