So you think you know it all!

From time to time, I write about a certain author that I admire.  I like him because he writes about "kind of off-beat" subjects; which are, of course, the subjects that most interest me.  A. J. Jacobs is this author's  name, and "widespread is his fame".. at least for those who enjoy having their minds bent a bit.

Mr. Jacobs is "editor at large" at Esquire magazine and is a frequent writer for the "New York type" of periodicals that us "would-be intellectuals" love to read.  His interviews with famous women for Esquire are very entertaining reading. You may also have heard him on National Public Radio.

This Jacobs' masterpiece is called:  The Know-It-All (One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World).   Copyright @ 2004 by Mr. Jacobs  ISBN-13:978-0-7432-4060-3.

Why did I want to read this book?  It's about "words," and I believe that one becomes smart by knowing "words".. a lot of words.  All my life I have been fascinated by words.. in encyclopedias and dictionaries.. in puzzles of all kinds.. in foreign languages..  So, while I have the floor, let me plug a couple of my publications that have "words" as a subject:

Pock-Mark to Zymurgy: http://heyjoevaughan.blogspot.com/2006/08/pock-mark-to-zymurgy.html

My Concordance of X:  http://heyjoevaughan.blogspot.com/2009/08/tough-friday-crossword.html

COBOL Keyword Cross Reference: a software tool used by software developers at the Social Security Administration.. a gift to SSA by Niemand Associates.  Search for the Keyword "Joe-Vaughan"

Enough about me.. let's get to Mr. Jacobs.

A.J. (if I may be so bold) did something that most of us have thought about doing at some time in our life:  he read an encyclopedia from cover to cover (A to Z).  And he picked a good one:  The Encyclopedia Britannica.. 33,000 pages and 44 million words!  I'll bet most people do not read that many words in their whole life.  And he did all this in the same time frame that he and his wife were experiencing all of the excitement and joy of conception, pregnancy and parturation. 

Did he become the Smartest Person in the World?  Well.. not quite.. during the experience he took one of the Mensa qualification IQ tests and flunked.  But, he did learn that he could use his very high SAT score to qualify.  I'll have to check my list of members to see if he took advantage of that and  did join.  But don't feel that flunking an IQ test is a big deal, because as I have sometimes mentioned, if you think that the super intelligent people sit around all day using big words and discussing deep philosophical concepts, you should visit a Mensa meeting.

I think that A.J. concluded that having read the encyclopedia does not automatically make you smart.

However, reading his book, you will learn a lot.  He gives us examples of information he has learned that has expanded his brain.  I will list a few of his examples and I will paraphrase his straight definitions.  To find his very humorous remarks on each of these, you will have to go to the book)

SPORTS:  bobsledding:  ... from the early - and probably mistaken -  belief that if the sledders bobbed their heads back and forth, it would increase the speed.

BIOLOGY: couvade: ... a custom wherein the father goes to bed during the birth of his child and simulates the symptoms of childbirth...

FAIRY TALES: ... Elves in traditional folklore sat on people's chests while they slept to give them bad dreams...

POLITICS: William Henry Harrison: ... campaigned for the Presidency by passing out free cider to voters...

EDUCATION: Horace Mann: In his final speech, the educational reformer told students: "Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity."

SEX:   Oysters can change sex according to the temperature of the water.

TIME:  The hour has not always been sixty minutes.  In ancient civilizations - Greek, Sumerian, Roman, and so forth - daylight was divided into twelve hours.

If you like this book, you will no doubt like others that he has written: 

The Year of Living Biblically (a chronicle of A.J. living like a devout Jew for a whole year.) I should do a review of this book, I really enjoyed it.

My Life as an Experiment (blurb says:  Living as a Woman, Becoming George Washington, Telling No Lies, and Other Radiical Tests.)  I can't wait to read it!

Ain't life great!

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