A sidesplitting compendium that pays tribute to those individuals whose scientific achievements cannot or should not be reproduced.

Everyone knows about the Nobel Prizes, those prestigious awards that recognize the world's most talented and innovative minds. Unfortunately, not all of the hopeful thinkers and academics around the globe can become Nobel Laureates, but some are lucky enough to win the esteemed Ig Nobel Prize instead. Their unbelievable accomplishments are now documented in glorious detail in The Ig Nobel Prizes: The Annals of Improbable Research.

Drawn from the world's wackiest actual scientific research, The Ig Nobel Prizes demonstrates the extreme measures people will take in the quest for knowledge. Recent Ig Nobel honorees include:

* The professor who won the Ig Nobel Prize in Physics for a study proving that toast falls buttered side down more often.

* The Southern Baptist Church of Alabama, which won the Ig Nobel Prize in Mathematics for devising a formula to determine how many Alabamans will go to Hell.

* The Australian man who successfully patented the wheel, and the Australian Patent Office that granted it. For this act, they were jointly awarded the Ig Nobel Prize in Technology.

This hilarious book features these endeavors and many more, along with photographs from the annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremonies at Harvard University. An entertaining exhibition of brains and determination, The Ig Nobel Prizes is the ideal gift for anyone who first wants to laugh and then wants to think.

This hilarious book features these endeavors and many more, along with photographs from the annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremonies at Harvard University. An entertaining exhibition of brains and determination, The Ig Nobel Prizes is the ideal gift for anyone who first wants to laugh and then wants to think.

An entertaining exhibition of brains and determination--along with photographs from the annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremonies at Harvard University--this is the ideal gift for anyone who first wants to laugh and then wants to think.

Drawn from the world's wackiest actual scientific research, "The Ig Nobel Prizes demonstrates the extreme measures people will take in the quest for knowledge. Recent Ig Nobel honorees include: - The professor who won the Ig Nobel Prize in Physics for a study proving that toast falls buttered side down more often.- The Southern Baptist Church of Alabama, which won the Ig Nobel Prize in Mathematics for devising a formula to determine how many Alabamans will go to Hell.- The Australian man who successfully patented the wheel, and the Australian Patent Office that granted it. For this act, they were jointly awarded the Ig Nobel Prize in Technology.This hilarious book features these endeavors and many more, along with photographs from the annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremonies at Harvard University. An entertaining exhibition of brains and determination, "The Ig Nobel Prizes is the ideal gift for anyone who first wants to laugh and then wants to think.

Marc Abrahams is the editor and cofounder of the science humor magazine Annals of Improbable Research (AIR), its online counterpart www.improbable.com, and the monthly e-newsletter mini-AIR. The father and master of ceremonies of the annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony at Harvard University, Abrahams has a degree in applied mathematics from Harvard.