Galileo and the Dolphins: Amazing But True Stories from Science

283 Pages·1996·12.98 MB·English

by  Adrian Berry

GALILEAON D
THED OLPHINS
'\7e actually made a map of the country' on the scale
of a mile to a mile!'
'Flave
you used it much?' I enquired.
'It has never been spread out' yet)' said Mein Herr. tThe farmers
objected. They said it would cover the whole country, and shut out
the sunlight. So we now use the country itself, as its own map, and
I assurev ou it does nearlv as well.'
Lewis Carroll, Sylaie and Bnrno
Also by Adrian Berry
Non-ficrion
The Next Ten Thousand Years
The Iron Sun
From Apes to Astronauts
The Super-Intelligent Machine
High Skies and Yellow Rain
Ice with your Evolution
Flarrap's Book of Scientific Anecdotes
Eureka: A Book of Scientific Anecdotes
(Revised paperback version ofthe above)
The Next 500 Years
Fiction
The Fourth Reich*
The Empire in Arumac*
Koyama's Diamond
Labyrinth of Lies
Computer software
Stars and Planets
The Wedgwood Benn Machine
Kings and Queens of England
Secret Key (with Keith Malcolm)
*IJnder the pseudonym of Martin Hale
GALILEOA ND
T H ED O L P H I N S
Amozingb utt rues tories
froms cience
ADRIANB ERRY
B T Batsford Ltd, London
Tb *y godsonB enjamm
O Adrian Berry 1996
First published 1996
The right of Adrian Berry to be identified as the author of this work
has been assertedu nder the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All black and white illustrations, except the photograph which appears with
'PixelatingHerMajesty',arethecopyrightofJovanDiordjevic;tel'0171 2543701'
Designed & Typeset by Bemard Cavender & Greenwood Graphics Publishing
and printed in Great Britain by Biddles
Published by B T Batsford Ltd
4 Fitzhardinge Street, London rJ7lH OAH
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form
or by any means without permission from the Publisher
A CIP catalogue for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 0 7r34 8067 X
Contents
Acknowledgements VIII
PortO ne:l N SEARCOHF T HEP AST
Galileo and the Dolphins ll
Our Improbable Existence t4
A Divine Scam 17
The Trees that Killed 20
The First Grand Nationals zt
The Man who Found Cod - but not Japan 26
The Other Big Bang 29
A Monster that Liked Treasure )z
'Pirate
Edmund Halley, in the Pink' 35
Chimps Like Us 38
Faking the Shroud . . . 4l
. . . And Faking the Aliens 44
How We Lost a Race and Won the World 47
The Deadliest Weapon 50
Explosion of Ancestors 53
Napoleon as Archaeologist 55
The Gerontocrats 58
Nostradamus was a Journalist - not a Prophet 62
Vho Owns History? 65
Volcanoesa nd Revolutions 68
Egypt's White City a1
PortT wo:T HEW AYW E LIVEN OW
The Locksmith's Daughter 77
Belay the Antarctic Tourist! 80
Fatal Doses 83
Firkins, Kilderkins and Hogsheads 86
CO NT EN TS
Those Juggling Fiends 89
10 GOTO l0 92
Tentacles from the Sea 95
Rushing for Emeralds 98
Spitting Images and Fatal Errors 102
Nonsense on the Screen 105
Abolishing Hunger ll0
Backward Britain tt3
Greed Threatens the Peace tt7
False Alarm on Easter Island 120
Death of a Life Science r23
Steering Clear of an Ill Wind 125
Retire and Be Famous for it! r28
PortT hree:T OOLSF ORT HEN EXTM ILLENNIUM
'Useless' Research r33
The Day the Computer Murdered the Magnate r36
Spare Parts for All t4l
Medicine from Space . . . . r44
. . . And Telescopes in Hospital 147
A Car the Size of a Rice Grain 150
The Curse of Sleep 154
The Daily Me t57
When Dense Prose Fogs the Issue 160
Pixelating Her Majesty 162
Energy \Tithout Limit r66
The Odeon in your Living-room 168
Heavenly Computers 172
Cars without Drivers 175
'I'11
Be Back!' 178
Reaper and Creeper 181
A Cable Car to the Heavens 184
The Devil's Digits 188
PortF ourE: DGEOS FT HEI NFINITE
A Sea of Universes t93
Scarso f Old Collisions 195
Check Your Typing! 198
CONTENTS
Why We Don't Turn into \Werewolves 200
Coldest of the Cold 203
Brightest of the Bright 206
Smallesto f the Small 208
An Odyssey of the Sun 2tl
Going Bats in the Basement 214
Running Water on Mars 2t6
The Great Comets 219
The Most Accurate Clock 223
There's Nobody Here 226
A Corridor Both Curved and Straight 229
The Multi-coloured Cosmos z)L
Through a Wormhole to the Stars? 234
The Biggest Blasts 237
The Tunnel of Time 240
Moons Beyond Ours 244
PortF iveS: TRANGBEE LIEFS
'Rapist'
Newton, of the the lJniverse 249
The Paranormal is all Peter Pan 253
Get Resurrected with Frank Tipler 256
The Saga of Fred Hoyle 259
The Hot Air of Albert Gore 263
Bow Down to the Cosmic Lords 266
PortS ix:T ESTY OURK NOWLEDGE
QuizN o. I 271
QuizN o. 2 273
Quiz No. 3 275
Answerst o Quizzes 278
lndex 283
Acknowledgements
'Waugh,
I am indebted to Auberon editor of the Literary
Reaiew, for his kind permission to reproduce my article
'Backward Britain', which first appeared in his journal. I
would also like to thank Steven Young, managing editor of
Astronomy Now, and Pole Star Publications Ltd., for permis-
sion to reproduce several articles which I wrote as my
contributions to my column in that journal.
Grateful thanks are also due to the many features editors
and others at the Daily and Sunday Tblegraph- and Pam
Spence, editor of Astronomy Now - for their help in spotting
errors before they could get into print: Harry Coen, Seamus
Potter, Robert Cowan, Veronica $7adley, Mark Law, David
Johnson, Dr Roger Highfield, and Gulshan Chunara.
I alone am responsible for any errors that remain.
vill
PortO ne
IN SEARCH
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