Do You Think You're Clever?: The Oxford and Cambridge Questions

Description

Why can't you light a candle in a spaceship? What books are bad for you? Is nature natural? The Oxbridge undergraduate interviews are notorious for their unique ways of assessing candidates, and from these peculiar enquiries, professors can tell just how smart you really are. Every year learned professors pose curious conundrums to potential students to separate the wheat from the chaff, and the clever from both of them. Deftly exploring the twisting paths your mind can take when you're really made to think, Do You Think You're Clever? provides dazzling answers to over 60 of these infamously perplexing problems. John Farndon takes the reader on a rollercoaster ride from philosophy to physics, literature to logarithms, considering why the pole-vaulting world record will never exceed 6.5m, whether there are too many people in the world, how to reduce crime through architecture, and much more. How would stand up against Oxbridge's sharpest minds? Do You Think You're Clever? is a sparkling tour amid the heights of intellectual abstract thought. Imbibe slowly and give your neural networks the workout they crave.

John Farndon graduated from Jesus College, Cambridge with a degree in English Literature. Libby Purves OBE is a radio presenter, journalist and author. Best known for presenting BBC Radio Four's Midweek, she also writes regularly for The Times and has published twelve novels. She is a graduate of St Anne's College, Oxford, with a First in English Language and Literature.

As well as putting your smug relatives to the test, this book is an entertaining way of encouraging unusual thought and debate. -- Oldie A great book to dip into... you can hardly stop yourself wanting to see the next question. -- Evan Davis, BBC Radio 4, Today John Farndon has compiled one of the most thought-provoking and unique quiz books from the very questions posed in Oxbridge interviews in recent years. The questions will challenge even the most ardent of QI fans as we find ourselves on the receiving end. -- Burton Mail Light-hearted and informative quiz book. -- Woman and Home Magazine A fascinating little book. -- Lizzy Siddal, Lizzy's Literary Life blog