There’s a book that contains a million random numbers and little else. Published in 1955, it was an important work in the field of statistics and randomization.
A 4GB ebook reader filled with 3,500 ebooks weighs a billionth…
A 4GB ebook reader filled with 3,500 ebooks weighs a billionth of a billionth of a gram more than if it were empty of data – a difference that is approximately the same weight as a molecule of DNA. The same number of physical books would weigh about two tons.
A book, called Ella Minnow Pea, is set on an island where the government…
A book, called Ella Minnow Pea, is set on an island where the government slowly bans letters. As the letters are banned, they disappear from the writing in the book as well.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes was banned…
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes was banned in the Soviet Union for its alleged “occultism”.
The Japanese have a word (tsundoku [積ん読]) for the habit of buying…
The Japanese have a word (tsundoku [積ん読]) for the habit of buying a lot of books and never reading them.
There is a surviving fantasy novel written in the 2nd century AD in Roman Syria that features…
There is a surviving fantasy novel written in the 2nd century AD in Roman Syria that features explorers flying to the moon, a first encounter with aliens, interplanetary war between imperialistic celestial kingdoms, and the discovery of a continent across the ocean
There is a 155 chapter long book that makes sense no matter…
There is a 155 chapter long book that makes sense no matter what chapter you choose to read first or last.
“Where the Wild Things Are” was originally titled “Land of the Wild Horses”…
“Where the Wild Things Are” was originally titled “Land of the Wild Horses” until the author Maurice Sendak realized that he couldn’t draw horses and changed the name.
A Malawian teenager taught himself how to build a windmill out of junk and bring…
A Malawian teenager taught himself how to build a windmill out of junk and bring power to his village. He then went on to build a second, larger windmill to power irrigation pumps. He did this all from books he read in the library.
A professor of medical psychology in New York started hearing a voice…
A professor of medical psychology in New York started hearing a voice in her head in 1965. Her colleague encouraged her to write down what it said. The voice produced 3 volumes of “spiritual psychology,” some of which is written in iambic pentameter.