fbpx
BooksScience

Science The Sh*t Out Of Life by Colin Stuart and Mun Keat Looi (book review).

Seeing the title of this book, ‘Science The Sh*t Out Of Life’ by Colin Stuart and Mun Keat Looi, I did ask the publicist the obvious question as to how would you ask for a copy in a bookshop? The ‘Sh*t’ rhymes with ‘hush’ I was told. Good luck with that. I also suggested a different word and found that was what it was originally called. Essentially, this is a geek guide spread over 8 chapters on what you need to understand life. Along the way, you get a lot of useful information, some of which is more American-orientated, on all manner of things. The descriptions for what to do in the supermarket doesn’t fully equate to what we have in the UK.

There are a lot things I know from the 8 sections: ‘Healthy And Body’, ‘Work And Career’, ‘Love And Relationships’, ‘At Home’, ‘Leisure And Sport’, ‘Travel;’, ‘Money’ and ‘Technology’. Being a true geek, I knew a lot of the contents of this book but there are a lot of things that I had confirmation about.

I rarely found myself disputing any of the information although I would add the odd detail. Take eating when you have a fever. You should but they don’t add that some of these bugs don’t want you to feed so you need to fight that. Oh, some information should be carried over to other pieces. If you have a low blood sugar then you’re likely to be crabby or ‘hangry’. If you want to look confident, pose as a super-hero for awhile before stepping out in company. I wonder if it works when you are in company although I suspect there’s going to be a lot of posing in the men’s room? Both authors think coffee can improve various things like memory. As I don’t touch any caffeine-based products, I would question that.

Having played solitaire Monopoly when seriously ill when young and even beat myself a couple times, I also disagree with them on how to win. If you buy all you can afford where you land, you should be able to get at least one estate on each trio and that stops your opponent from buying houses and hotels. While they’re in shock, a couple more sweeps and you should be able to achieve at least one set of 3 properties and then start building up.

Some things I find hard to pull off. It’s all very well showing where the safest seats are on an aeroplane but unless you can pull musical chairs I can’t see the odds being raised that you would be that lucky every time to get them. Does your nervous level go up if you fail or think that the statistics of a safe flight are better than on road transport?

For those who’ve tried ebooks and gone off reading, people get on better with paper books. I would add that we’re too used to reading and forgetting a lot of what we read on-line isn’t mentally absorbed. So treat yourself to some paper books. Reading to recall later is handy when your phone isn’t working. They aren’t sure about social media but its early days for that.

There is a lot of information in this book and if I commented on everything and not the things that I had alternatives this review would be very big. Thinking at the end, if I could come up with an alternative title, I finally came up with ‘The Scientific Way To Have A Happy Life’. Maybe a third edition title?

GF Willmetts

July 2019

(pub: Andre Deutsch/Carlton Books. 192 page illustrated indexed medium softcover. Price: £12.99 (UK), $19.95 (US). ISBN: 978-0-233-00588-1)

check out websites: www.andredeutsch.com and www.goodmanbooks.co.uk

UncleGeoff

Geoff Willmetts has been editor at SFCrowsnest for some 21 plus years now, showing a versatility and knowledge in not only Science Fiction, but also the sciences and arts, all of which has been displayed here through editorials, reviews, articles and stories. With the latter, he has been running a short story series under the title of ‘Psi-Kicks’ If you want to contribute to SFCrowsnest, read the guidelines and show him what you can do. If it isn’t usable, he spends as much time telling you what the problems is as he would with material he accepts. This is largely how he got called an Uncle, as in Dutch Uncle. He’s not actually Dutch but hails from the west country in the UK.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.