How to Win Friends and Influence Fungi: Collected Quirks of Science, Tech, Engineering, and Math from Nerd Nite

by Chris Balakrishnan, Matt Wasowski, Kristen Orr (Illustrator)

Overview

In the vein of acclaimed popular-science bestsellers such as Atlas Obscura, Astrophysics for Young People in a Hurry, The Way Things Work, What If?, and Undeniable, the co-founders of the global science organization Nerd Nite bring readers a collection of wacky, yet fascinating STEM topics.

For 20 years, Nerd Nite has delivered to live audiences around the world, the most interesting, fun, and informative presentations about science, history, the arts, pop culture, you name it. There hasn’t been a rabbit hole that their army of presenters hasn’t been afraid to explore. Finally, after countless requests to bring Nerd Nite to more fans across the globe, co-founders and college pals Matt Wasowski and Chris Balakrishnan are bringing readers the quirky and accessible science content that they crave in book form, focused on STEM and paired with detailed illustrations that make the content pop. The resulting range of topics is quirky and vast, from kinky, spring-loaded spiders to the Webb telescope’s influence on movie special effects.

Hilariously named after Dale Carnegie’s iconic book, How to Win Friends and Influence Fungi features narratives, bursts, and infographics on all things STEM from scientists around the world. Chapters are sure to make you laugh-out-loud, with titles such as "The Science of the Hangover," "What Birds Can Teach Us About the Impending Zombie Apocalypse," and "Lessons from the Oregon Trail."

With fascinating details, facts, and illustrations, combined with Chris and Matt’s incredible connections to organizations such as the Discovery Network and the Smithsonian Institution, How to Win Friends and Influence Fungi is sure to reach joyful STEM enthusiasts of all ages around the world.

About Nerd Nite: Started in 2003, Nerd Nite is a monthly event held in 100+ cities worldwide during which folks give 20-minute fun-yet-informative presentations across all disciplines, while the audience drinks along!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250288349
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	02/20/2024
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	87,537
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

About Nerd Nite: Started in 2003, Nerd Nite is a monthly event held in 100+ cities worldwide during which folks give 20-minute fun-yet-informative presentations across all disciplines, while the audience drinks along!

Chris Balakrishnan founded Nerd Nite when he was a graduate student in evolutionary biology at Boston University. Nerd Nite was born of a Boston bar owner’s curiosity about Chris’ ornithological adventures and Chris’ goal of making science more accessible.

Matt Wasowski is a professional curator, programmer, writer, and events producer. He has been the Big Boss of Nerd Nite since 2006. And that’s not even his day job. After spending a few years writing for magazines and weeklies, he led the marketing team of Wimba, the first web conferencing company for higher education. He moved on to work at ReedPOP, where he led the programming of mega-conferences such as BookExpo, BookCon, Star Trek Mission, and New York Comic Con Presents, and now he organizes conferences for SAE International, the association of engineers who build cars and planes of the future. He holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication and an MFA in Non-Fiction Creative Writing from The New School.

Editorial Reviews

12/04/2023

In this rollicking collection, Balakrishnan and Wasowski—founders of the Nerd Nite series, in which experts present short, accessible science talks—bring together brief essays by scholars and others on such topics as “sex change and gender roles in anemonefishes,” microbes’ role in creating human body odor, and the feasibility of sci-fi artificial gravity systems. Numerous entries focus on animals, including scientist Laura Chaibongsai’s study of the U.S. Navy’s successful efforts to train “dolphins to detect underwater mines” and primatologist Natalia Reagan’s survey of homosexual behavior among nonhuman primates. The selections are uniformly irreverent—in “To Boldly Go,” journalist Brendan Byrne discusses how astronauts pee and poop during space missions—while dispensing illuminating trivia, as when neuroscientist Paula Croxson explains that the hair-of-the-dog approach to treating hangovers actually does work because the methanol that builds up in the body during an alcohol binge can be partially neutralized afterward with ethanol from alcoholic drinks. The broad range of topics ensures most readers will find something of interest, and the brisk pace will keep them glued to their seats. Playful yet enlightening, this entertains. Illus. Agent: Danielle Svetcov, Levine Greenberg Rostan. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

