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How to Dunk a Doughnut: The Science Of Everyday Life
Reveals scientific principles behind familiar objects and activities, rendering the scientific process accessible through explanations of how such activities as shopping, boiling an egg, throwing a boomerang, and sports are connected to key scientific questions. 17,500 first printing.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
March 2, 2019
A fun look at the science behind eating, cooking, tools, grocery shopping, and other areas of our daily life. I learned a few tricks along the way, such as why you should let roasts sit after roasting them (conduction of heat from the hotter outer portion to the cooler inner portion allows for a more evenly cooked piece of meat), and why you should drill a lead hole before driving in a nail (the nail parts the wood when it's hammered in, meaning that the wood is in contact with less of the wood and is therefore easier to remove).
February 11, 2013
There is very little really to add to this book review that is not already said in its write up. It is basically a series of papers on various everyday subjects from how house hold tools work to counting up your grocery bill. THe science is accessible and interesting and is presented on subjects which most if not all of us will recognise and understand - and to me that is the best type of science, the type you do not realise is there - but once you do know its there you feel intrigued to learn more.
November 4, 2021
4 estrellas para mi, pero 3 para alguien a quien no se adecúe tanto este libro. Merece la pena leerlo si eres una persona curiosa, que se plantea el por qué suceden y como suceden las cosas, qué procedimientos físicos hay detras de tareas cotidianas. Se habla desde saber como se moja mejor una galleta, hasta la física del movimiento de espermatozoides incluyendo datos interesantes como el mecanismo por el que sube la sabia por un arbol. Un gran acierto para mí aunque no disfruté del capítulo de las herramientas quizá por falta de conocimientos del área.
Mi parte favorita fue la de las superficies, ya que se interrelaciona con mi campo. Quizá a otro le encante el de las herramientas y odie este, hay muchos capitulos y cada uno se acercará mas a una u otra persona.
Mi parte favorita fue la de las superficies, ya que se interrelaciona con mi campo. Quizá a otro le encante el de las herramientas y odie este, hay muchos capitulos y cada uno se acercará mas a una u otra persona.
June 16, 2011
I can only presume that this book was either titled for an American audience more familiar with doughnuts than biscuits, or that the alliterative version of the title was considered to be more eye catching everywhere. There's really very little about dunking doughnuts here but there is plenty of other stuff to read
Each chapter of the book delves into a different branch of science approaching it from the point of view of everyday life. If you already have an idea about the branch of science in question then the insights here can seem a bit obvious and predictable. His chapter on statistics which is wrapped up in how to add up your supermarket bill struck me as the weakest in the book but I suspect that is just because I already knew the things he was talking about.
There's a lot here that would make really good fodder for science teachers. I really enjoyed learning things I didn't know about boomerangs and the science of cooking, and even the physics of sex. It's a good entertainingly written book; the split into nine separate questions about everyday life means that on the one hand we never get too deep into science but we never get bored either.
My favourite chapter is the one about boiling eggs which explains why I can never get my eggs to cook in the standard three and a half minutes (time to cook is proportional to the inverse square of the radius - the three and a half minutes is for a rather small egg and i buy the best free range medium eggs i can find - so mine need about five minutes) and that if I was foolhardy enough to boil eggs in methanol I could get perfect eggs every time because the temperature that methanol boils at is between the temperature that the white and the yolk cook at.
Anyway, back to the title story: the main focus of the first chapter is about dunking biscuits in tea, something I'm rather fond of doing. Fisher concludes that to dunk a biscuit properly you have to do it horizontally rather than vertically. The biscuit can then take up to four times as long in the tea before collapsing. A layer of nice plastic-like chocolate on top helps too. I've tried to repeat his experiments and have just one problem. How the bloody hell do you hold a biscuit horizontally in a mug of tea? It might be scientifically sound but it seems to be impossible in practice. Can I sue for compensation for my tea scorched fingers?
Each chapter of the book delves into a different branch of science approaching it from the point of view of everyday life. If you already have an idea about the branch of science in question then the insights here can seem a bit obvious and predictable. His chapter on statistics which is wrapped up in how to add up your supermarket bill struck me as the weakest in the book but I suspect that is just because I already knew the things he was talking about.
There's a lot here that would make really good fodder for science teachers. I really enjoyed learning things I didn't know about boomerangs and the science of cooking, and even the physics of sex. It's a good entertainingly written book; the split into nine separate questions about everyday life means that on the one hand we never get too deep into science but we never get bored either.
My favourite chapter is the one about boiling eggs which explains why I can never get my eggs to cook in the standard three and a half minutes (time to cook is proportional to the inverse square of the radius - the three and a half minutes is for a rather small egg and i buy the best free range medium eggs i can find - so mine need about five minutes) and that if I was foolhardy enough to boil eggs in methanol I could get perfect eggs every time because the temperature that methanol boils at is between the temperature that the white and the yolk cook at.
