Pythagoras thought that numbers rule the universe – and he was right – they’re everywhere: in every tiny thing we do, from the number of bed bugs in our beds (an amazing number, go on, look it up) to the length, in metres, of all the eyelashes shed by a human in their lifetime. We don’t often think about these numbers, but when we do, they can be incredible.
Numbers have always fascinated me and when I started collecting number-related trivia, I found that I just couldn’t stop. There’s something about nuggets of information that is so satisfying, and attaching numbers can bring those facts into sharper focus. For instance, who knew that every time you lick a stamp, you’re consuming one-tenth of a calorie, that the human heart pumps 55 million gallons of blood by the age of seventy, that just one litre of oil can ruin one million litres of fresh water, or that there are 60,000 miles of blood vessels in the human body.
In this book I’ve tried to look at our everyday world from a different angle. If we stopped every now and again to consider some of the workaday things we do, see, or are a part of, we would in some cases probably be quite shocked, and it’s these types of numbers I’ve included here. Ranging from the natural world to music, the arts, the human body, creepy-crawlies, love and marriage and beyond, Numberland is a book for those who are fascinated by details and the minutiae of life.
I hope you become as addicted to it as I have …