What Are the Seven Wonders of the World? - by Peter D'Epiro & Mary Desmond Pinkowish (Paperback)

About the Book

Trivial Pursuit meets "The Dictionary of Cultural Literary" in this entertaining and enlightening new book of knowledge-by-the-number: 101 questions and answers accompanied by witty, tidbit-filled background essays. 15 line drawings.

Book Synopsis

Can you name...Newton's 3 laws of motion?The 4 horsemen of the Apocalypse?The 5 pillars of Islam? The 6 wives of Henry VIII?The 7 kinds of plane triangles? The 8 Beatitudes?If you're not sure about the answers to the above, this is the book for you. A compendium of 101 culturally significant particulars from the fields of mythology, religion, literature, history, science, mathematics, art, and music, What Are the 7 Wonders of the World? is a stimulating fusion of facts and fun that makes for an invaluable reference and an entertaining diversion.

Questions are grouped in sections according to the number of items in their answer (all the 3s, all the 4s, all the 5s, etc.), so that the answers are in the form of easily memorized lists. You won't find Luther's 95 theses, or the 264 Popes, for example, but you will find everything from the 3 sons of Adam and Eve all the way up to the 24 letters of the ancient Greek alphabet.

This clever format lends itself well to quizzing and guessing, which gives it a deliciously sophisticated parlor-game quality. But for those who wish to delve a little deeper, there are thoughtful essays to go with each answer that include fascinating details and place the list in its larger cultural or historical context. Much more than a book of trivia, What Are the 7 Wonders of the World? offers a grand overview of the knowledge needed to appreciate many of the finest things in our cultural and intellectual life.

About the Author

Peter D'Epiro and Mary Desmond Pinkowish are the authors of Sprezzatura: 50 Ways Italian Genius Shaped the World. Peter D'Epiro is also the author of The Book of Firsts: 150 World-Changing People and Events from Caesar Augustus to the Internet. He received his B.A. and M.A. degrees in English from Queens College and his M. Phil. and PH.D. in English from Yale University. He has taught English at the secondary and college levels and worked as an editor and writer for thirty years. He lives in Ridgewood, New Jersey. Mary Desmond Pinkowish is the author of numerous articles on medicine and general science for physician and lay audiences. A graduate of Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, where she studied biology and art history, she also earned a master's degree in public health from Yale University. She works for Patient Care magazine and lives in Larchmont, New York.