That Can't be True!

"No way." "Seriously?" "Wait... that can't be true." You'll say all three before you finish chapter one.

Why do half of viewers miss a gorilla walking straight across a basketball court? Why does your own voice sound so wrong on a recording? Why do you weigh less at the equator? And why do you never see a baby pigeon?

That Can't Be True! is a full-color fun facts book where the answers are stranger than the questions. It's built on real science, real history and real numbers, and every page hands you a story that makes you the most interesting person in the room.

Inside, you'll find:

• The tricks your brain is playing on you right now, the strange secrets of your own body, and the science hiding inside the phone in your hand
• The "facts" you were taught that were never true. Vikings didn't wear horned helmets, the tongue map is a myth, and that's just the start.
• Tiny creatures living on your face at this very moment, and the internet running along the bottom of the ocean
• Experiments that make your friends say "no way," like showing someone the hole in their vision in ten seconds
• True stories that sound made up, like the roulette wheel that hit black 26 times in a row and the $125 million spacecraft lost to a simple units mix-up

Why it works:

• Open anywhere. One question, one page, two minutes
• Visual. Infographics, charts and a one-line takeaway on every page
• Smart, never dumbed down. Written for curious minds from age 12 to adult
• Impossible to read silently. You'll keep turning to whoever is nearby: "Wait, listen to this."

The gift for the hard-to-shop-for

The teen who "doesn't read." The dad who already knows everything. The friend who wins every trivia night. It's the coffee table book that gets passed around until everyone has a favorite page, and a perfect pick for birthdays, Christmas, stocking stuffers and Father's Day.

Give it to someone curious. Then try not to read it first.