Bentley explains the physics, chemistry and biology behind life’s everyday accidents, from stubbing a toe to putting diesel fuel in a gasoline powered car.
Your laptop mysteriously crashes. There’s a fresh red wine stain on the carpet. An overhead bird targets your windshield. Sh*t, as they say, happens – to all of us. But have you ever thought about why such accidents occur? It’s not just bad luck. . . What causes the mishaps that can ruin your day?
In Why Sh*t Happens, esteemed scientist Peter J. Bentley tackles the realm of everyday disaster through a highly empirical approach informed by wit and humor. Bentley brilliantly explores accident on a molecular level, arming you with an essential understanding of what went wrong and explaining how to prevent future bouts of misfortune.
Science is respected, trusted, and according to Bentley, widely misunderstood. When your car engine is damaged by the wrong gasoline or the milk goes bad in the fridge, science is not to blame, but rather can provide an explanation. As he makes his way, mishap by mishap, through an imaginary day in which Murphy’s Law reigns supreme, Bentley reveals the scientific truths from which our daily aggravations originate.
Sh*t will always happen, and now you will know exactly why. Enter, if you dare, the most accident-prone day of your life. . .
You might ask yourself why i would read this book. well first of it was curiosity it got the better of me and i’m glad i read it too and glad i have added this to my personal library. Bentley explains why shit happens. For instance, he explains why we slip on soap in terms of what makes soap slippery, or why milk turns sour in terms of chemical changes in it caused by bacteria. I never expected much out of this i was just looking for something new to read needless to say i enjoyed this book. this book was genuinely funny; maybe because the bad day incidents were all well written in the second person, I imagined myself in the position of the character in the book. also as i was reading it i imagined the narrator from the hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy was narrating the story haha!
There are 39 chapters in the book:
1) sleeping through the alarm
2) slipping on soap
3) cutting yourself shaving
4) toast on fire
5) exploding liquids
6) milk gone bad
7) wet mp3 player
8) bird droppings
9) forgotten bag
10) skidding on the road
11) diesel instead of gas
12) tripping on the curb
13) chewing gum in hair
14) rain soaked clothing
15) being lost
16) bee sting
17) sticking yourself with superglue
18) electromagnetic interference from phone
19) puncture
20) leaking pens
21) mistaken identity
22) torn clothing
23) opening an e-mail virus
24) jammed finger
25) computer hard disk failure
26) broken finger
27) dropping keys down the drain
28) pulled muscle
29) sparking microwave
30) broken glass
31) stains
32) chile pepper in the eye
33) food on the floor
34) lighning kills the tv
35) burns and blisters
36) scratched cd
37) broken tooth
38) stubbed toe
39) overflowing bath
