Table Of Content

1 0,582 sq k m 0% 9 3 48 m 27 M AY s e m 220 ti s e AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FANTASTIC FACTS t M u 5 Q S n 0 1 i ou r WOR LD m t o n n 0 es 6 6 B AGS 9 g in NUMBERS k 0 0 n 1 o 2,900 i km l l i b 7 . 3 4 days m 0 6 C ° 3 3 5 0 7 9 £ 1 9 1 000011__HHaallff__ttiittllee..iinndddd 11 2299//1100//22002211 0088::4488 000022--000033__TTiittllee..iinndddd 22 2299//1100//22002211 0088::4488 3 00 2 0 km million 2 2 , 0% 9 AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FANTASTIC FACTS WOR LD ou r in NUMBERS Written by CLIVE GIFFORD 5 l i tres 1 . m 5 m 0 3 s n p 6 c u o i l l 39 t r i 4 C M 0 k ph 1 1 000022--000033__TTiittllee..iinndddd 33 2299//1100//22002211 0088::4488 CONTENTS 3 00 2 0 km million 2 2 , 0% 9 6 A world of numbers SPACE DK LONDON Project editors Kelsie Besaw, Selina Wood 10 The mysterious Universe Art Editor Gregory McCarthy Editors Bharti Bedi, Priyanka Kharbanda, Vicky Richards 12 Spectacular stars Designers Jim Green, Beth Johnston, 14 Earth’s Moon Renata Latipova, Anthony Limerick, Lynne Moulding Picture Researcher Nick Dean, Jo Walton 16 The planets Managing Editor Francesca Baines Managing Art Editor Philip Letsu 18 Exploring space Production Editor Jacqueline Street-Elkayam 20 Top 10: Largest launchers AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FANTASTIC FACTS Production Controller Sian Cheung Senior Jacket Designers Suhita Dharamjit, Akiko Kato 22 Living in space Jacket Designer Tanya Mehrotra Jackets Design Development Manager Sophia MTT ou r WOR LD Senior DTP Designer Harish Aggarwal Senior Jackets Coordinator Priyanka Sharma-Saddi Managing Jackets Editor Saloni Singh EARTH Publisher Andrew Mcintyre Art Director Karen Self Associate Publishing Director Liz Wheeler Publishing Director Jonathan Metcalf 26 The blue planet First published in Great Britain in 2022 by 28 Rocks and gemstones in NUMBERS Dorling Kindersley Limited 30 Top 10: Tallest mountains DK, One Embassy Gardens, 8 Viaduct Gardens, London, SW11 7BW 32 Earthquakes and volcanoes 34 Natural wonders The authorised representative in the EEA is Dorling Kindersley Verlag GmbH. Arnulfstr. 124, 36 Trees and forests 80636 Munich, Germany 38 Top 10: Longest rivers Written by CLIVE GIFFORD Copyright © 2022 Dorling Kindersley Limited 40 Oceans and seas A Penguin Random House Company 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 42 Deserts 001–322075–Mar/2022 44 At the poles All rights reserved. 46 Climate and weather No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, 5 l i tres recoorr dbiyn agn, yo mr oetahnesr w(eilseec),t rwointhico, umt ethceh apnriicoar lw, prihttoetno cpoeprmyinisgs,i on 1 . of the copyright owner. A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. m ISBN: 978-0-2414-7118-0 5 m 0 3 Printed and bound in China s n p 6 c u o www.dk.com i l l 39 t r i 4 This book was made with Forest Stewardship C Council® certified paper – one small step in M 0 k ph DK’s commitment to a sustainable future. 1 For more information go to 1 www.dk.com/our-green-pledge 000022--000033__TTiittllee..iinndddd 33 2299//1100//22002211 0088::4488 000044--000055__CCoonntteennttss..iinndddd 44 2299//1100//22002211 1133::2255 NATURE HISTORY 50 Prehistoric creatures 130 Ancient Egypt 52 Microscopic life 132 Ancient Rome 54 Fabulous flora 134 Imperial China 56 Spiders, bugs, and insects 136 Aztecs and Incas 58 Fantastic fish 138 Fortresses and castles 60 Rays and sharks 140 The world of Islam 62 Scaly reptiles 142 Medieval kingdoms of Africa 64 Top 10: Longest snakes 144 Top 10: Longest-reigning