How long is now? Fascinating answers to 191 mind-boggling questions

by New Scientist (Editor), Frank Swain (Editor)

How long is 'now'? The short answer is 'somewhere between 2 and 3 seconds'. The long answer involves an incredible journey through neuroscience, our subconscious and the time-bending power of meditation. Living in the present may never feel the same. Ready for some more? Okay. Why isn't Pluto a planet? Why are dogs' noses wet? Why do hens cluck more loudly after laying an egg? What happens when one black hole swallows another? Do our fingerprints change as we get older? How young can you die of old age? And what is at the very edge of the Universe? Life is full of mind-bending questions. And, as books like What If? and Why Don't Penguins' Feet Freeze? have shown, the route to find each answer can take us on the weirdest and most wonderful journeys. How Long is Now? is a fascinating new collection of questions you never thought to ask, along with answers that will change the way you see everything.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Chemistry

298 pages, Paperback

First published November 22, 2016

Reviews

[Gohnar23 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I may not understand what this book says since there's so many jargon or technical terms used that I haven't learned yet but I do look forward to the time in the future when i will!

[Nicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you know what New Scientist is like and what these books are like, this is more of the usual. People ask their strange or not-so-strange questions about topics scientific, and other people chip in with what they know. Where one answer didn’t quite cover all the angles, another one is often included. You’ll notice folks like David Muir of Portobello High School answering a lot of questions, while others are answered by people who happen to work in something related or had that curiosity themselves and carried out experiments. Sometimes the questions are interesting, sometimes less so — and sometimes the answers are satisfying, and sometimes they’re not quite enough.

It’s an excellent source of general science knowledge, and a good type of book to dip in and out of casually. I did notice that some of the answers are also included in at least one of the New Scientist collections, which I guess is to be expected.

Originally reviewed for The Bibliophibian.

[Shaun · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book for free through a Goodreads First Reads Giveaway.

How Long is Now is a collection of questions (and answers) to science related topics. There is also a bit of a philosophical tilt to the answers in some instances, such as topics surrounding consciousness. Some of the answers are short and to the point and some are so detailed it almost becomes tedious. I did appreciate the hard science answers to most questions though. I've read books in the past that were attempting to be funny or snarky with answers to serious questions and it gets quite tiresome. This book's answers are clearly answered by experts in the required field.

Overall, the content was interesting and informational. My only gripe is that some of the answers were far too detailed for someone not in the math or science fields.

[Aga]

Nie potrafię ocenić tej książki, ponieważ nie jestem w stanie zweryfikować rzetelności i prawdziwości zawartych w niej informacji. "Jak długo trwa teraz" to zbiór odpowiedzi na pytania czytelników, które publikowane były na łamach "ostatniej strony" New Scientist. Problem polega na tym, że same odpowiedzi... były również nadsyłane przez czytelników. A więc mamy tutaj perełki w stylu "mój kogut zawsze robi xyz..." albo dwie praktycznie wykluczające się odpowiedzi (parafrazując): ja kicham przez sen, co potwierdza moja żona oraz w stanie snu spowalniają się pewne reakcje i przez to nie kichamy przez sen. Żadnego powołania badań, artykułów, źródeł, mnóstwo odpowiedzi zawierających dowody anegdotyczne. Zdarzają się odpowiedzi około pytania, zamiast na pytanie. Ponadto nie wydaje mi się, by odpowiedzi udzielane przez czytelników były weryfikowane przez redakcję w celu potwierdzenia ich naukowej zasadności (we wstępie wspomniano wyłącznie, że redakcja wybrała najlepsze odpowiedzi, zgrabnie pomijając kwestię ewentualnego fact-checking), a zatem trudno ocenić ich wartość merytoryczną (co przywodzi mi na myśl skojarzenie z fejsbukowymi ekspertami). Jeśli chodzi o same pytania, część jest ciekawych, inne zupełnie nie przyciągnęły mojej uwagi (co w połączeniu z niepewnością co do prawidłowości odpowiedzi spowodowało, że dużo z nich po prostu "przeskanowałam" wzrokiem, nie wynosząc z lektury zbyt wiele). Dopiero ostatni rozdział - przygotowany przez samą redakcję - bardziej mnie zaciekawił, jednak mimo to miałam wrażenie, że odpowiedzi są bardziej filozoficzne niż naukowe, a na dodatek dosyć pobieżnie albo wybiórczo traktują temat. Nie tego oczekiwałam i ogólnie nie polecam.

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun read—some really cool questions answered well and in an interesting way. Not a massive fan of some questions where more than one answer has been given to a single question, but makes little difference to the final product. A good book to keep on the coffee table!

