Our World in Numbers: An Encyclopedia of Fantastic Facts

192 Pages·2022·40.447 MB·English

by  DK

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AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FANTASTIC FACTS
WOR LD
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Written by CLIVE GIFFORD
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CONTENTS
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6 A world of numbers
SPACE
DK LONDON
Project editors Kelsie Besaw, Selina Wood
10 The mysterious Universe
Art Editor Gregory McCarthy
Editors Bharti Bedi, Priyanka Kharbanda, Vicky Richards 12 Spectacular stars
Designers Jim Green, Beth Johnston,
14 Earth’s Moon
Renata Latipova, Anthony Limerick, Lynne Moulding
Picture Researcher Nick Dean, Jo Walton 16 The planets
Managing Editor Francesca Baines
Managing Art Editor Philip Letsu 18 Exploring space
Production Editor Jacqueline Street-Elkayam
20 Top 10: Largest launchers
AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FANTASTIC FACTS Production Controller Sian Cheung
Senior Jacket Designers Suhita Dharamjit, Akiko Kato 22 Living in space
Jacket Designer Tanya Mehrotra
Jackets Design Development Manager Sophia MTT
ou r WOR LD Senior DTP Designer Harish Aggarwal

Senior Jackets Coordinator Priyanka Sharma-Saddi
Managing Jackets Editor Saloni Singh EARTH
Publisher Andrew Mcintyre
Art Director Karen Self
Associate Publishing Director Liz Wheeler
Publishing Director Jonathan Metcalf 26 The blue planet
First published in Great Britain in 2022 by 28 Rocks and gemstones
in NUMBERS Dorling Kindersley Limited
30 Top 10: Tallest mountains
DK, One Embassy Gardens, 8 Viaduct Gardens,
London, SW11 7BW 32 Earthquakes and volcanoes
34 Natural wonders
The authorised representative in the EEA is
Dorling Kindersley Verlag GmbH. Arnulfstr. 124, 36 Trees and forests
80636 Munich, Germany
38 Top 10: Longest rivers
Written by CLIVE GIFFORD Copyright © 2022 Dorling Kindersley Limited 40 Oceans and seas
A Penguin Random House Company
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 42 Deserts
001–322075–Mar/2022
44 At the poles
All rights reserved. 46 Climate and weather
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or
introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form,
5 l i tres recoorr dbiyn agn, yo mr oetahnesr w(eilseec),t rwointhico, umt ethceh apnriicoar lw, prihttoetno cpoeprmyinisgs,i on
1 . of the copyright owner.
A CIP catalogue record for this book
is available from the British Library.
m ISBN: 978-0-2414-7118-0
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0
3 Printed and bound in China
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6 c u o www.dk.com
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4 This book was made with Forest Stewardship
C Council® certified paper – one small step in
M 0 k ph DK’s commitment to a sustainable future.
1 For more information go to
1 www.dk.com/our-green-pledge
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NATURE HISTORY
50 Prehistoric creatures 130 Ancient Egypt
52 Microscopic life 132 Ancient Rome
54 Fabulous flora 134 Imperial China
56 Spiders, bugs, and insects 136 Aztecs and Incas
58 Fantastic fish 138 Fortresses and castles
60 Rays and sharks 140 The world of Islam
62 Scaly reptiles 142 Medieval kingdoms of Africa
64 Top 10: Longest snakes 144 Top 10: Longest-reigning monarchs
66 Amazing amphibians 146 Changing fashions
68 The world of birds 148 Into battle
70 Incredible big cats
72 The magnificent whale
74 Brawny bears SCIENCE AND
76 Primates
TECHNOLOGY
78 Top 10: Heaviest land animals
80 Your brilliant body
82 Super senses
152 Essential elements
84 The human brain
154 Sound and light
86 Stinky poo and goo
156 Energy and forces
158 The energy of hot and cold
160 Generating electricity
PEOPLE AND
162 Everyday materials
164 Ingenious inventions
CULTURE
166 Super structures
168 Top 10: Tallest bridges
90 A world of people 170 Wheeled vehicles
92 Earth’s continents 172 On the water
94 The world’s countries 174 Terrific trains
96 Buzzing capitals 176 Taking flight
98 Top 10: Most populous world cities 178 Top 10: Fastest aircraft
100 Language 180 Going digital
102 Flying the flag 182 Versatile robots
104 World religions
106 Top 10: Tallest statues 184 Glossary
108 Astonishing art 188 Index
110 Listen to the music 192 Acknowledgments
112 On the stage
114 At the movies
116 Solo sports
118 Playing as a team
120 Top 10: Olympians
122 The written word
124 Tasty food NOTE: THE FACTS AND STATISTICS IN
126 All about pets THIS BOOK WERE CORRECT AT THE
TIME OF GOING TO PRESS.
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A WORLD
NATURE HISTORY
OF NUMBERS
50 Prehistoric creatures 130 Ancient Egypt
52 Microscopic life 132 Ancient Rome
54 Fabulous flora 134 Imperial China
56 Spiders, bugs, and insects 136 Aztecs and Incas It’s impossible to imagine our lives without numbers. The first
58 Fantastic fish 138 Fortresses and castles
counting systems were invented thousands of years ago, and
60 Rays and sharks 140 The world of Islam
62 Scaly reptiles 142 Medieval kingdoms of Africa today we use many different types of numbers to help us
