The Book of Numbers: The Ultimate Compendium of Facts About Figures by William R. Hartston
This entertaining reference book is for anyone interested in numbers, arithmetical coincidences, statistics and random information. How many acres of pizza are eaten daily in the USA? How many accidents involving tea cosies were recorded in Britain in 1993? What is the mystical significance of the number twenty-two? How long is an aardvark's tongue? This collection of facts about figures is arranged in numerical order, from zero - the number of times the word Bible occurs in the works of Shakespeare - to 4,985,567,071,200 - the amount of dollars of US national debt when the clock stopped near Times Square, New York, on 14 November 1995. As a work of reference, it is designed to answer any question beginning with the words How many...?, particularly questions that you would never have thought of asking in the first place.