[Maciej · Rating 4 out of 5]

Po co zebrze paski? Jak długo trwa teraz? Dlaczego rowery jeżdżą? Na te i inne pytania dociekliwi amatorzy nauki znajdą odpowiedź w książce magazynu NewScientist pod tytułem: “Jak długo trwa teraz? Fascynujące odpowiedzi na 191 najdziwniejszych pytań”.
Liczyłem na wyborną przygodę z nauką, z takimi pytaniami, które sam mógłbym zadać a dostałem…
No właśnie, z jednej strony dostajemy ogrom ciekawych pytań, których odpowiedź nie jest oczywista ani intuicyjna. Z drugiej strony część pytań jest tendencyjna, trywialna i po prostu słabo skonstruowana. Z tego powodu pozycja nie dostaje ode mnie najwyższych ocen. Gdyby nie moje wykształcenie i fakt, że w “nauce” siedzę już jakiś czas to byłaby to chyba najciekawsza książka popularnonaukowa w tym roku. Mimo wszystko polecam gorąco miłośnikom naukowych zagadek i ciekawostek.
Jak Wy podchodzicie do książek popularnonaukowych? Omijacie szerokim łukiem czy jesteście skłonni otworzyć się na nieznane odmęty fizyki kwantowej, genetyki czy neurobiologii?

na skalach:
goodreads: 3,6/5
lubimyczytać: 7,2/10
u mnie: 72/100

[Rick Yagodich · Rating 2 out of 5]

I probably should have read more about this book before reading it; before buying it. The blurb suggests "an incredible journey through neuroscience, our subconscious and the time-bending power of meditation." The reality is a bunch of armchair scientists (plus one heavy-contributing science teacher) providing reasonable-to-absurd answers to an equally diverse range of reader-submitted questions.

There is next to nothing in the way of hard science underpinning any of the answers; certaingly not a journey through neuroscience or the subconscious.

Had I realised before I started that it was nothing more than a curated readers' questions column from the magazine, I wouldn't have wasted my time.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I won "How Long is Now", I didn't know what the format of the book was. It was like crowdsourcing in book form. Science-based questions are asked and then answered by a variety of lay and professional people. I thought that was an interesting way of compiling a book. But I wasn't sure why I should trust the answers of an individual with no credentials? I am assuming that the answers were fact-checked. It was an interesting read with many facts I didn't know before, in particular, the one about birds only sleeping half their brain at a time so they can stay alert to predators and safe on their perches.

As I said earlier, I won this book, but that did not affect my review.

[Amalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 stars

Quite an interesting book with loads of information on some of the stuff that I've wondered about. It was nice to see a wide variety of topics when it came to the questions as well. I do feel like some of the answers more revolved around topic of the question, instead of "properly" answering them, which made some of them a bit difficult to understand. Nevertheless, it was an enjoyable book that I will surely revisit from time to time.

[Wiktoria · Rating 2 out of 5]

spodziewałam się czegoś lepszego :|
edit: zmieniam na 2 gwiazdki, bo wracam myślami do tej książki i się niepotrzebnie denerwuję

[Jonah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nah, it's cute but some of the questions aren't that interesting

[Kara · Rating 4 out of 5]

An unconventional book that takes a column from New Scientist magazine and condenses information to give you the best answers to readers questions.

It is an interesting book albeit some topics were not my area of interest personally. I did however feel like the book improved when the questions were from writers of New Scientist rather than the readers as I felt these were the bigger questions that we ask ourselves; what defines consciousness? What would happen if which actually found aliens?

Ultimately, I felt like I learnt a lot from this book. Friends and family alike have become annoyed at my "fun" facts that I am now finding any possible way of getting into conversation.

So annoy everyone you know and read this book. If you love non-fiction and learning about a range of topics this is definitely the correct book for you.

[Colin Murtagh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another collection of questions and answers from the New Scientist team, although as a little twist this time, the last section of questions come from the magazine staff rather than the readers.
If you’ve seen any of these book in the past, this one is exactly the same as all the others. If you haven’t, then NS has a column dedicated to answering science and technology questions from the readership. Answers are then supplied by the readers, normally from those within the field of the questions asked, however the same names do seem to pop up a lot.
As with any other book of this type, some of the questions will be interesting, some won’t and some of the answers will be interesting and some won’t. But it will always be worth dipping into

[Erikka · Rating 3 out of 5]

This would have been leagues better if I were British. Several of the questions only make sense if you understand British travel, fauna, and culture. That being said, I liked the different thought experiments it set up and I liked that some of the questions had different, almost argumentive, answers. Sometimes we have theories about science without solid answers and that's okay.

[Bianca Berceanu · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had anticipated something entirely different from this book. I truly thought it would contain exceptional questions and answers, but unfortunately, it left me thoroughly disappointed. It's worth noting that I didn't even bother reading numerous answers due to the embarrassing nature of the questions. I cannot recommend this book as it falls short of justifying its price.