64 Top 10: Longest snakes 144 Top 10: Longest-reigning monarchs
understand the world around us. Throughout this book, you’ll
66 Amazing amphibians 146 Changing fashions
68 The world of birds 148 Into battle discover hundreds of amazing number facts that answer
70 Incredible big cats
questions like the ones below and many more.
72 The magnificent whale
74 Brawny bears SCIENCE AND
76 Primates
TECHNOLOGY
78 Top 10: Heaviest land animals
80 Your brilliant body LONG AGO MANY
82 Super senses How How
152 Essential elements
84 The human brain 154 Sound and light was the Roman Empire? stars are there?
86 Stinky poo and goo
156 Energy and forces
We use time to measure Counting can add up almost anything – from
158 The energy of hot and cold
history, as well as to people and pets to stars and sea creatures –
160 Generating electricity keep track of the and helps us to think about really big
PEOPLE AND
162 Everyday materials seconds, minutes, and numbers and concepts.
164 Ingenious inventions hours in a day, or the
CULTURE
166 Super structures days and months in a
168 Top 10: Tallest bridges year. Without time, we
90 A world of people 170 Wheeled vehicles wouldn’t be able to
92 Earth’s continents 172 On the water count our age or get
94 The world’s countries 174 Terrific trains to school on time.
96 Buzzing capitals 176 Taking flight
98 Top 10: Most populous world cities 178 Top 10: Fastest aircraft
100 Language 180 Going digital
102 Flying the flag 182 Versatile robots
104 World religions
106 Top 10: Tallest statues 184 Glossary
108 Astonishing art 188 Index
110 Listen to the music 192 Acknowledgments
112 On the stage FAST
How is a cheetah?
114 At the movies
116 Solo sports Speed is the time it takes to travel from one
118 Playing as a team point to another. Some things move really
120 Top 10: Olympians fast, such as cheetahs and racecars,
122 The written word while other things move slowly,
such as glaciers and snails.
124 Tasty food NOTE: THE FACTS AND STATISTICS IN
126 All about pets THIS BOOK WERE CORRECT AT THE
TIME OF GOING TO PRESS.
6
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MUCH
WIDE
How does
How is
a film cost to make?
the Grand Canyon?
Numbers used for money can
Measurements for short distances such as
show the value of things, from
centimetres and metres tell us how wide or
the price of popcorn or cinema
long something is, while long distances such
tickets to the budgets needed
as kilometres tell us how far we’d have to
to make big blockbuster films.
travel to get from one country to another.
PERCENTAGE
What of the
world’s population speaks Chinese?
When we use percentages, we’re describing a part
of something out of a whole. It helps us understand
things like how many people out of the entire world
population speak a language.
TALL
How is
the Burj Khalifa?
Measuring height tells us
how tall something is, from
the tallest skyscrapers to
the loftiest mountain peaks.
Height can even help mark
the passage of time,
as you measure
how much you
grow every year.
7
000066--000077__IInnttrroo..iinndddd 77 2299//1100//22002211 0088::4488
MUCH
WIDE
How does
How is
a film cost to make?
the Grand Canyon?
Numbers used for money can
Measurements for short distances such as
show the value of things, from
centimetres and metres tell us how wide or
the price of popcorn or cinema
long something is, while long distances such
tickets to the budgets needed
as kilometres tell us how far we’d have to
to make big blockbuster films.
travel to get from one country to another.
PERCENTAGE
What of the
world’s population speaks Chinese?
When we use percentages, we’re describing a part
of something out of a whole. It helps us understand
things like how many people out of the entire world
population speak a language.
TALL
How is
SPACE
the Burj Khalifa?
Measuring height tells us
how tall something is, from
the tallest skyscrapers to
the loftiest mountain peaks.
Height can even help mark
the passage of time,
as you measure
how much you
grow every year.
7
000066--000077__IInnttrroo..iinndddd 77 2299//1100//22002211 0088::4488 000088--000099____CChh11____SSPPAACCEE__OOPPEENNEERR..iinndddd 88 2299//1100//22002211 0088::4488
000088--000099____CChh11____SSPPAACCEE__OOPPEENNEERR..iinndddd 99 2299//1100//22002211 0088::4488
The mysterious
UNIVERSE
From the tiniest atomic particle
to the largest galaxy, the Universe
is everything that exists. It was
formed billions of years ago in a
massive explosion known as the
Big Bang. The Universe is so big h.
t
r
a
that it takes light billions of E
m
years to travel across it. o
r
f

y
a
w
a

S
The Universe is approximately R
A
13.8 BILLION
E
Y

T
YEARS OLD.
H
G
I
L
0
0
0
10 BILLION °C
,
7
s
(18 billion °F) was the temperature i A
of the Universe 1 SECOND after L
U
THE BIG BANG.
B
E
N
E
The FIRST ATOMS didn’t form until L
G
,
380 000 A
E
E
H
T
YEARS after the Big Bang.
STARS ARE BORN in clouds of dust
and gas, called NEBULAE.
Collections of stars bound together
by gravity form GALAXIES.
IC 1101, one of the largest-known
galaxies, contains around
100 trillion stars.
10
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