Anyway, back to the title story: the main focus of the first chapter is about dunking biscuits in tea, something I'm rather fond of doing. Fisher concludes that to dunk a biscuit properly you have to do it horizontally rather than vertically. The biscuit can then take up to four times as long in the tea before collapsing. A layer of nice plastic-like chocolate on top helps too. I've tried to repeat his experiments and have just one problem. How the bloody hell do you hold a biscuit horizontally in a mug of tea? It might be scientifically sound but it seems to be impossible in practice. Can I sue for compensation for my tea scorched fingers?
January 9, 2014
I have rather mixed feelings about this book, on the one hand it takes everyday things (like dunking a biscuit) and explains the science behind why these happen the way they do, which is great and likely to introduce non-science types to science. However, on the other hand there were a few bits of this book that got a little too in depth and technical about the whys and wherefores, which as I science geek I enjoyed but since this written for 'normal' people I felt it kind of missed the point. Credit to Fisher though, he has managed to simplify much of what he tackles here, its just that the subject is that complex it is difficult to simplify it enough, especially without making the reader feel like a complete imbecile. A good book but not so much one for the non-scientists out there, more for the scientists in training. Still for us science geeks it is a good read, and one that gets you thinking and looking at things differently (as you try and figure out the science behind otherwise seemingly mundane things).
November 2, 2010
This books is great for dounut lovers with sense of humor!
October 24, 2018
This book should not be subtitled “The Science Behind Everyday Life;” it should be “The MATH Behind Everyday Life.”
Each chapter covers an aspect of our daily lives and explains the science behind it, like the best way to dunk a cookie in liquid w/o it falling into the drink; tools; a bit about eating and dissolving our food; and the physics of sex. I liked the first chapter about dunking, and the chapters about lipid bilayers and sex. The math involved w/ tool usage nearly made me stop reading.
I downloaded this book on my Kindle, so again, I was disappointed when the actual book ended at 68% through. I have yet to figure out how to access my chapter notes unless there is an actual footnote, and thus read the appendices and notes after-the-fact. This was a shame, b/c the notes were every bit as chatty and witty as the book.
Three stars might be a bit harsh, but I really got lost in the math—and I’m a pharmacist, meaning that I had to take lots of math in school.
Each chapter covers an aspect of our daily lives and explains the science behind it, like the best way to dunk a cookie in liquid w/o it falling into the drink; tools; a bit about eating and dissolving our food; and the physics of sex. I liked the first chapter about dunking, and the chapters about lipid bilayers and sex. The math involved w/ tool usage nearly made me stop reading.
I downloaded this book on my Kindle, so again, I was disappointed when the actual book ended at 68% through. I have yet to figure out how to access my chapter notes unless there is an actual footnote, and thus read the appendices and notes after-the-fact. This was a shame, b/c the notes were every bit as chatty and witty as the book.
Three stars might be a bit harsh, but I really got lost in the math—and I’m a pharmacist, meaning that I had to take lots of math in school.
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October 2, 2024Ah, a silly science book, I likes these. This is part of a little haul - quite restrained - from a recent visit to Wigtown, the Scottish book town.
I apologise, not 'silly' at all - you probably have to blame the publishers (or the readers?) for the Newton/doughnuts picture! This is a proper science book in which the very enthusiastic author tries to understand and explain some basic human activity from chemical and physical first principles, including; tasting and chewing, throwing a boomerang, and catching things, and how everyday hand tools work - and much more. These are excellent little snippets about how a real scientist thinks and explores, and the scientific process work.
I apologise, not 'silly' at all - you probably have to blame the publishers (or the readers?) for the Newton/doughnuts picture! This is a proper science book in which the very enthusiastic author tries to understand and explain some basic human activity from chemical and physical first principles, including; tasting and chewing, throwing a boomerang, and catching things, and how everyday hand tools work - and much more. These are excellent little snippets about how a real scientist thinks and explores, and the scientific process work.
December 15, 2024
3,5/5
This is a fun book for people who like physics/engineering &/or food science. It takes you through different topics/scenarios and gives a thorough explanation as well as the experiments that were done to prove it as well as some anecdotes from the past. It’s fun and interesting for secretly nerdy people. I sometimes got a little bit bored after a while but then every new chapter made it fun again.
This is a fun book for people who like physics/engineering &/or food science. It takes you through different topics/scenarios and gives a thorough explanation as well as the experiments that were done to prove it as well as some anecdotes from the past. It’s fun and interesting for secretly nerdy people. I sometimes got a little bit bored after a while but then every new chapter made it fun again.
August 12, 2017
Amusing and informative, if not occasionally more on the dense side.