[Wayne Reilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth reading.

I enjoyed this book. It's filled with great answers to some great questions, like, "how long is now?". Also if you ever wanted to know "Does the sea smells of fish or do fish smell of the sea?" Then this is the book for you.

[Yas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of becomes a ritual where you read a few cool science questions and their explanations deepening your general knowledge. Sometimes my interest was low depending on how much the question presented was appealing but still an all around good book.

[Alfonso Sierra · Rating 4 out of 5]

A (huge) nice compilation of interesting questions of all sorts with their corresponding answers. Recommended!

[Mihai-Andrei · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.3/5

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Prose/Readability: 3
Commitment to Objective/Unbiased Truth: 5
Interesting Content: 2
Perspective Shift: 2

Comments: This book is exactly what you expect it to be - no more, no less.

[PRJ Greenwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some great answers to good questions within but I'd recommend folks who are really interested pursue more rigorous answers. Like Wikipedia, this is an excellent starter point for exploring further.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Answers to 191 questions, some questions have multiple answers, some of which disagree with each other. Questions range from animals, humans, physics to technology. Short easy to read answers.

[Stuart Moodie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some fascinating facts and dome not so! But the joy of this is you can pick it up and dip in.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, but short.

[Joe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoy reading very short chapters explaining everyday matters / observations.

[Jade Moore · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book comprises a selection of the final column 'The Last Word' featured in each issue of New Scientist magazine. The best have been selected and presented here in book form for curious minds who might not read the magazine. I read it for three reasons: Firstly, from what I've seen/read, I like New Scientist magazine, and they have some very interesting features. My favourites being about memory and time. Secondly, I want to read more non-fiction this year, and the format of this book makes it easy to access the kind of non-fiction I'm after, to ease me in as it were. And thirdly, I like the title, and it's a question I was keen to have an answer to. I'm interested in time and what constitutes the 'present moment'.

Most questions and answers are posed and responded to by readers of the magazine, and these are divided into chapters depending on the subject they cover. However, the best questions are saved for last, and are answered by those at New Scientist. I haven't read any other books from the New Scientist series, but I thought this was an okay read. I learned some stuff, but other times it all just went straight over my head.

[Tima · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Last Word, a column at the back of the New Scientist magazine is dedicated to answering those strange and weird questions. The answers are supplied by other readers and the publishers publish the question along with the best answers in the column. This book is a compilation of that column and some of the questions people have asked over the years. Some of the questions include multiple answers.

This was a fun book for my son and I to read together. He is always asking me endless questions and his thirst for knowledge has led to some interesting conversations. These questions were gems in keeping him entertained. I did find some of the answers contradicted each other and we had to do some internet research to find the correct answer. I would have liked having the correct answer below the reader's answer. But overall, this was a fun book that we both enjoyed reading. I think it would be a great gift or coffee table book.

I received a copy of this book from Goodreads. All thoughts expressed are my own.

[Tima · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Last Word, a column at the back of the New Scientist magazine is dedicated to answering those strange and weird questions. The answers are supplied by other readers and the publishers publish the question along with the best answers in the column. This book is a compilation of that column and some of the questions people have asked over the years. Some of the questions include multiple answers.

This was a fun book for my son and I to read together. He is always asking me endless questions and his thirst for knowledge has led to some interesting conversations. These questions were gems in keeping him entertained. I did find some of the answers contradicted each other and we had to do some internet research to find the correct answer. I would have liked having the correct answer below the reader's answer. But overall, this was a fun book that we both enjoyed reading. I think it would be a great gift or coffee table book.

I received a copy of this book from Goodreads. All thoughts expressed are my own.

[Tima · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Last Word, a column at the back of the New Scientist magazine is dedicated to answering those strange and weird questions. The answers are supplied by other readers and the publishers publish the question along with the best answers in the column. This book is a compilation of that column and some of the questions people have asked over the years. Some of the questions include multiple answers.

This was a fun book for my son and I to read together. He is always asking me endless questions and his thirst for knowledge has led to some interesting conversations. These questions were gems in keeping him entertained. I did find some of the answers contradicted each other and we had to do some internet research to find the correct answer. I would have liked having the correct answer below the reader's answer. But overall, this was a fun book that we both enjoyed reading. I think it would be a great gift or coffee table book.

I received a copy of this book from Goodreads. All thoughts expressed are my own.

[Carmen Bogliș · Rating 2 out of 5]

O colecție de informații sub formă de întrebare - răspuns. Ultimul capitol este cel mai interesant, fiind contribuția exclusivă a redacției revistei.