In an age when fact-checking often goes little further than a quick glance at Wikipedia (good resource that it is though), it's heartening to hear about a book that is not only full of facts, but is written by a professional whose job it is to ensure they are all correct. All Facts Considered: The Essential Library of Inessential Knowledge is a compendium of information about history, science and the arts written by Kee Malesky, librarian at NPR (National Public Radio). See here for an article about the book. This includes excerpts plus a few of Kee's favourite questions such as:
- The first e-book was the Declaration of Independence, typed into a computer in 1971 by the founder of Project Gutenberg.
- Red hair, the rarest human color (less than 2 percent of the population), is caused by a variation in what is called the "Celtic" gene.
All sounds fascinating and I'm about to order a copy for the Guardian library (where we double check everything). Wonder if it's going to be made available online...
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