August 27, 2018
A good book for thinking of science and how scientists approach various ideas and do experiments. How they convey the scientific research to common people. Interesting and enlightening.
March 10, 2013
Fisher's offering is a work written by a scientist but well and accurately aimed at the non-scientist. Where many before him have failed, Fisher has succeeded in crafting a work which does well at dancing the line between too technical and downright insulting. The author very carefully defines his terms once upon first use and then rightly expects his audience to remember them. He is accessible without being annoying.
As to his content, Fisher is widely varied while staying fundamentally true to his background in physics. In his 200 pages he touches on liquid uptake of permeable foods (the eponymous dunking of the doughnut), the protein transition of cooked eggs, the physics of simple tools, math tricks to make your trip to the supermarket less costly, boomerangs, beer foam and ball games. He closes with chapters on the physics behind the sense of taste and human sexuality.
Throughout, Fisher provides not only factual content but historical anecdotes to lighten the mood a bit. Most memorably for me, he relates the brief tale of an Australian man in the 1930s who protested loudly and publicly that the use of an erect penis during intercourse was simply too forceful. He argued that a flaccid state was more respectful and appropriate and one that allowed the woman to draw the instrument of insemination into herself at a time of her own choosing. Personally I suspect this was a case of a movement founded in the fertile ground of a personal shortcoming but regardless of the cause for the statement, it does give one a proper sense for the character of the book.
As to his content, Fisher is widely varied while staying fundamentally true to his background in physics. In his 200 pages he touches on liquid uptake of permeable foods (the eponymous dunking of the doughnut), the protein transition of cooked eggs, the physics of simple tools, math tricks to make your trip to the supermarket less costly, boomerangs, beer foam and ball games. He closes with chapters on the physics behind the sense of taste and human sexuality.
Throughout, Fisher provides not only factual content but historical anecdotes to lighten the mood a bit. Most memorably for me, he relates the brief tale of an Australian man in the 1930s who protested loudly and publicly that the use of an erect penis during intercourse was simply too forceful. He argued that a flaccid state was more respectful and appropriate and one that allowed the woman to draw the instrument of insemination into herself at a time of her own choosing. Personally I suspect this was a case of a movement founded in the fertile ground of a personal shortcoming but regardless of the cause for the statement, it does give one a proper sense for the character of the book.
June 24, 2008
A fun and interesting book, if only because it was interesting to read a book aimed at non-scientists for a change. The actual science inside though, is a mix between on-the-dot analysis and frustratingly unintuitive dead end approaches. I just can't agree that the scientific method is all there is to science.
It's just backwards to come up with a probable explanation first and then trial and error it to death. Certainly in real science, evidence is frequently misleading, but if you make up foolish theories about cookie dunking and then dunk dozens of cookies, you'll just get exactly what you expect: a whole mess of soggy cookies. (Or whatever is being discussed- many experiments in this book) Being scientific doesn't mean you have to ignore your own common sense. Garbage in, garbage out...
But in the end I can't really complain too much- it does what it sets out to do fairly well, which is explain everyday things with a fairly scientific perspective, and might be worth giving casual readers interested in what science (sorta) is.
It's just backwards to come up with a probable explanation first and then trial and error it to death. Certainly in real science, evidence is frequently misleading, but if you make up foolish theories about cookie dunking and then dunk dozens of cookies, you'll just get exactly what you expect: a whole mess of soggy cookies. (Or whatever is being discussed- many experiments in this book) Being scientific doesn't mean you have to ignore your own common sense. Garbage in, garbage out...
But in the end I can't really complain too much- it does what it sets out to do fairly well, which is explain everyday things with a fairly scientific perspective, and might be worth giving casual readers interested in what science (sorta) is.
October 11, 2013
In my continuing pursuit of non-fiction science books, I picked up this gem from my local branch.
I feel like I don't have much to say about it. Objectively it was interesting, but it did get a little complicated in parts. I'm not sure how interested a casual reader would be in the topics. The writing was pretty decent and tried to be accessible, so points for that. Fisher pointedly avoids going on tangents, but some of the hints of these are almost more tantalising than what is actually offered in the book. Though I'm not generally big on lecturers, on account of my terrible attention span, I think most of this material would be much more stimulating if presented live - reading it often felt quite dry.
I guess what I'm getting at is that I enjoyed this but I'm not sure if it would have much mass appeal. I think it'd be a really good launching point for someone at the level of AP physics or chem or maybe intro college physics or biological sciences. It's definitely a book I should have read in college.
I feel like I don't have much to say about it. Objectively it was interesting, but it did get a little complicated in parts. I'm not sure how interested a casual reader would be in the topics. The writing was pretty decent and tried to be accessible, so points for that. Fisher pointedly avoids going on tangents, but some of the hints of these are almost more tantalising than what is actually offered in the book. Though I'm not generally big on lecturers, on account of my terrible attention span, I think most of this material would be much more stimulating if presented live - reading it often felt quite dry.
