Useless Knowledge

Author : Abraham Flexner
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 0691174768
Total Pages : 104 pages
Book Rating : 4.61/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge written by Abraham Flexner and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2017-02-21 with total page 104 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A short, provocative book about why "useless" science often leads to humanity's greatest technological breakthroughs A forty-year tightening of funding for scientific research has meant that resources are increasingly directed toward applied or practical outcomes, with the intent of creating products of immediate value. In such a scenario, it makes sense to focus on the most identifiable and urgent problems, right? Actually, it doesn't. In his classic essay "The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge," Abraham Flexner, the founding director of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton and the man who helped bring Albert Einstein to the United States, describes a great paradox of scientific research. The search for answers to deep questions, motivated solely by curiosity and without concern for applications, often leads not only to the greatest scientific discoveries but also to the most revolutionary technological breakthroughs. In short, no quantum mechanics, no computer chips. This brief book includes Flexner's timeless 1939 essay alongside a new companion essay by Robbert Dijkgraaf, the Institute's current director, in which he shows that Flexner's defense of the value of "the unobstructed pursuit of useless knowledge" may be even more relevant today than it was in the early twentieth century. Dijkgraaf describes how basic research has led to major transformations in the past century and explains why it is an essential precondition of innovation and the first step in social and cultural change. He makes the case that society can achieve deeper understanding and practical progress today and tomorrow only by truly valuing and substantially funding the curiosity-driven "pursuit of useless knowledge" in both the sciences and the humanities.

Author : Don Voorhees
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 0399537465
Total Pages : 271 pages
Book Rating : 4.62/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Incredible Book of Useless Information written by Don Voorhees and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2012-10-02 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The #1 New York Times bestselling series continues to delight and astound with an all-new collection of surprisingly unnecessary facts and figures. Would it surprise you to learn… •it takes a sloth about a month to digest a meal? •more tourists visit France than any other nation in the world? •the United States still has debt from the Revolutionary War? Do you think you ever need to know… •what type of trees are most frequently struck by lightning? •how much a clerk was paid for penning the U.S. Constitution? •which celebrity uses the pseudonym Slappy White?

Author : Noel Botham
Publisher : Kings Road Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1857829271
Total Pages : 337 pages
Book Rating : 4.73/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Mega Book of Useless Information written by Noel Botham and published by Kings Road Publishing. This book was released on 2010-11-01 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Continuing the sensational success of the Useless Information Series, the Official Useless Information Society bring you another essential compendium of everything you never needed but always wanted to know. If you are a lover of the wonderfully pointless, then this is the book for you.

Author : David Samson
Publisher : St. Martin's Griffin
ISBN 13 : 1466855940
Total Pages : 210 pages
Book Rating : 4.46/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Useless Knowledge written by David Samson and published by St. Martin's Griffin. This book was released on 2013-11-05 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How can your tongue get you arrested? What dessert is as smart as the average adult? What's louder: A jet plane at take-off or a hippo having sex? In the form of a lively and eccentric course catalog, Useless Knowledge, the brainchild of the creator of the wildly successful Useless Knowledge website offers up loads of facts of little consequence for the hardcore trivia buff or the casual enthusiast. Inside, you'll find topics and entries like these: The Core Curriculum The Useless School of Animals The sound that a camel makes is called "nuzzing". The Useless School of Film Warren Beatty's first job in the theater was a rat-catcher...backstage. The Useless School of History Not that he was immature, but Napoleon concocted his battle strategies in a sandbox. The Useless School of Sports It takes 3,000 cows to supply a single season's worth of footballs to the NFL. There are also Useless Schools of Television, Biology, Science and Technology, Music, Geography, and Culinary Arts.

Author : Noel Botham
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 0399159258
Total Pages : 194 pages
Book Rating : 4.51/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Totally Awesome Book of Useless Information written by Noel Botham and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2012-06-05 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Weird and amazing facts for curious minds of all kinds Looking for fascinating facts and trivia that readers of all ages can enjoy? The Totally Awesome Book of Useless Information is filled with the oddest and funniest tidbits about history, science, food, animals, and more. A great gift for kids of all ages, this book features: 200+ interesting facts and trivia Engaging illustrations and easy-to-read format Portable size, great for road trips and family vacations This compendium is perfect for trivia buffs, history lovers, and anyone who loves to learn new things. For example, did you know that the Pilgrims ate popcorn at the first Thanksgiving? Or that the peach was the first fruit eaten on the moon? Or that there are oysters that can climb trees? You'll find all this and more in this amazing collection of useless information.