"How to Win Friends and Influence Fungi feels like the science book we never knew we wrote! It's fun, accessible, and packed full of the kinds of factoids and knowledge that we love to share on our own podcast. Message to all the schools everywhere - get this on your shelves immediately!" — Charles W. "Chuck" Bryant and Josh Clark, Stuff You Should Know podcast

“A sheer delight. Will I now have recurring nightmares of spiny maggots gently prying dead skin from my feet? Maybe. But my waking self now knows this is a GOOD thing. Bravo Avir and company! And bravo maggots!” — Jad Abumrad, Founder and Fromer Co-Host, NPR's RadioLab

"As I can testify from personal experience, Nerd Nite is one of the greatest achievements of the human species."
— Michael Caruso, CEO and Publisher, The New Republic

"An enjoyable romp through the back alleys of scientific research, proving that knowledge and fun can easily go together." — Kirkus

"Delightful and eminently readable. This book about the Nerd Nite empire will be an excellent addition to science collections." — Library Journal (starred review)

"What a gift to have all of Nerd Nite's greatest hits collected in one place! How to Win Friends and Influence Fungi is the most fun I've had with a popular science book in a long time. There's a 100% chance that this book will blow your mind and make you laugh, but there's also the distinct possibility that you'll learn something life-changing — or at least how to get rid of that hangover." — Erin Barker, Executive Director and Co-Founder, Story Collider

"The broad range of topics ensures most readers will find something of interest, and the brisk pace will keep them glued to their seats. Playful yet enlightening, this entertains." — Publisher's Weekly

From the Publisher

★ 02/01/2024

In 2003, Balakrishan, then a Boston University graduate student and now the program director for the National Science Foundation, hosted the first Nerd Nite gathering at a Boston bar. The event combined several 20-minute presentations on any scientific topic with the opportunity for the audience to drink while they took in new facts. It was immediately popular and quickly moved on to New York City, where Wasowski took on the task of spreading these events worldwide. Today, Nerd Nite takes place monthly in more than 100 cities across the globe, and many presentations are featured on the brand's YouTube channel. Presenters are often grad students or professors just getting started in their fields. The Nerd Nite cofounders determined that the next logical step in their offerings would be a collection of articles by some of their most popular presenters. Topics range from wildlife and bodily fluids to space and mathematics. This book features 70 such articles, each designed to inform and delight readers with irreverent tones and factual accounts of particular subjects. VERDICT Delightful and eminently readable. This book about the Nerd Nite empire will be an excellent addition to science collections.—Jennifer Moore

Library Journal

2023-09-05
A quirky compilation presents an engaging stroll through a forest of peculiar subjects.

For anyone who often finds life difficult, depressing, and too serious, this book is for you. Balakrishnan and Wasowski collect dozens of presentations from their Nerd Nite events, which are held monthly. There is also a YouTube channel, curated by the authors, who between them have a good mix of expertise. The subjects are largely scientific and cover topics ranging from the chemical basis of hangovers to the complex math of gossip. Some of the presenters are established scientists, while others are doctoral students or people who just know a lot about a specific topic. Several of the essays are laugh-out-loud funny—e.g., Jane Gregory’s piece about why some people are driven to paroxysms by small but repetitive sounds, such as those made by the annoying individuals who eat chips straight from the foil bag (“misophonia can attach itself to any repetitive sound, but the most common ones are things like chewing, breathing, sniffing, and throat clearing).” Others, such as the zombie creatures of the animal kingdom or dealing with excrement in space, are cleverly droll. Many, such as the piece titled “Why Nuclear Fusion Would Be Awesome—If We Get It to Work” or the one explaining how to manipulate perceptions of physical attractiveness (“Hot or Not? How To Be a Perfect 10”), are surprisingly informative. Most of the essays are only a few pages, so the book is a good one to dip into when a lift in mood is required, and Orr’s wacky illustrations provide a further dimension. One regrettable omission is that there is no contribution on influencing fungi, although it is clear that Balakrishnan and Wasowski are fun guys.

An enjoyable romp through the back alleys of scientific research, proving that knowledge and fun can easily go together.

Kirkus Reviews