I wrote earlier that I love rare facts. Uncommon Knowledge is published by The Economist, edited by Tom Standage, editor by The Economist.

The book consists of short essays of no more than two pages, each zooming in on an unexpected fact. The essays are well written and mostly indeed surprising. For example:

Swaziland is actually called Eswatini; it was renamed in 2018 (the name is eSwatini according to the book, but it is generally spelled Eswatini today).

Carrots are white. Orange carrots originate from the Dutch town of Hoorn and may have been grown out of a gesture of support for William of Orange.

Why most refugees do not live in camps: because camps are miserable places. Even when aid is more accessible in camps, refugees prefer an uncertain life in cities because they have more opportunities to do things. Conclusion by The Economist: let refugees out of camps; let them work.

China loans pandas to other countries as a political tool.

Why do people eat more chicken nowadays? It is cheaper, and breading them is so efficient. Chickens are so big nowadays that they can’t get on top of each other anymore to mate. I also talked about this after reading Jonathan Foer’s book Eating Animals (Dieren eten). (Yes, I eat vegetarian.)

Expensive weddings yield higher chances of divorce.

Import tariffs do more harm to the economy than good. (The book was written during Trump’s first presidency).
In 2018, the WHO published a list of deadly viruses, including the placeholder’ Disease X’, an undetermined disease that could cause an international epidemic.

The US has, next to Brazil, one of the highest deaths caused by firearms per capita in the world. Two-thirds of these deaths in the US are suicides. So, I would say you could very well conclude that the NRA in the US is a lobby organization promoting suicides. You never hear a pro-life organization about these approximately 26000 deaths per year.

Islamic zina laws inhibit illicit sexual relationships. This often applies to the victim of rape as well. That is a horror even worsened by the primitive punishments of whipping and stoning. A complete nightmare for women.

Turkey puts most journalists in prison of all countries in the world. (And is still contemplating the introduction of zina laws).

An interesting book that gives a different view on many topics.