I’m sure you’ve heard of the Nobel Prize, but have you heard of the Ig Nobel Prize? Every year, this prize celebrates unusual areas of research that first make people laugh, and then make them think. The founder of the awards says: “The prizes are intended to celebrate the unusual, honour the imaginative, and spur people’s interest in science, medicine and technology”. In this brilliantly funny, fully illustrated non-fiction book, we celebrate 50 of the funniest, silliest and most interesting winners of the Ig Nobel Prize, including:

•    the discovery that herrings communicate by farting (and why that almost caused a world war!)

•    research into the chemical compounds responsible for smelly feet

•    a rigorous analysis of soggy breakfast cereal

•    an automatic dog-to-human language translation device

•    the invention of fart-proof underwear

•    a method of collecting whale snot using remote-control helicopters.

Each entry includes a Top Trumps-style card with ratings such as “silliness factor”, “usefulness”, “gross factor”, and more. Kids and grown-ups alike will love sharing the amazing facts they’ve discovered.