2,024 QI Facts To Stop You In Your Tracks


Book Description

EVERYTHING TO PLAY FOR - A NEW BOOK BY QI ELVES JAMES HARKIN AND ANNA PTASZYNSKI - IS AVAILABLE FOR PREORDER NOW *THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER* 'I love these books ... the best books ever. Brilliant' Chris Evans A bumper final edition of the most surprising, amazing, and hilarious facts on the planet from the clever-clogs at QI. QI is the smartest comedy show on British television. Here creator John Lloyd and QI Elves James Harkin and Anne Miller bring together 2,024 brain-tickling brand new facts to stop you in your tracks... Did you know that: Humans glow in the dark. The Pope drives a blue Ford Focus. One of the moons of Uranus is called Margaret. Scottish football referees are sponsored by Specsavers. Dogs visiting US National Parks can be certified as Bark Rangers. The world's smallest computer is smaller than a grain of sand. Candyfloss was invented by a dentist. Nobody knows who named the Earth.







Optimal Control


Book Description

A NEW EDITION OF THE CLASSIC TEXT ON OPTIMAL CONTROL THEORY As a superb introductory text and an indispensable reference, this new edition of Optimal Control will serve the needs of both the professional engineer and the advanced student in mechanical, electrical, and aerospace engineering. Its coverage encompasses all the fundamental topics as well as the major changes that have occurred in recent years. An abundance of computer simulations using MATLAB and relevant Toolboxes is included to give the reader the actual experience of applying the theory to real-world situations. Major topics covered include: Static Optimization Optimal Control of Discrete-Time Systems Optimal Control of Continuous-Time Systems The Tracking Problem and Other LQR Extensions Final-Time-Free and Constrained Input Control Dynamic Programming Optimal Control for Polynomial Systems Output Feedback and Structured Control Robustness and Multivariable Frequency-Domain Techniques Differential Games Reinforcement Learning and Optimal Adaptive Control




Galaxy Formation and Evolution


Book Description

A coherent introduction for researchers in astronomy, particle physics, and cosmology on the formation and evolution of galaxies.




Funny You Should Ask . . .


Book Description

***PRE-ORDER FUNNY YOU SHOULD ASK . . . AGAIN: MORE OF YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED BY THE QI ELVES NOW*** The perfect gift for all those big and little kids in your life who ask 'why...?'. WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY ZOE BALLPre-order the next book in this series, 222 QI Answers to Your Quite Ingenious Questions, published in paperback on 3rd November.'QI have outdone themselves!' ALAN DAVIES 'Fabulous . . . A cracker of a book!' SUE PERKINS'The QI Elves are barnstormingly brilliant.' ZOE BALL'Genuinely useful and endlessly fascinating.' THE SPECTATOR'Hilarious.' DAILY MAILThe QI Elves are the brains behind the enduringly popular BBC TV panel show QI.Every Wednesday the Elves appear on The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show where they answer the ponderings and wonderings of BBC Radio 2's most inquisitive listeners.Dive into this splendid collection of listeners' unusual questions and some unexpected answers that are sure to make your head spin on topics ranging from goosebumps to grapefruit, pizza to pirates and everything in-between. Generously sprinkled with extra facts and questions from the Elves, Funny You Should Ask . . . is essential reading for the incurably curious. How much water would you need to put out the Sun?If spiders can walk on the ceiling, why can't they get out of the bath?Why do dads make such bad jokes?Why does red mean 'stop' and green mean 'go'?Can I dig a tunnel to the other side of the Earth?How do plant seeds know which way is up?Can you fill up a black hole?Who popularised the recorder, and where can I get hold of them?For more from the team behind QI, visit qi.com. You can also follow QI's fact-filled Twitter account @qikipedia and listen to their weekly podcast at nosuchthingasafish.comFor more mind-boggling nuggets of wisdom check out the QI FACTS SERIES







If Ignorance Is Bliss, Why Aren't There More Happy People?


Book Description

A really quite interesting book of hilarious jokes and motivational quotes, one which gathers the truest and funniest insights of the best minds, and organises them into 250 subjects, from ambition to worry, (or from artichokes to woodpeckers). Featuring quotations from Indira Ghandi, Mark Twain, Homer Simpson, J.S Bach and a prologue from Stephen Fry, there's a motivational quote for almost every situation life throws at you (from the death of your child's hamster to the unified theory of everything). "The Beatles are dying in the wrong order." -Victor Lewis Smith"When you forget to eat, you know you're alive." -Henry James"I think people would be alive today if there were a death penalty." -Nancy Reagan"You know 'that look' women get when they want sex? Me neither." -Steve Martin Collected by the writers of the BBC show, QI, and authors of the worldwide bestsellers The Book of General Ignorance and 1,227 QI Facts To Blow Your Socks Off, here is an inspirational handbook of wise one-liners, hilarious jokes, and motivational quotes of truth and beauty.




The Requirements Engineering Handbook


Book Description

Gathering customer requirements is a key activity for developing software that meets the customer's needs. A concise and practical overview of everything a requirement's analyst needs to know about establishing customer requirements, this first-of-its-kind book is the perfect desk guide for systems or software development work. The book enables professionals to identify the real customer requirements for their projects and control changes and additions to these requirements. This unique resource helps practitioners understand the importance of requirements, leverage effective requirements practices, and better utilize resources. The book also explains how to strengthen interpersonal relationships and communications which are major contributors to project effectiveness. Moreover, analysts find clear examples and checklists to help them implement best practices.




The Second Book of General Ignorance


Book Description

From the brains behind the New York Times' bestseller, The Book of General Ignorance comes another wonderful collection of the most outrageous, fascinating, and mind-bending facts, taking on the hugely popular form of the first book in the internationally bestselling series. Just when you thought that it was safe to start showing off again, John Lloyd and John Mitchinson are back with another busload of mistakes and misunderstandings. Here is a new collection of simple, perfectly obvious questions you'll be quite certain you know the answers to. Whether it's history, science, sports, geography, literature, language, medicine, the classics, or common wisdom, you'll be astonished to discover that everything you thought you knew is still hopelessly wrong. For example, do you know who made the first airplane flight? How many legs does an octopus have? How much water should you drink every day? What is the chance of tossing a coin and it landing on heads? What happens if you leave a tooth in a glass of Coke overnight? What is house dust mostly made from? What was the first dishwasher built to do? What color are oranges? Who in the world is most likely to kill you? Whatever your answers to the questions above, you can be sure that everything you think you know is wrong. The Second Book of General Ignorance is the essential text for everyone who knows they don't know everything, and an ideal stick with which to beat people who think they do.




1,423 QI Facts to Bowl You Over


Book Description

'I love these books ... the best books ever. Brilliant' Chris EvansThe sixth book in the bestselling series brings bizarre, astonishing, conversation-starting facts from the clever clogs at the hugely popular BBC quiz show QI. Did you know that: Iceland imports ice cubes. A group of ladybirds is called a loveliness. It is illegal in Saudi Arabia to name a child Sandi. Eight billion particles of fog can fit into a teaspoon. People who read books live longer than people who don't. Prince Philip was born on a kitchen table in Corfu. No human beings have ever had sex in space.Netfiix's biggest competitor is sleep. Mice sigh up to 40 times an hour.