Amazing Numbers in Biology

Have you ever wondered what is the inactivation temperature of the avian influenza virus? How far a flea can jump? How long a royal albatross incubates its egg? How many stomata are on the leaf of a geranium? How many ommatidia are in the compound eye of a dragonfly? If these and other questions keep you awake at night, now you can find the answers that you seek in a new book, Amazing Numbers in Biology by Rainer Flindt (New York: Springer Verlag, 2003). Basically, this delightful book is the Guiness Book of World Records for the natural world.

Even though much of this data has long been known by scientists, they have been difficult to find in the literature. So the author gathered it all together into one easy-to-read book. This fascinating little book is much better than googling for these answers because it is arranged in a logical way so as to make it easy to find the answers you seek. It also has a subject and name index that further serve to help the reader to quickly access particular facts that they might be seeking.

This book is clad in a tough wear-resistant paper cover and contains 291 pages filled with facts about the natural world. It was originally written with teachers and professors in mind, but it is so interesting that everyone -- especially parents -- will enjoy it, too. The tables are comparative in nature, and contain information about common organisms that you are familiar with as well as several extreme examples in each table. Further, each section is prefaced with a "numbers that amaze" table that serves to pique the reader's attention and to inspire further exploration of the following sections.

This popular book might initially seem to be boring, but in fact, it is very addictive because its hundreds of pages are filled with quirky little facts that will amaze and delight you. Additionally, it has been revised and updated 6 times since it was first published, and has been translated from its original German into several languages, including English and Russian.

Oh, and the answers to those questions I asked? Avian Influenza viruses are inactivated after ten minutes at 60 degrees Celsius. A flea can jump 0.6 meters, which is 200x its body length. A Royal Albatross incubates its egg for 80 days. A geranium has 170 stomata on its upper surface, and 140 stomata on its lower surface. A dragonfly has 28,000 ommatidia in each compound eye.

I highly recommend this wonderful book to everyone who teaches biology and to everyone who lives with a child or who has a childlike curiosity about the natural world.

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