Author : Noel Botham
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 9780399532696
Total Pages : 308 pages
Book Rating : 4.92/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Book of Useless Information written by Noel Botham and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2006-06-27 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What you may so cavalierly call useless information could prove invaluable to someone else. Then again, maybe not. But to The Useless Information Society, any fact that passes its gasp-inducing, not-a-lot-of-people-know-that test merits inclusion in this fascinating but ultimately useless book... Did you know (or do you care)... • That fish scales are used to make lipstick? • Why organized crime accounts for ten percent of the United States’s annual income? • The name of the first CD pressed in the United States? • The last year that can be written upside-down or right side-up and appear the same? • The shortest performance ever nominated for an Oscar®? • How much Elvis weighed at the time of his death? • What the suits in a deck of cards represent? • How many Quarter Pounders can be made from one cow? • How interesting useless information can be? The Book of Useless Information answers these teasers and is packed with facts and figures that will captivate you—and anyone who shares your joy in the pursuit of pointless knowledge.

Author : I︠U︡riı̆ Dombrovskiı̆
Publisher : Vintage
ISBN 13 : 9781860460548
Total Pages : 548 pages
Book Rating : 4.42/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Faculty of Useless Knowledge written by I︠U︡riı̆ Dombrovskiı̆ and published by Vintage. This book was released on 1996 with total page 548 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Author : Noel Botham
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 1101203463
Total Pages : 225 pages
Book Rating : 4.60/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Best Book of Useless Information Ever written by Noel Botham and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2007-12-18 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the creators of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Book of Useless Information comes another enlightening, entertaining, and ultimately useless assortment of trivia. If you find yourself transfixed by the most trivial of trivia, or mesmerized by the most minor of minutiae, The Useless Information Society's latest findings can satisfy your every need. This wide-ranging collection will fill every nook and cranny of your brain with information you'll surely never need, but will enjoy learning anyway! Did you know... - that penguins can jump six feet out of the water? - that everyone is color-blind at birth? Would you care to know... - what the first meal eaten on the moon was? - what country drinks the most Coca-Cola? (Hint: It's not the United States.) In 1995, a secret society was formed comprising Britain's foremost thinkers, writers, and artists to trade and share in useless information (or, as founding member Keith Waterhouse, playwright and journalist, would have it, "totally bloody useless").

Author : Noel Botham
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 1101061359
Total Pages : 129 pages
Book Rating : 4.50/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The World's Greatest Book of Useless Information written by Noel Botham and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2009-07-07 with total page 129 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the creators of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Book of Useless Information-a collection of even greater insignificance. More useless than ever before! Impress know-it-all friends with this all-new hodgepodge of frivolous facts and silly statistics that no one really needs to know. But honestly, how cool is it to find out that... ? There is a place in Maryland called Monkey's Eyebrow ? Giving yellow flowers is a sign of bad luck in Russia ? One brow wrinkle is the result of 200,000 frowns ? Paper can be made from asparagus This is the book that will also tell you... ? The meaning of 'mageirocophobia' ? Where it is illegal to kill a butterfly ? Huckleberry Finn's remedy for warts ? What bodily fluid the Romans used as a hair treatment And much, much more!

Author : Nuccio Ordine
Publisher : Paul Dry Books
ISBN 13 : 1589881168
Total Pages : 176 pages
Book Rating : 4.67/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Usefulness of the Useless written by Nuccio Ordine and published by Paul Dry Books. This book was released on 2017-02-21 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A little masterpiece of originality and clarity.”—George Steiner “A necessary book.”—Roberto Saviano “A wonderful little book that will delight you.”—François Busnel International Best Seller / Now in English for the First Time In this thought-provoking and extremely timely work, Nuccio Ordine convincingly argues for the utility of useless knowledge and against the contemporary fixation on utilitarianism—for the fundamental importance of the liberal arts and against the damage caused by their neglect. Inspired by the reflections of great philosophers and writers (e.g., Plato, Dante, Montaigne, Shakespeare, Borges, and Calvino), Ordine reveals how the obsession for material goods and the cult of utility ultimately wither the spirit, jeopardizing not only schools and universities, art, and creativity, but also our most fundamental values—human dignity, love, and truth. Also included is Abraham Flexner’s 1939 essay “The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge,” which originally prompted Ordine to write this book. Flexner—a founder and the first director of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton—offers an impassioned defense of curiosity-driven research and learning.