Lies You Learned at School

Book excerpt: The book that sets the record straight on classroom inaccuracies, from erroneous history and wobbly geography to sloppy science and bad math. Everyone knows that you shouldn’t believe everything you read in the newspapers, hear on TV, or find on the Internet, but you don’t expect the same advice to apply to what you learned at school. Well, think again, because you can guarantee there’s heaps of stuff in your head that you’ve been taught that just isn’t true, or it if is, has been dumbed down so much as to be just plain wrong. And that’s before you even begin to consider the political bias that may have been added to your schooling. If you don’t believe us, read this book and you’ll discover how much dodgy information you’ve been carrying around in your noodle all these years. Two plus two doesn’t always equal four Henry VIII only had two wives Napoleon wasn’t French Mirrors don’t reverse everything Cold isn’t the opposite of hot Clouds are heavy Gravity is weak, and there’s plenty of it in space Ben Franklin’s kite wasn’t hit by lightning Electrons travel slowly Nothing in the universe is really unique The big bang wasn’t big or a bang The U.S. isn’t a democracy (it’s a constitutional republic)