Laughlab: The Scientific Search for the World's Funniest Joke

by British Association for the Advancement of Science, Association British

A humorous and highly entertaining investigation into the art of laughter.

For hundreds of years, scientists and philosophers have investigated what jokes make us laugh, and why certain people find certain jokes funny. What is the world’s funniest joke? What is the world’s worst joke? Do women and men find the same jokes funny? What do the jokes we find funny reveal about how our brains work?

An internet site invited people of all ages and nationalities to submit their favourite joke and rate how funny they found a random selection of jokes. Over 40,000 jokes were submitted from all around the world and evaluated by 350,000 people. Now, with the results of its record-breaking experiment, LaughLab provides us with the answers -- both the jokes themselves, and the amazing insights they reveal about what makes us laugh and why.

Genres: Comedy, Humor

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scientific research into what is funny. We learn from the results that for some reason ducks are the funniest animals in jokes. Different nationalities prefer different jokes and the Germans do actually have a sense of humour....and the world's funniest joke? Read the book and find out...it starts with two New Jersey hunters....