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The Science of Why #1
Science of Why, The
Ever wonder why onions make you cry? Or why lizards do pushups? Or why leaves change color in the fall? Don't worry, you're not alone. Acclaimed science writer and broadcaster Jay Ingram wonders the same things. After a long career of asking important questions (does time speed up as we age? How much Neanderthal is in me? Why do some animals throw their feces?), he's here to put our scientific quandaries to rest. In this insightful, witty book for curious listeners of all ages, Jay shares his favorite head scratchers and mind benders, settling pressing questions, such as.... ...along with everything you ever wondered about human echolocation, Bigfoot, and farts (though not all at once). Chock-full of fun science facts (and fictions), this book will delight and surprise your inner science geek. She actually thinks you're a larger, dumber version of her mother.
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First published November 1, 2016
23 people are currently reading
190 people want to read
About the author
Jay Ingram
56 books41 followersJay Ingram CM (born March 20, 1945) is a Canadian author and broadcaster. He was host of the television show Daily Planet (originally titled @discovery.ca), which airs on Discovery Channel Canada, since the channel's inception in 1995. Ingram's last episode of Daily Planet aired on June 5, 2011. Ingram announced his retirement but stated he will make guest appearances on Daily Planet. He was succeeded by Dan Riskin. His book The End of Memory: A Natural History of Aging and Alzheimer’s is forthcoming from St. Martin's Press in 2015.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
November 20, 2025
Jay Ingram's The Science of Why is a cheerfully accessible collection of curious questions—why do onions make you cry? Why are yawns contagious? Why do some people attract mosquitoes more than others? answered with scientific rigor wrapped in conversational warmth. Opening with pupil dilation and ending with Bigfoot, Ingram proves that great science writing doesn't require complex equations or dense jargon. It just requires genuine curiosity and respect for the reader's intelligence.
Ingram writes like a friend at dinner who happens to know fascinating things and wants to share them. The book spans four thematic sections - The Body, The Animal Kingdom, Supernatural, and The Natural World with each chapter standalone, meaning you can read them in any order. But the real magic is in how Ingram balances whimsy with substance. When explaining why people faint at the sight of blood, he doesn't just cite neuroscience - he traces evolutionary theory, references a 2012 massacre on Lake Turkana shores, and admits where scientists remain genuinely puzzled. The discussion of yawning and contagious yawning spans mirror neurons, empathy, theory of mind in children with autism, and somehow ventures into budgie behavior and orgasms. It's delightfully comprehensive without feeling bloated.
What's most human here is Ingram's acknowledgment of genuine scientific mystery. On needle phobia, he presents Stefan Bracha's controversial evolutionary psychology theory while noting its critics. On Bigfoot, he admits he's fascinated not by the "evidence" but by people who defend it despite lack of evidence. On the small-world hypothesis, he traces from Milgram's 1967 experiment through Facebook's 2016 analysis, showing how social science evolves. He doesn't pretend to have all answers; he shows how scientists think.
The "Did You Know" sidebars and the occasional "Science Fiction!" callouts (marking myths debunked) add personality. The revelation that William Bennett Bean kept continuous nail records for 35 years, or that a dermatologist literally used his own rugby-injured hand as an experiment - these human moments make science feel less like distant authority and more like passionate investigation.
Where It Gets Shallow:
The book's format - standalone Q&A chapters means some topics get abbreviated treatment. The Bigfoot chapter, while entertaining, skims over genuine cryptozoology skepticism. Some explanations, especially in sections on magnetoreception or complex neuroscience, lean more toward "here's what researchers think" rather than "here's why scientists actually believe this."
Also, the book skews toward trivia-style satisfaction. If you're seeking deep philosophical understanding of consciousness, cognition, or causation, you'll find breadcrumbs rather than meals. And some chapters feel dated - cellular biology and evolutionary understanding have advanced since 2016.
The Real Strength:
What lingers is Ingram's core achievement: he makes science feel like natural human curiosity, not intimidating expertise. Every chapter implicitly says: "Have you ever wondered about this? You're not alone. Here's what we know, here's what baffles us, and here's why it's genuinely interesting." He resists the urge to oversimplify or provide false certainty. When discussing nail growth, he admits the exact reasons remain contested. When addressing yawning, he presents multiple competing theories without falsely anointing one "correct."
Most importantly, Ingram respects your time. No chapter overstays its welcome. No explanation drones. The writing moves with genuine momentum - you want to know what comes next.
