Mental Floss Presents Condensed Knowledge: A Deliciously Irreverent Guide to Feeling Smart Again

Brush over the titles, flip through the pages, ease into a paragraph of your choice. And an hour later, when your kids are tugging at your pant legs and your spouse is burning dinner, and you're busy wondering just where the time went, you'll realize that learning isn't just easy, it's addictive.

I really sat on the fence on whether to give the book four or five stars. I would give it 4 1/2 if that were an option, but there were a few little thing about the book that bugged me enough to prevent a five star review (although I do give the magazine five stars.) The first (minor) error I noticed is in the chapter "Condensed General Science" under "Sexy Animal Facts", where the author states that "A goldfish has a memory span of only three seconds". I hold a degree in Biology, and can categorically say that is untrue. This is an urban legend and supposition, which has been disproved in several studies in animal behavior in which goldfish were taught to swim in elaborate mazes over the span of several days. If they only had a three second memory, they would be unable to complete the maze correctly with ever improving times day after day (which shows that learning occurs.) The television show 'Mythbusters' did a primitive version of one of these studies on one show, by the way. This isn't a big point, but is worth noting.

I object to the politically correct use of the terms of 'BC' and 'BCE' instead of 'BC' and 'AD'. Although the calendars are identical there is no valid reason to dispense with the terminology in place since about 525 AD just to be politically correct. It is annoying, reduces the comprehensibility of the dates in the book and in no way improves the calendar.

I find it a bit ironic in the chapter "Condensed History" that sometimes journalism professor Peter Haugen has a section called "Rotten to the Corps: Tyrants with Horrific Rap Sheets" in which obvious winners such as Stalin and Hitler make the grade, but so do three 'Pasas' from nineteenth century Turkey, due to forced relocations of peasants during wartime. They may well have been bad guys, but even historians disagree whether or not this was an unfortunate byproduct of war or genocide of a minority group. My point is that there is a lot of ambiguity here, and elevating them to the same plane as Hitler while leaving every single corrupt Middle Eastern despot off the list entirely is patently ridiculous. Bottom line: this list lacks historical objectivity.

In "Condensed Literature" the allegation is made that Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales" is still 'fresh and funny' after 600 years. Everybody can have their own opinion, but I have read "The Canterbury Tales", and can say from personal experience that absolutely nothing could make "The Canterbury Tales" in any way fresh or funny.

Finally, under "Condensed Religion" there appears a box titled "The Problem of Evil" which attempts to refute religion as a belief system. The logical assertions are not well constructed, and most any individual dedicated to any monotheistic religion (that I know of, anyway) will have no difficulty recognizing the fallacies in the rather disingenuous arguments presented.

Overall, this is a credible, interesting book, though I don't think it is quite up to the quality of "Mental Floss" magazine. I recommend the book, but, as always, read skeptically, and let the arguments make sense before you change long-held beliefs. Having said that, the book is fun and irreverent. Despite my critiques, I am glad I bought it.


Enjoyable Trivia that sucks you in with Great Stories!!!   August 22, 2004
Mark (East Coast)
81 out of 85 found this review helpful

This book is such a fun read, even those who don't crave random trivia can enjoy it! It has so much information, and yet is so organized that you can actually find the information! While I don't subscribe to this magazine, reading this book will make anybody consider getting a subscription. All in all, there is really nothing but positive things I can say about this book.

Several reviewers have criticized some of the ways information is presented in this book for the sake of political correctness, as well as some of the opinions about works discussed. I think all the reviewers of this book make valid points. Everybody knows what AD and BC mean, there's really no reason at this point to reinvent the wheel.

The section on Art included a few prickly elements for me. I personally was annoyed by some of the superlatives used to describe many of the artists. The section on seeming like you know what you're talking about at an art exhibit is so funny, however, that it totally makes up for it. :) In all fairness, art is one of the hardest things to write about clearly since it's so personal for whoever is viewing it. Look up the artists listed so that you can see some of the pictures yourself and make up your own mind!

Those small picadillos aside, there's sooo much to enjoy here that the good far outweighs the bad. The sections are well organized, and the authors do a great job of bringing historical figures to life with great stories.

Many trivia books can be read for about an hour at a time. This is a trivia book that can be read for hours on end and still not make you feel overloaded. The bite-size bits of info are easy for anybody to swallow!

All in all, I HIGHLY recommend this book. If it were possible to give it 6 stars I would! Buy it, Read it, ENJOY IT!


A+ for entertainment, B- for accuracy   October 13, 2004
Brian Michalowski (Seattle, WA USA)
49 out of 56 found this review helpful

I agree with all of the other reviewers that this book is fantastically entertaining. Just the title of the "4 Things Your Boss Has in Common With Slime Mold" section is worth the price of this book.

The big disappointment is that some of the "facts" are flat-out wrong. A section on antibiotics claims, "bacteria are at the root of diseases ranging from colds to tetanus," when colds are caused by rhinoviruses and do not respond to antibiotics. Another section claims, "A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds," an urban legend which has been disproved many times over. My personal impression of the book (others will probably disagree) is that it contains a bunch of facts that the authors rattled off the tops of their heads instead of researching to any degree.

So, read the book in good fun, and if you're going to use its contents to show off how smart you are, find another source to back you up first.


Fluffy and bland   May 4, 2005
L. Hanawalt (CA)
24 out of 49 found this review helpful

This reads like a magazine and (unless I'm being overly optimistic) horribly underestimates the intelligence of most people. If you are really looking to get a quick grasp of the entire gamut of academia, this is going to be a VERY disappointing purchase.

It's trying to do the same thing as "An Underground Education," but it isn't as interesting or innovative. Actually, it's unclear whether this book is trying to be a compendium of fun factoids and lists, or an actual quick-guide to the basics you "should know" within several different areas of study. The finished product falls somewhere in the middle and the result is mediocre compared to similar books out there.

The art history section is really awful - being able to name Picasso, Van Gogh and Michelangelo will NOT make you appear cultured! They could have added a list of commonly ignored-yet-masterful artists (comprising, ahem, women and racial minorities), but this book boringly sticks to the white, european, masculine paradigm in virtually every subject.

The attempts at humor are condescending and the whole thing reads like a Stuff or Maxim (without the pictures of babes and cars, natch). If they are going to pander to the lowest common denominator, they might as well have some visuals, right?

Basically, this left a bad taste in my mouth. "An Underground Education" or "The Big Book of Racism" (don't worry, the title is facetious and the book is AMAZING and funny) are worlds apart and, while easy to read, actually have some interesting perspective and anecdotal knowledge to offer.


NEAT! Worth twice the price (but I'm glad it's inexpensive).   April 23, 2004
John Woodson (Hamilton, OH)
22 out of 23 found this review helpful

Best non-fiction book I've seen in years. It's a $25 book for $15 (or $10 from Amazon), chock full of words and not silly black-and-white graphics. It covers almost EVERYTHING... art, music, science, literature, pop culture, philosophy, religion, economics, and more. No political junk, no cosmic overtones, just a bunch of fun, irreverent lists about things you should've learned at some point. I love reference books, and the only thing I love more than reference books are reference books that you can really pick up and READ as opposed to just skimming over. This is a perfect example of that.

I've subscribed to the magazine (mental_floss) for two years now, and it was a long wait for this book to come out. But it was well worth it. The book also offers a $5 discount on a subscription to the magazine (cheaper than the going rate) so it costs even less when you take that into consideration. While mental_floss is bimonthly, this'll help fill the time waiting for the next issue to come.

The last time I paid $15 for something as entertaining and educational as this was in Las Vegas in 1971. Shameful, I know.