How It Happens: the extraordinary processes of everyday things

by Barbara Ann Kipfer

Ever wonder how caffeine wakes you up, how a bill becomes a law, how holes form in Swiss cheese, or how the cream filling gets into a chocolate? Dr. Barbara Ann Kipfer, bestselling author of The Wish List and 4,000 Questions for Getting to Know Anyone and Everyone, explains in step-by-step detail the inner workings of everyday things. This compulsively readable trivia miscellany describes hundreds of processes, from popcorn popping to radio signal transmission to tango dancing.

• Clear and concise descriptions organized in alphabetical order
• Charmingly designed with dozens of illustrations, including phases of the moon, cloud formation, yoga moves, etc.
• A perfect novelty or gift book for all ages

Genres: Reference, Nonfiction

336 pages, Paperback

First published April 12, 2005

About the author

Dr. Barbara Ann Kipfer (born in 1954) is a lexicographer,as well as an archaeologist. She has written more than 60 books, including 14,000 Things to be Happy About (Workman), which has more than a million copies in print and has given rise to many Page-a-Day calendars. The 25th anniversary edition of the book was published in October 2014. She is the editor of Roget's International Thesaurus.

Kipfer is Chief Lexicographer of the company Temnos. She has worked for such companies as Google, Dictionary.com and Thesaurus.com, Answers.com, Ask Jeeves, Bellcore/Telcordia, Federated Media Publishing, General Electric Research, IBM Research, idealab, Knowledge Adventure, Textdigger, The Chicago Tribune, and WolframAlpha. Barbara holds a PhD and MPhil in Linguistics (University of Exeter), a PhD in Archaeology (Greenwich University), an MA and a PhD in Buddhist Studies (Akamai University), and a BS in Physical Education (Valparaiso University).

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Ashish Iyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read it long-long time back.

[Amberwench · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read for those who enjoy knowing the basics of how a process works.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I should have read the description of this book more thoroughly before borrowing it from the library. I was expecting something along the lines of "A Short History of Nearly Everything" but for everyday things. It's really just an alphabetical listing of how things work/happen, from Acne Development to Wine Fermentation Process. Not really something to sit down and read. I also found some of the descriptions lacking, though others were interesting enough.

If you want to see how this book is structured, go here and click "Look Inside":

Amazon Book Page

I don't know why the titles are different on Goodreads vs. Amazon, but it is the same book.

[Marilou · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought is was a very interesting book for anyone going through a divorce or have a friend or relative going through a divorce. Your world falls apart...but there is life after divorce. I think the book is a very realistic view of what it is like.

[Tim Giron · Rating 2 out of 5]

Picked this one up since I've been playing Team Trivia. While it has some interesting information, I was looking for more detail. Too many of the entries had salient points glossed over.