Companion book to “Life, A user’s manual”.

""My insurance company has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars,” said Merriweather.” In cases like this the car drivers’ insurance should pay out. It was obvious the homeowner’s insurance would be limited.

OuLiPo is a loose gathering of (mainly) French-speaking writers and mathematicians who seek to create works using constrained writing techniques. One member, Perec, wrote a similar book called 'La Disparition’.

Dozens were the popular way of counting ,1 dozen = 12.

Because there are 60 seconds in a minute, and 60 minutes an hour (5*12 = 60). And 24 hours a day (2*12), and turn 360 degrees in a circle (30*12 = 360), Fahrenheit scale was defined by two fixed points with a 180 °F separation (15*12 = 180): water freezes and the boiling point of water. 12 pennies to a shilling and 240 pennies to a pound (20*12 = 240). The Romans had 12 denarii to a solidus and 72 solidi to a pound 6*12 = 72). 12 inches to a foot. 5280 feet to a mile (440*12 = 5280).

Oak Ridge National Laboratory: materials, nuclear science, neutron science, energy, high-performance computing, systems biology and national security.

A rocket scientist should be able to get the average down to a narrower range, even a single value.

During lockdown a Scotch Egg was defined as a "substantial meal" so people could drink in the pub.

There are more people living in caves now than during the Caveman Era.

The earth is spinning so things appear to rotate.