Do Penguins Have Knees? (51)

I have just started a new book titled Do Penguins Have Knees, and have really enjoyed reading it so far. Its about a 260 page book filled with little excerpts about questions that we come across in our everyday lives and don't know the answer to. For an example of one of these questions, the title Do Penguins Have Knees? is one of the questions that is answered in the book. I think that it is very interesting as you can learn a lot from just reading this book.

Below is a short one that I really liked, about the question of "Why do florescent lights make a plinking noise when you turn them on"(47)? The short chapter gives us a detailed yet quick answer to the question that they have researched for us, and put in an easy way for anyone to understand.

We went to Peter Wulff again for our answer. Older fluorescent fixtures used a "preheat system," which featured a bimetallic starter (the small, round, sliver piece). Wulff told us that inside the started is a bimetallic swetch which "pings" when energized. newer flourescent systems, such as the "preheat" or "rapid start," are rendering the "ping" a relic of our nostalgic past. (33)

I think that this section is very interesting because one would rarely know that answer unless they have worked very much with fluorescent fixtures, and light bulbs. This gives us so much information, yet so quick and easy to understand, that it makes us want to read on and on about it and just find more information about that specific topic. This book has hundreds, and hundreds of these little interesting sections, on hugely varying topics. From Why are our fingers different lengths? to anything as What does "YKK" on a zipper mean?

Feldman, David. Do Penguins Have Knees? New York: Collins, 1992. Print.