Ingram writes like a friend at dinner who happens to know fascinating things and wants to share them. The book spans four thematic sections - The Body, The Animal Kingdom, Supernatural, and The Natural World with each chapter standalone, meaning you can read them in any order. But the real magic is in how Ingram balances whimsy with substance. When explaining why people faint at the sight of blood, he doesn't just cite neuroscience - he traces evolutionary theory, references a 2012 massacre on Lake Turkana shores, and admits where scientists remain genuinely puzzled. The discussion of yawning and contagious yawning spans mirror neurons, empathy, theory of mind in children with autism, and somehow ventures into budgie behavior and orgasms. It's delightfully comprehensive without feeling bloated.
What's most human here is Ingram's acknowledgment of genuine scientific mystery. On needle phobia, he presents Stefan Bracha's controversial evolutionary psychology theory while noting its critics. On Bigfoot, he admits he's fascinated not by the "evidence" but by people who defend it despite lack of evidence. On the small-world hypothesis, he traces from Milgram's 1967 experiment through Facebook's 2016 analysis, showing how social science evolves. He doesn't pretend to have all answers; he shows how scientists think.
The "Did You Know" sidebars and the occasional "Science Fiction!" callouts (marking myths debunked) add personality. The revelation that William Bennett Bean kept continuous nail records for 35 years, or that a dermatologist literally used his own rugby-injured hand as an experiment - these human moments make science feel less like distant authority and more like passionate investigation.
Where It Gets Shallow:
The book's format - standalone Q&A chapters means some topics get abbreviated treatment. The Bigfoot chapter, while entertaining, skims over genuine cryptozoology skepticism. Some explanations, especially in sections on magnetoreception or complex neuroscience, lean more toward "here's what researchers think" rather than "here's why scientists actually believe this."
Also, the book skews toward trivia-style satisfaction. If you're seeking deep philosophical understanding of consciousness, cognition, or causation, you'll find breadcrumbs rather than meals. And some chapters feel dated - cellular biology and evolutionary understanding have advanced since 2016.
The Real Strength:
What lingers is Ingram's core achievement: he makes science feel like natural human curiosity, not intimidating expertise. Every chapter implicitly says: "Have you ever wondered about this? You're not alone. Here's what we know, here's what baffles us, and here's why it's genuinely interesting." He resists the urge to oversimplify or provide false certainty. When discussing nail growth, he admits the exact reasons remain contested. When addressing yawning, he presents multiple competing theories without falsely anointing one "correct."
Most importantly, Ingram respects your time. No chapter overstays its welcome. No explanation drones. The writing moves with genuine momentum - you want to know what comes next.
February 20, 2017
3.5 stars. When I saw this title it seemed like an adult version of the books that I loved reading as a child so I decided to give it a try. It was a full of interesting (and sometimes silly) questions. I liked the cute drawings and the "Did you know?" trivia spread throughout the text which kept me from feeling like I was reading a science textbook. If you're looking to learn something new, pick this one up!
December 10, 2019
It's a book that sets out to arm you with some little science facts about everyday stuff that you can impress your friends with. In that regard, it's an okay read. But some of the topics are pretty uninteresting or don't really provide conversational factoids. Ingram also misses the mark on his angle in some cases. Like instead of giving us the mundane facts of why farts stink, he could have taken a more interesting angle like of why our own farts don't afflict us the way other people's do.
But there are some genuinely interesting things in here, like the echo location section, or the one about breaking the sound barrier. There were some factoids in here I will enjoy badgering my friends and family with, so all in all it was a decent read.
But there are some genuinely interesting things in here, like the echo location section, or the one about breaking the sound barrier. There were some factoids in here I will enjoy badgering my friends and family with, so all in all it was a decent read.
June 25, 2018
Answers some questions you didn't even know you had! Fun, light, and very accessible to make weird science-y stuff interesting to the rest of us.
January 23, 2021
A collection of questions and attempts to answer them. Didn’t really hold my interest for some of the book but some interesting ideas at times.
July 30, 2024
⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Soooo I’m kind of a major science nerd, which means I eat up scientific trivia like this. And yet, I still wasn’t a huge fan, for a few reasons.
Number one: the explanations of the studies. The author references a large number of scientific studies throughout the book (at least one per chapter). I consider myself to be a relatively smart and capable person when it comes to understanding new concepts. But I found that his explanations of how the studies worked and how they got the answers they did to be lacking, especially if you’re looking for a high degree of understanding as I am.
Number two: multiple explanations. Often the author provides several incorrect explanations for a phenomenon. I understand why he would do that if there were a common misconception, but sometimes he just throws in “another theory that was held by some scientists”. This may be to your liking, but I felt that it distracted from what the real answer was.
Number three: the length of the answers. Often the question would be answered by the first or second paragraph, but the chapter would then go into another explanation of something that seems trivial.
Number four: the questions that were answered. The answer to many of the questions was “scientists don’t know”, followed by four pages of other information regarding the subject. Why? Just say what question you’re actually answering instead of giving us false hope about “answers”.
