Phenomena: An Infographic Guide to Almost Everything

by Camille Juzeau

Genres: Nonfiction, Science

144 pages, Hardcover

Published March 4, 2025

Reviews

[Stephanie Dargusch Borders · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating book with good graphics. This would be a nice coffee table book to have on hand for random references.

[Brian Clegg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am always a bit suspicious of books that are highly illustrated or claim to cover 'almost everything' - and in one sense this is clearly hyperbole. But I enjoyed Phenomena far more than I thought I would. The idea is to cover 125 topics with infographics. On the internet these tend to be long pages with lots of numbers and supposedly interesting factoids. Thankfully, here the term is used in a more eclectic fashion.

Each topic gets a large (circa A4) page (a few get two) with a couple of paragraphs of text and a chunky graphic. Sometimes these do consist of many small parts - for example 'the limits of the human body' features nine graphs - three on sporting achievements, three on biometrics (e.g. height by date of birth) and three rather random items (GNP per person, agricultural yields of various crops and consumption of coal). Others have a single illustration, such as a map of the sewers of Paris. (Because, why wouldn't you want to see that?)

Just those two samples are a good illustration of how quite interesting (in the QI sense), and frankly random, the contents are. Opening the book at random, I come across information on whistled languages (no, me neither), the opiate trade, Bliss symbols (a graphic-based constructed language from the 1940s), atmospheres of the solar system and the Venus fly trap.

Obviously a book like this lacks any sense of narrative - it's a collection of visually presented factoids. But the compilers manage to keep the surprises coming and the experience of flicking through is distinctly entertaining. There used to be quite a market in books to be kept by the toilet for a brief consultation while otherwise engaged. Apart from its weight, Phenomena would do well in that setting - but it will also appeal to those for whom the whole business of discovering weird and wonderful knowledge about the world is engrossing.

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I put this in my bathroom and every time I go there I read one page. Feels like I’m becoming smarter every time 😂

Seriously though, the illustrations in the book are pretty well-made and I love that it covers so many diverse topics, some of which I would have never become acquainted with otherwise. Great book for curious people who simply enjoy learning new things!

[Unity · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love that this has so many cool graphics and random facts. Great coffee table read.
I wish the infographics didn't rely as much on paragraphs of text, and I found that the writers do mental gymnastics at times to avoid topics like queer people, even when it would make sense to mention them. The art quality really changes from page to page. Still a fun read though