I guess what I'm getting at is that I enjoyed this but I'm not sure if it would have much mass appeal. I think it'd be a really good launching point for someone at the level of AP physics or chem or maybe intro college physics or biological sciences. It's definitely a book I should have read in college.
September 25, 2014
This book really sparked my interest when I found it in the second-hand store over half a year ago. The egg on the cover caught my eye, the 'science for the people made accessible' subject woke up my inner nerd and reading it brought back long-forgotten maths and physics classes (which I loved, by the way).
In highschool I made the choice to study Alpha classes instead of Beta classes, therefore I only have a very limited knowledge of physics and other Beta subjects, although I never lost interest in them.
To be completely honest though, my interest was increased also because my boyfriend is a scientist. Knowing that the book would interest him a lot, I got more interested as well. =)
And I really enjoyed reading the book! ^-^
The topics are touched with humor and the science used is very well explained, so people with a very basic knowledge of maths and physics can follow.
Also, reading the book expands your knowledge about things you never knew you didn't know, and which you also didn't know you wanted to know, but now you know! ;)
In highschool I made the choice to study Alpha classes instead of Beta classes, therefore I only have a very limited knowledge of physics and other Beta subjects, although I never lost interest in them.
To be completely honest though, my interest was increased also because my boyfriend is a scientist. Knowing that the book would interest him a lot, I got more interested as well. =)
And I really enjoyed reading the book! ^-^
The topics are touched with humor and the science used is very well explained, so people with a very basic knowledge of maths and physics can follow.
Also, reading the book expands your knowledge about things you never knew you didn't know, and which you also didn't know you wanted to know, but now you know! ;)
December 24, 2011
I can't recommend this book at all. If you want a better combination of science and entertainment, I suggest reading Rock, Paper, Scissors: Game Theory in Everyday Life, Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex, The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution, or Last Chance to See.
Read my full review at my book review blog
Read my full review at my book review blog
July 13, 2013
I liked that it was easy to understand and that it dealt with things that are commonplace. I did think the author got distracted at times and focused too much on his personal life, making this feel a bit more like experiential journalism (a la A.J. Jacobs) than a book about science. Also, though the scenarios were commonplace, sometimes the science itself didn’t come with enough examples or explanation to make them stick for the non-scientist reader.
I got bored a couple times, but I got a few really interesting facts out of this, so I'm glad I read it.
I got bored a couple times, but I got a few really interesting facts out of this, so I'm glad I read it.
January 12, 2016
A fun, light non-fiction read. A scientist takes a look at the scientific principles of common, everyday things. Written in straight forward layman's terms, it makes for a pretty decent "beach read" type book. Stories, anecdotes, and examples mix together to give the reader a nice basic insight into both scientific phenomena and the mind and life of a scientist. Some chapters were more interesting than others. The chapter on estimating grocery store bills was a little blah, for instance. But overall a fun read.
December 29, 2008
Maybe it was my high hopes but this book didn't catch my attention for very long. Not for your everyday person. The book goes a bit too deep into the science without enough interesting tidbits. Granted it's a book based on science but it just wasn't interesting in the way economics were to Freakonomics. I like science but wasn't a huge fan of this book.
September 11, 2011
It was a toss up between 1 and 2 stars. I decided to be generous as I liked the bits on how to throw a boomerang and the bit on food/taste. The rest either assumed to much prior knowledge or just wasn't that interesting. I'm sure there are much better examples of popular science books on similar subject matter.
July 30, 2007
I think I expected too much from this book- but the author IMO couldnt find the right footing... Whether to delve deeper into science or not. I have a feeling that there are other books out there to introduce / teach science to a non-scientific audience that might do a better job.
January 6, 2008
Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant book! A very clear and humorous explanation that includes both lay-terms and formulas explaining the science of everyday life. Easy and quick read. I really hope this guy has put out sequels.
March 6, 2009
It's been a couple of months since I read this, but I still remember how enjoyable it was. It was just the right amount of technical detail and very fascinating subject matter. Very approachable for someone with scientific interests.
August 23, 2009
The first chapter was really good. Subsequent chapters were progressively less connected and incomplete.
April 13, 2010
so much! interesting facts and funny stories, a great read.
June 24, 2011
Good.
September 4, 2011
Had good expectations for this book, but I quickly lost interest.
September 25, 2011
For all my non-technical friends - you should read this.
May 7, 2012
Interesting enough, though as I'm not a scientist some of the explanations took further research to properly understand.
October 1, 2017
how mathematic formula can be present in such an interesting way
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews