Did you know?

Did you know that photons of light have no color, sound waves have no sound, olfactory molecules have no odors, and food molecules have no taste?

The greenness of the trees, the blueness of the sky, the smell of that freshly baked pastry and the taste of that homemade pie are all created inside your head.

Scientifically, these are all weightless, subatomic particles of matter traveling through space, some of which your sense organs interact with.

Did you also know that the cochlea (tube that connects the outer and inner ear) is as big as a sunflower seed, and that the three bones of the ossicles (the bones that carry the vibrations of the eardrum) would fit on a shirt button? Or that the pressure wave that moves the eardrum by less than the width of an atom activates the ossicles and reaches the brain as sound?

Did you know that smell accounts for anywhere between 70-90 percent of flavor? Your response is always to sniff first, and not taste. Since flavor lies mostly as smell perceived nasally, and not as taste in the mouth…

This and more, in a book by Bill Bryson, aptly titled “The Body – A guide for occupants”. Bill is one of my favorite authors, and you must read his bestseller – A Short History of Nearly Everything. He has a knack of taking a topic, however technical or boring it is, and spicing it up in his own inimitable style – very conversational, very analogical, and very very interesting.

I would heartily prescribe his books as a must-read for all kids, so that they can learn science in a new, and very interesting manner.

Try them out for yourself!