monarchs 66 Amazing amphibians 146 Changing fashions 68 The world of birds 148 Into battle 70 Incredible big cats 72 The magnificent whale 74 Brawny bears SCIENCE AND 76 Primates TECHNOLOGY 78 Top 10: Heaviest land animals 80 Your brilliant body 82 Super senses 152 Essential elements 84 The human brain 154 Sound and light 86 Stinky poo and goo 156 Energy and forces 158 The energy of hot and cold 160 Generating electricity PEOPLE AND 162 Everyday materials 164 Ingenious inventions CULTURE 166 Super structures 168 Top 10: Tallest bridges 90 A world of people 170 Wheeled vehicles 92 Earth’s continents 172 On the water 94 The world’s countries 174 Terrific trains 96 Buzzing capitals 176 Taking flight 98 Top 10: Most populous world cities 178 Top 10: Fastest aircraft 100 Language 180 Going digital 102 Flying the flag 182 Versatile robots 104 World religions 106 Top 10: Tallest statues 184 Glossary 108 Astonishing art 188 Index 110 Listen to the music 192 Acknowledgments 112 On the stage 114 At the movies 116 Solo sports 118 Playing as a team 120 Top 10: Olympians 122 The written word 124 Tasty food NOTE: THE FACTS AND STATISTICS IN 126 All about pets THIS BOOK WERE CORRECT AT THE TIME OF GOING TO PRESS. 000044--000055__CCoonntteennttss..iinndddd 55 2299//1100//22002211 1133::2255 A WORLD NATURE HISTORY OF NUMBERS 50 Prehistoric creatures 130 Ancient Egypt 52 Microscopic life 132 Ancient Rome 54 Fabulous flora 134 Imperial China 56 Spiders, bugs, and insects 136 Aztecs and Incas It’s impossible to imagine our lives without numbers. The first 58 Fantastic fish 138 Fortresses and castles counting systems were invented thousands of years ago, and 60 Rays and sharks 140 The world of Islam 62 Scaly reptiles 142 Medieval kingdoms of Africa today we use many different types of numbers to help us 64 Top 10: Longest snakes 144 Top 10: Longest-reigning monarchs understand the world around us. Throughout this book, you’ll 66 Amazing amphibians 146 Changing fashions 68 The world of birds 148 Into battle discover hundreds of amazing number facts that answer 70 Incredible big cats questions like the ones below and many more. 72 The magnificent whale 74 Brawny bears SCIENCE AND 76 Primates TECHNOLOGY 78 Top 10: Heaviest land animals 80 Your brilliant body LONG AGO MANY 82 Super senses How How 152 Essential elements 84 The human brain 154 Sound and light was the Roman Empire? stars are there? 86 Stinky poo and goo 156 Energy and forces We use time to measure Counting can add up almost anything – from 158 The energy of hot and cold history, as well as to people and pets to stars and sea creatures – 160 Generating electricity keep track of the and helps us to think about really big PEOPLE AND 162 Everyday materials seconds, minutes, and numbers and concepts. 164 Ingenious inventions hours in a day, or the CULTURE 166 Super structures days and months in a 168 Top 10: Tallest bridges year. Without time, we 90 A world of people 170 Wheeled vehicles wouldn’t be able to 92 Earth’s continents 172 On the water count our age or get 94 The world’s countries 174 Terrific trains to school on time. 96 Buzzing capitals 176 Taking flight 98 Top 10: Most populous world cities 178 Top 10: Fastest aircraft 100 Language 180 Going digital 102 Flying the flag 182 Versatile robots 104 World religions 106 Top 10: Tallest statues 184 Glossary 108 Astonishing art 188 Index 110 Listen to the music 192 Acknowledgments 112 On the stage FAST How is a cheetah? 