Why Sh*t Happens

January 5, 2009
Everyone has one of those days when nothing seems to go right, but why? Unlike others who have broached the question, British computer science guru Bentley (Digital Biology
) actually escorts readers through a really bad day, exploring the science behind all the little things that can go wrong: he looks at why you slept through the alarm (to explain the nature of sleep); why you then slipped on the spilled shampoo (a look at the nature of cleansers and lubricants); why that torrential downpour soaked you on your way to work (a look at the cycle of water in nature). This journey through the day, if sometimes strained (getting chewing gum stuck in one’s hair on the bus), is a neat device for explaining the science behind everyday things such as how clothing is woven and why fabric is so strong (until it rips when you bend over) and how capsaicin in chilis fool the body and provoke a burning sensation. Each chapter ends with a brief tip on how to avoid future mishaps. Hopefully, readers and librarians won’t be put off by the title and miss Bentley’s reader-friendly explanations of the science behind everyday life.

June 1, 2009
Adult/High School-In 38 brief chapters, Bentley explains such "bad day phenomena" as stubbing a toe, accidentally letting loose a computer virus on one's coworkers, being where bird poop lands, and burning oneself with hot chocolate. Like David Bodanis in "The Secret House" (S & S, 1986), who used the ploy of following someone through a "typical" day, but without photographs, Bentley personalizes the misadventures described by writing in the second person. Each episode, whether related to natural phenomena inside or outside our bodies or to technology, opens with a brief story of how you got into this predicament: in your haste, you drove off with your bag on the roof of your car; trying to help someone, you got your finger broken in a heavy door; lightning just struck your television. The explanations of how and why and what readers can do to avoid a repeat extend over three to five pages; they are presented with levity as well as documented fact in terms that make even Einstein's theory of relativity approachable. Science buffs will enjoy the sardonic approach as well as the facts, while the index makes this book a good reference tool for those who just want an explanation of how to remove chewing gum from hair or why we become lost."Francisca Goldsmith, Halifax Public Libraries, Nova Scotia"

Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2009
Things go relentlessly, inexorably wrong in this account of a day in the life of a hapless hero who should have stayed in bed.

Bentley (Computer Science/University College London; The Book of Numbers, 2008, etc.) begins with his hero's failure to hear the alarm clock, a mishap the author uses to discourse on human sleep and dreaming. Next comes a fall from slipping on shampoo in the bathroom and a chance to explain what makes soap soap. (It's a marriage of alkali and oil that allows soap molecules to wrap up oil and grease from your skin while letting dirt dissolve in water.) What follows is the inevitable nick while shaving, and Bentley's exegesis on skin, hair follicles and blood-clotting mechanisms, and why blotting with tissue not only can introduce bacteria to the cut, but also disrupt the cells trying to close the wound. And so it goes through several dozen brief chapters that chart more examples of Murphy's law at work. There's burnt toast for breakfast. A tank full of diesel fuel instead of gasoline. Another fall while running after the bus. Chewing gum that gets in his hair during the ride. A missed stop. Getting soaked by rain. Lost. Stung by a bee. Of course there are more problems at the office, like liquid spilled on the keyboard and computer viruses. Then our hero arrives home and promptly spills red wine on the rug. Does this seem a bit contrived? It is. All this sh*t is simply the means by which Bentley can disgorge his vast knowledge. Along the way he offers a very brief discussion of the origin of water and similarly brief briefs on the immune system and the sense of pain. Nonetheless, the author is solid in his discussions of modern technology—cell phones, CDs, glues, dyes, springy ("air-filled'') sneakers—and he even offers helpful tips (see wine stains, for example).

Filled with some good popular science, but to find it you have to wend through Bentley's over-the-top idea of a really bad day.

(COPYRIGHT (2009) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)