However, it was entertaining and I learned the answers to some very interesting questions. It was a worthwhile and fun read, although I think it could have used a little more editing.
As always, feel free to respectfully disagree. Just because I feel a way about something doesn’t mean you will too.
Soooo I’m kind of a major science nerd, which means I eat up scientific trivia like this. And yet, I still wasn’t a huge fan, for a few reasons.
Number one: the explanations of the studies. The author references a large number of scientific studies throughout the book (at least one per chapter). I consider myself to be a relatively smart and capable person when it comes to understanding new concepts. But I found that his explanations of how the studies worked and how they got the answers they did to be lacking, especially if you’re looking for a high degree of understanding as I am.
Number two: multiple explanations. Often the author provides several incorrect explanations for a phenomenon. I understand why he would do that if there were a common misconception, but sometimes he just throws in “another theory that was held by some scientists”. This may be to your liking, but I felt that it distracted from what the real answer was.
Number three: the length of the answers. Often the question would be answered by the first or second paragraph, but the chapter would then go into another explanation of something that seems trivial.
Number four: the questions that were answered. The answer to many of the questions was “scientists don’t know”, followed by four pages of other information regarding the subject. Why? Just say what question you’re actually answering instead of giving us false hope about “answers”.
However, it was entertaining and I learned the answers to some very interesting questions. It was a worthwhile and fun read, although I think it could have used a little more editing.
As always, feel free to respectfully disagree. Just because I feel a way about something doesn’t mean you will too.
February 27, 2019
Well this was a disappointment. I thought it would be a fun book of science but it was more a lazily written book of "I dunno, maybe this?"
It is a quick read and written for a younger audience and the question it poses for each chapter had me interested, e.g. "Why are yawns contagious"? But then the "answer" is "maybe this, maybe that, we don't know".
And the jokes aren't funny and because I didn't feel there was too much science in it (or as much as I expected with the TITLE of the book) I didn't like this book. FAIL.
It is a quick read and written for a younger audience and the question it poses for each chapter had me interested, e.g. "Why are yawns contagious"? But then the "answer" is "maybe this, maybe that, we don't know".
And the jokes aren't funny and because I didn't feel there was too much science in it (or as much as I expected with the TITLE of the book) I didn't like this book. FAIL.
January 3, 2018
While I enjoyed learned some new things from this book, I felt it was way longer than it needed to be. Some of the topics covered seemed a bit odd to me, and others could be explained in 2 paragraphs or less, but still took up several pages. I guess I’m just a big “cut-the-fluff” sort of learner/reader.
March 24, 2020
A fun and informative book, with hilarious stick figure illustrations. I can absolutely understand why the publisher wanted more books in the series. For those with children in higher elementary education through junior high, “The Science of Why” is right up their learning ladder.
March 9, 2017
Cute book. Now I have dinner party trivia about asparagus pee, mosquitos, Bigfoot, and beer bubbles.
November 9, 2017
Collection of silly questions/answers, that becoming interesting while you read/listen them.
June 1, 2018
The writing was unremarkable and unengaging, and a lot of the knowledge presented is quite basic.
March 17, 2020
at first it's interesting, but as the book goes on, the small facts just becomes boring and predictable. idk. i expected it to be more engaging but it's just. boring.
October 11, 2020
Got halfway through
November 28, 2021
A good coffee shop book. Or a randon-book-lying-around type of book.
January 6, 2023
Cute little "bathroom book" for curious minds
March 1, 2023
These science question answer/books are likely obsolete with chatgpt. Maybe I should pump one out?
October 30, 2017
This is a collection of some interesting, but mostly silly questions about a variety of topics and their scientific answers. I enjoyed the few topics that interested me, but the majority of the topics were frivolous and thus not enjoyable. After a while, the book started to get tedious.
In terms of the audio book, the author reads fairly well, though he did sound like he could use a drink and pronouncing "te" instead of "to" got really annoying after a few chapters.
In terms of the audio book, the author reads fairly well, though he did sound like he could use a drink and pronouncing "te" instead of "to" got really annoying after a few chapters.
December 19, 2016
Science broadcaster Jay Ingram answers questions about the world around us - What is deja vu? Does time speed up as we age? Why were Tyrannosaurus Rex’s arms so short? Does your cat like you? Full of interesting information amusingly told, this book will appeal to your inner science geek.
April 17, 2017
The book was fine, but it lacked the crunchy side of things that keeps you going. I tried to find what the issue was and I couldn't, so I guess it's just that the book fell a bit short. Anyhow, still a good read for science enthusiasts.
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March 11, 2019it taught me alot of things. i like this book
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews