What is the world's largest single-celled organism?

What type of grass can support more weight per square inch than concrete?

What male mammal makes breast milk?

Why are dancing cockroaches so fascinating to mathematicians?

Get ready to find out fascinating facts about everything from blue roses and deep earthquakes to singing sand dunes and ticking hourglasses. Blue Genes and Polyester Plants takes you on a lively tour of the universe's astonishing oddities and extremes. Based on cutting-edge scientific research, here are hundreds of juicy tidbits culled from every corner of science--including biology, medicine, engineering, technology, zoology, chemistry, and astronomy. This exciting overview of modern science is sure to inform, entertain, and astound.

SHARON BERTSCH McGRAYNE is the author of 365 Surprising Scientific Facts, Breakthroughs, and Discoveries (also published by Wiley) and Nobel Prize Women in Science: Their Lives, Struggles, and Momentous Discoveries.