How Many Licks?: Or, How to Estimate Damn Near Anything

by Aaron Santos

How many licks to the center of a Tootsie Pop? How many people are having sex at this moment? How long would it take a monkey on a typewriter to produce the plays of Shakespeare? For all those... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0762435607
• ISBN13: 9780762435609
• Release Date: August 2009
• Publisher: Running Press Book Publishers
• Length: 175 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.1" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

How many stars? 5

I loved this book... Santos picked out great question, like how many Eucharists would equal one Jesus, and answers them in a way that is simple to understand and recreate. This book is a perfect match for anyone, either the family physicist, the high school student, or your aunt sally. I leave mine on the coffee table to bring out when there is company or a dull moment. It is great at making dimensional analysis easy and fun to understand.

get your Fermi on

Great book for learning the famous estimation techniques of intellectual giant Enrico Fermi. An absolute must for anyone trying to impersonate a physicist at cocktail parties.

Dual function design

This item has math in it which makes it intrinsically sweet and worth 5 stars by itself, but once I tried it on, that's when the magic happened. After checking to ensure that the book would properly cover my test, I walked from my trailer to Wal-mart with the book under my arm and was immediately approached by women. The women knew from the math in the book that I, like math, am a mysterious loner who knows how to 'howl at the moon' from time to time (if you catch my drift!). The women that approached me wanted to know if I would be their boyfriend and/or give them money for something they called mehth. I told them no, because they didn't have enough teeth, and frankly a man with a math book shouldn't settle for the first thing that comes to him. I arrived at Wal-mart, mounted my courtesy-scooter (walking is such a drag!) sitting side saddle so that my math book would show. While I was browsing tube socks, I could hear aroused asthmatic breathing behind me. I turned around to see a slightly sweaty dream in sweatpants and flip-flops standing there. She told me she liked the math in my book, I told her I wanted to howl at her moon. She offered me a swig from her mountain dew, and I drove my scooter, with her shuffling along side out the door and into the rest of our lives. Thank you math book. Pros: Fits my girthy frame, has math in it, attracts women Cons: Only 1 book (could probably use a few more), cannot see math when closed, math would have been better if it glowed in the dark.

Makes math easy

I really enjoyed how the book made math seem fun by answering silly questions. The author also broke down how to do the calculations and gave you the correct answer (just in case you couldn't get it). This is a must for anyone who likes to solve riddles/problems.