Product Description

CAN REINDEER FLY? WHY IS SANTA CLAUS FAT? COULD SCIENTISTS CLONE THE PERFECT CHRISTMAS TREE? WAS THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM REALLY A COMET? WHY IS RUDOLPH'S NOSE RED? HOW DOES SANTA MANAGE TO DELIVER PRESENTS TO AN ESTIMATED 842 MILLION HOUSEHOLDS IN A SINGLE NIGHT? WHAT COULD WE DO TO GUARANTEE A WHITE CHRISTMAS EVERY YEAR? These are among the questions explored in an irresistibly witty book that illuminates the cherished rituals, legends, and icons of Christmas from a unique and fascinating perspective: science.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #343268 in Books
• Published on: 1999-11-01
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 7.38" h x .88" w x 5.00" l, .54 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

From Amazon.com
Roger Highfield loves science, and he loves Christmas, too. Combining the two in The Physics of Christmas is his attempt to refute the notion that "the materialist insights of science destroy our capacity to wonder, leaving the world a more boring and predictable place." To that end, Highfield presents an amusing, eclectic, and trivia-filled collection of scientific observations about one of the Western world's most beloved holidays.

Contrary to the title, Highfield doesn't limit himself to physics. His anthropological observations include tracing the origins of Santa Claus--an especially amusing and enlightening chapter entitled "Santa: The Hallucinogenic Connection" examines the possibilities of the psychoactive mushroom Amanita muscaria's red-and-white cap being the inspiration for Santa's robes. In a tip of the stocking cap to biology, Highfield hints at a parasitic infestation that may be responsible for poor Rudolph's red nose and examines the advantages of cloned Christmas trees. Psychologically speaking, we find an analysis of the emotional weight of gift giving and card exchanging (sever all relationships with those who send musical cards, research suggests), and how a holiday can be both religious and commercial. Even post-holiday depression is deconstructed, along with Santa's unhealthy obesity and apparent immortality, the effects of alcohol on sleep patterns, the astronomical origins of the Bethlehem star, and the ins and outs of snow.

You'll never look at the trappings of Christmas the same way after reading Highfield's seriously funny book. And you may accidentally learn something, too. --Therese Littleton

Ingram
A witty, scientific investigation into all the rituals and icons of Christmas, from the Star in the East to jolly old Saint Nick--who, Dr. Highfield estimates, has just over two ten-thousandths of a second to get between each of the 842 million households he must visit on Christmas Eve. 25 illustrations. NPR sponsorship.

About the Author
"Roger Highfield is the science editor of The Daily Telegraph in London. He carried out research at Oxford University and the Institute Lane Langevin, Grenoble, where he became the first to bounce a neutron off a soap bubble. He has coauthored three other books: Frontiers of Complexity, The Private Lives of Albert Einstein and The Arrow of Time a bestseller that has been translated into more than a dozen languages.

With the BBC, he has organized several mass experiments, dubbed Megalab, which have attracted the participation of hundreds of thousands of people. He has also contributed to Esquire magazine. Highfield has won a number of awards, including a British Press Award, two Glaxo science writing awards and one for medical journalism. He is married and lives in Greenwich, London.

There will also be a UK edition of the book, called Can Reindeer Fly?"