The Ig Nobel Prizes 2: An All-New Collection of the World's Unlikeliest Research

There are some things you see that make you wonder, ""Why not?"" And there are others that make you wonder, ""Why?"" It's the latter-implausible, even improbable studies and discoveries-that are candidates for the Ig Nobel Prizes, awarded annually at Harvard University and founded by Abrahams, editor of the humor magazine Annals of Improbable Research. Studying the effect of chewing gum flavor on brain waves? An examination of ""Scrotal Symmetry in Man and in Ancient Sculpture""? Founding an organization for the living dead? According to Abrahams, an achievement qualifies for an Ig Nobel if ""it first makes people laugh, and then makes them think. (What they think is entirely up to them.)"" With a delicious sense of humor and due respect, Abrahams celebrates these improbable achievements. The winners themselves sometimes display a charming sense of humor about their work and its dubious recognition (the author of the scrotum study-which was published in the prestigious science journal Nature-seems mystified by the attention it has received), while others display an equally charming lack of humor. (The inventor of Beano took advantage of the awards ceremony to plug his new product, CurTail, a version of Beano for dogs.) Either way, this book is a hilarious tribute to human creativity. Agent, Regula Noetzli.