Imagine the world before Google or Facebook, when books were the only source of recorded fact. Originally published in 1956, The Guinness Book of Superlatives is the very first book in a series that would one day become one of the most well-known and trusted brands in the world—The Guinness Book of World Records. This is the original fun and informative edition, which gathered world facts and records from the year of its publication and prior. Included within are world records and facts from the sectors of: Science Politics Economics Art Architecture Engineering Accidents and disasters Human achievements The natural world And many more! Pick up this entertaining reference book, and expand your knowledge of the world as it was more than sixty years ago.

The 2011 edition of the most famous book of world records, including circus skills and sideshow arts, celebrity exploits, animal activities, and a tour of the world of records in a city-by-city guide.

More facts than ever - more records set.

2019 Foreword Indie Silver Award Winner for Science Welcome to the biggest, fastest, deadliest science book you'll ever read. The world's largest land mammal could help us end cancer. The fastest bird is showing us how to solve a century-old engineering mystery. The oldest tree is giving us insights into climate change. The loudest whale is offering clues about the impact of solar storms. For a long time, scientists ignored superlative life forms as outliers. Increasingly, though, researchers are coming to see great value in studying plants and animals that exist on the outermost edges of the bell curve. As it turns out, there's a lot of value in paying close attention to the "oddballs" nature has to offer. Go for a swim with a ghost shark, the slowest-evolving creature known to humankind, which is teaching us new ways to think about immunity. Get to know the axolotl, which has the longest-known genome and may hold the secret to cellular regeneration. Learn about Monorhaphis chuni, the oldest discovered animal, which is providing insights into the connection between our terrestrial and aquatic worlds. Superlative is the story of extreme evolution, and what we can learn from it about ourselves, our planet, and the cosmos. It's a tale of crazy-fast cheetahs and super-strong beetles, of microbacteria and enormous plants, of whip-smart dolphins and killer snakes. This book will inspire you to change the way you think about the world and your relationship to everything in it.

Lists records, superlatives, and unusual facts in the areas of fame, business, crime, the natural world, technology, war, the arts, music, fashion, and sports.

Packed with spectacular superlatives, shocking stats, fantastic facts and fun figures, Science and Stuff celebrates the simple joy in finding things out. What can cats teach us about the laws of physics? Why was cabbage banned on the International Space Station? (Can you fart in space?) And would a penny dropped from the Empire State Building really kill someone? (Short answer: No!)But it's not all facts and stats. The feature chapter just for Makers, introduced by our very own mad professor Burnaby Q. Orbax, challenges you to attempt record-breaking science experiments at home, from the fastest Mentos & Soda rocket car to the most slime thrown and caught in a minute!Join us as we rise from the deepest depths of the ocean, where weird glowing fish hunt in the darkness, to the mountaintop observatories where scientists unravel the secrets of the universe.

Presenting new information and trivia, this encyclopedic reference covers the entire range of the animal kingdom, from prehistoric creatures and primitive animals to complex mammals