A collection of urban myths reveals how each has been disproved, sharing hundreds of facts about myth origins, their historical significance, and the ways they were investigated by scientific debunkers.

Super Superstitions checks out the strangest superstition in the world--stories too strange to be made up! The book is written with a high interest level to appeal to a more mature audience with a lower level of complexity for struggling readers. Clear visuals and colorful photographs help with comprehension. Fascinating information and wild facts that will hold the readers' interest are conveyed in considerate text for older readers, allowing for...

An encyclopedic compendium of facts, images, and infographics brings familiar topics to life and helps readers discover fun-filled trivia and statistics in a range of subjects, from science and history to culture and the natural world.

"There are urban myths about all kinds of different things, but how many of these myths are actually true? This book takes a look at many different myths, exploring their origins and assigning a "fact" or "phony" label to each after careful evaluation. Fun fact boxes and amusing cartoons and illustrations help explore common beliefs--can people get sucked out of an airplane bathroom's toilet? Do human fingernails keep growing after a person dies?...

"Examines what is known about the human body today, and how different the facts are from what scientists, from ancient Egyptians to the recent past, believed to be true."--

"The human body is full of amazingly complex systems. Science has helped explain so much about the way our bodies work, but there are still plenty of myths some consider as fact. Are human bones really four times as strong as concrete? How close can someone sit to a TV before damaging his or her eyes? This fun, informative book separates fact from fiction through the use of engaging fact boxes and specific scientific research to debunk some of the...

"The pirates we see in movies and on TV are very different from those that actually once sailed the seas. This book takes an engaging look at pirate mythology and assigns a "fact" or "phony" evaluation to many of the things commonly associated with the swashbuckling sailors. Did pirates really make people "walk the plank" or carry around treasure maps? Loaded with fact boxes and explanations of how many of these pirate myths originated, readers will...

"William Shakespeare wrote some of the most famous plays in history, but there is plenty of misinformation about his life and times. This book dives into those so-called "facts" and discovers what's real and what's fake with entertaining ease. Did Shakespeare really burn down the Globe Theatre? Did he write all of his plays on his own? Brilliant fact boxes help provide historical context to Shakespeare's life and works, while "The Bard's Best Bits"...