Review: AsapSCIENCE: Answers to the World’s Weirdest Questions, Most Persistent Rumors, and Unexplained Phenomena by Mitchell Moffit, Greg Brown

SUMMARY FROM NETGALLEY.COM:

From the creators of the wildly popular and seriously scientific YouTube channel, AsapSCIENCE, comes entertaining, irreverent, and totally accessible answers to the questions you never got to ask in science class.
Why do we get hung over? What would happen if you stopped sleeping? Is binge-watching TV actually bad for you? Why should I take a power nap? In their first-ever book, Mitchell Moffit and Greg Brown, the geniuses behind YouTube channel AsapSCIENCE, explain the true science of how things work in their trademark hilarious and fascinating fashion.
Applying the fun, illustrated format of their addictive videos to topics ranging from brain freeze to hiccups to the science of the snooze button, AsapSCIENCE takes the underpinnings of biology, chemistry, physics, and other hard sciences and applies them to everyday life through quirky and relatable examples that will appeal to both science nerds and those who didn’t ace chemistry. This is the science that people actually want to learn, shared in a friendly, engaging style. And in the spirit of science, no subject is taboo. Amid the humor is great information and cocktail conversation fodder, all thoughtfully presented. Whether you’re a total newbie or the next Albert Einstein, this guide is sure to educate and entertain...ASAP.

MY TAKE:
I've never seen any AsapSCIENCE videos, but after reading this book, I think I just may start.

In AsapSCIENCE: Answers to the World’s Weirdest Questions, Most Persistent Rumors, and Unexplained Phenomena, readers get to learn the science behind things like love, answers to questions like why do we itch, and get tips for lucid dreaming and avoiding hangovers, among others.

With some reference books, the problem is there are not enough illustrations and images to break up the text, so even if the topic interests you, at some point, your mind starts to wander. With this book, there wasn't really any danger of that. The illustrations are in black, white, and blue, and some of them were stick figures, but that's okay as most of them were quite charming. There was also roughly one illustration corresponding to each paragraph and since each paragraph acts more like a caption to the illustration and it's not straight text, it's much easier to keep from getting bored.

That's not to say that the topics are boring. The questions and information are actually all quite interesting. I actually breezed through the book. There aren't a lot of trivia books that you can learn a lot of scientific information on and still say that it's an easy read.

Some of the topics that stuck with me are: the five-second rule, why we tend to dislike pictures of ourselves, tips for avoiding hangovers, and tips for lucid dreaming. These were quite interesting and helpful. If you are prone to hangovers or would like to experience lucid dreaming, you should definitely get this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for the e-ARC.

THE GOOD:

1. It's an easy read.
2. The ratio of text to illustration helps keep you from getting bored quickly.
3. There's plenty of interesting and useful information here. 

THE BAD:

1. The font is a bit small. 

READ IT IF:

1. You like trivia books.
2. You like learning new things.
3. You wish that reference books had more illustrations and pictures. 

RATING:


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