Questions from children, answers from people with fancy titles and TV stars

  • Full Title: Big Questions from Little People: And Simple Answers from Great Minds
  • Author: Gemma Elwin Harris (and several others)
  • Year: 2012
  • ISBN: 0062223224
  • Amazon customer rating at the time of writing this review: 4.5 out of 5 (35 reviews)

What?

Renowned experts in science, art, philosophy and everything in between answer "simple" questions from children 4-12 years old.

Why?

Because some questions might sound simple but are not. Because some people out there know the actual answer and know how to phrase it in a concise and beautiful way. Because some "simple" questions baffle us adults.

It sounds stupid

Your face sounds stupid

I'm not interested

Cool. The rest of us can marvel at the kind of things children ask (from "Why do snails have shells and slugs don't?" to "How do we fall in love?")

But it's not scientific!

All these questions are answered by an expert in the field, so I think that kinda invalidates your concern. Also, these answers are meant to clarify questions from children, to enlighten them, not to be a college lecture. You don't always need every equation and paper to understand things and, more importantly, to marvel at them.

What do you think, Andy?

There's this old adage about spending time with children to watch and learn how to be amazed at the world (again). Although this is no substitute for those kind of lessons, it comes close. Some of these themes we adults might take for granted (as many other things) and reading non-condescending answers is a small therapy in itself, teaching us how much we might be missing right now.

 

BQ14: 294 words

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