How Do Astronauts Scratch an Itch

This ninth volume in Feldman's Imponderables series (When Do Fish Sleep, etc.) is as entertaining and informative as its predecessors, although this time some of the entries don't quite fit the requirement that the questions be unanswerable by numbers, measurements or a trip to the reference library. The query that provides the title assumes that astronauts spend all their time in space suits, which is not the case. Other inquiries ponder why beverage glasses sweat and why lizards don't get sunburned. The most interesting section is devoted to Frustables (frustrating imponderables) on such matters as why people bite their fingernails and why kids prefer meat well done but like it rarer as they grow older--topics to which there are no pat answers. The sprightly writing is supplemented by delightful illustrations by Kassie Schwann. (Oct.)