Does Anything Eat Wasps? is a selection of questions from ‘The Last Word’ section of the New Scientist magazine. The column was started in 1994, when the internet was in its infancy. In 2005, when the book was published, the internet was well established but readers were still sending in questions! Now, twenty years after the column started, it’s still going strong and even has a web page where you can post questions: The Last Question online
The questions in Does Anything Eat Wasps? were posed and answered by readers of the New Scientist magazine. Some answers come from experts at universities or scientific establishments. Others come from people with an interest in or knowledge of the subject. Questions range from everyday (What affects the colour of earwax? Why do lightbulbs go grey?) to decidedly wacky (How fat do you have to be to become bulletproof?). Most branches of science are covered in the book. Several of the questions are posed by primary school (grade school) boys. These questions are treated as seriously as those posed by adults. Not all the answers are serious; one respondent suggested that light bulbs go grey because they suck darkness in, rather than emitting light!
Does Anything Eat Wasps? is a fantastic book to dip into. I learned something new and interesting with almost every question. You could read it cover-to-cover in one sitting, but you might suffer information overload from that much knowledge in one go.
