Preface Imponderables are mysteries that can’t be answered by numbers, measurements, or a trip to the reference section of your library. If you worry about why the carbons on airplane tickets are red, or why tennis balls are fuzzy, or why yawning is contagious, you have been struck by the dread malady of Imponderability. When we wrote the first volume of Imponderables, we weren’t sure that there were others like us, who were committed to cogitating about the everyday mysteries of life. We needn’t have worried. Most of the Imponderables in this book were submitted by readers of the first two volumes of Imponderables. In Why Do Clocks Run Clockwise?, we introduced a new section, Frustables (short for “frustrating Imponderables”) and asked for your help in solving them. Your response was terrific, but we don’t want you to get complacent. We’ve got ten new Imponderables that we haven’t been able to solve. And because so many readers offered corrections and caustically constructive comments, we’ve added a letter section—we couldn’t shut you up anymore even if we wanted to.
