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Fact or Fiction

Science Tackles 58 Popular Myths

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Fact or Fiction

By: Scientific American
Narrated by: Janet Metzger
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About this listen

Did NASA really spend millions creating a pen that would write in space? Is chocolate poisonous to dogs? Does stress cause gray hair?

These questions are a sample of the urban lore investigated in this audiobook, Fact or Fiction: Science Tackles 58 Popular Myths. Drawing from Scientific American’s “Fact or Fiction” and “Strange but True” columns, we’ve selected 58 of the most surprising, fascinating, useful, and just plain wacky topics confronted by our writers over the years.

©2017 Scientific American, a division of Nature America, Inc. Scientific American is a registered trademark of Nature America, Inc. (P)2020 Blackstone Publishing Biological Sciences Biology Physics Science Thought-Provoking
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Most of this I knew already, so I suppose that's why I didn't really enjoy it. Or it might be the narrator's monotone voice. The jellyfish part was the highlight for me though. I am right to be scared of them!

Might appeal to some.

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Narrators voice is very monotone, subject matter is also overly technical when it doesnt need to be, information is about a decade out of date

Dull narration, a bit out of date

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I enjoyed it but it was published many years ago so I suspect something have been updated. Still fun to listen though.

Good But Old.

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There is nothing here less than 12 years old, with an average 15 years. The magazine is published monthly, because science is a dynamic process. As a result, the articles here are definitely behind the curve. For some of the more forgettable articles this is OK, but the only really interesting items here relate to broadly medical issues, where the best information seems to change daily. So, what is the current authodoxy on hydration, on taking supplements etc? You won't find it here.
Worse, much of the content will be of absolutely no interest to you. Fair enough if you are reading a physical book, just go on to another article. However, if this is playing in the background as you do something else you may not want to break off to find something interesting.
The only practical or worthwhile thing I found here was how to deal with a jelly fish sting - although I shall probably never need it. If you think you might, then this is the book for you.

15 year old material

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