Marc Abraham's Ignobel Prizes is the latest book in a series that seeks to highlight some of the strangest scientific research papers to be published. From the founder of the esteemed Annals of Improbable Research (www.improbable.com), the Ignobel Prizes award scientists for some truly bizarre work, including the research into dunking biscuits (see How to Dunk a Donut).
The Ignoble prize is the antithesis of the Nobel prize, and it's quite surprising how many scientists from around the world have shown up to collect their awards.
The Ignobels (Igs) are like a scientific 'Razzies'.
The book is broken into chapters that span all scientific disciplines and has many categories, with at least two or three stories of dubious research in each.
It's a fairly light read with only a page or two dedicated to each Ig, but overall it's thoroughly enjoyable nonetheless.
And why shouldn't the man that gave clams Prozac and made them happy be recognised?