114 At the movies 116 Solo sports Speed is the time it takes to travel from one 118 Playing as a team point to another. Some things move really 120 Top 10: Olympians fast, such as cheetahs and racecars, 122 The written word while other things move slowly, such as glaciers and snails. 124 Tasty food NOTE: THE FACTS AND STATISTICS IN 126 All about pets THIS BOOK WERE CORRECT AT THE TIME OF GOING TO PRESS. 6 000044--000055__CCoonntteennttss..iinndddd 55 2299//1100//22002211 1133::2255 000066--000077__IInnttrroo..iinndddd 66 2299//1100//22002211 0088::4488 MUCH WIDE How does How is a film cost to make? the Grand Canyon? Numbers used for money can Measurements for short distances such as show the value of things, from centimetres and metres tell us how wide or the price of popcorn or cinema long something is, while long distances such tickets to the budgets needed as kilometres tell us how far we’d have to to make big blockbuster films. travel to get from one country to another. PERCENTAGE What of the world’s population speaks Chinese? When we use percentages, we’re describing a part of something out of a whole. It helps us understand things like how many people out of the entire world population speak a language. TALL How is the Burj Khalifa? Measuring height tells us how tall something is, from the tallest skyscrapers to the loftiest mountain peaks. Height can even help mark the passage of time, as you measure how much you grow every year. 7 000066--000077__IInnttrroo..iinndddd 77 2299//1100//22002211 0088::4488 MUCH WIDE How does How is a film cost to make? the Grand Canyon? Numbers used for money can Measurements for short distances such as show the value of things, from centimetres and metres tell us how wide or the price of popcorn or cinema long something is, while long distances such tickets to the budgets needed as kilometres tell us how far we’d have to to make big blockbuster films. travel to get from one country to another. PERCENTAGE What of the world’s population speaks Chinese? When we use percentages, we’re describing a part of something out of a whole. It helps us understand things like how many people out of the entire world population speak a language. TALL How is SPACE the Burj Khalifa? Measuring height tells us how tall something is, from the tallest skyscrapers to the loftiest mountain peaks. Height can even help mark the passage of time, as you measure how much you grow every year. 7 000066--000077__IInnttrroo..iinndddd 77 2299//1100//22002211 0088::4488 000088--000099____CChh11____SSPPAACCEE__OOPPEENNEERR..iinndddd 88 2299//1100//22002211 0088::4488 000088--000099____CChh11____SSPPAACCEE__OOPPEENNEERR..iinndddd 99 2299//1100//22002211 0088::4488 The mysterious UNIVERSE From the tiniest atomic particle to the largest galaxy, the Universe is everything that exists. It was formed billions of years ago in a massive explosion known as the Big Bang. The Universe is so big h. t r a that it takes light billions of E m years to travel across it. o r f y a w a S The Universe is approximately R A 13.8 BILLION E Y T YEARS OLD. H G I L 0 0 0 10 BILLION °C , 7 s (18 billion °F) was the temperature i A of the Universe 1 SECOND after L U THE BIG BANG. B E N E The FIRST ATOMS didn’t form until L G , 380 000 A E E H T YEARS after the Big Bang. STARS ARE BORN in clouds of dust and gas, called NEBULAE. Collections of stars bound together by gravity form GALAXIES. IC 1101, one of the largest-known galaxies, contains around 100 trillion stars. 10 000088--000099____CChh11____SSPPAACCEE__OOPPEENNEERR..iinndddd 99 2299//1100//22002211 0088::4488 001100--001111__TThhee__MMyysstteerriioouuss__UUnniivveerrssee..iinndddd 1100 2299//1100//22002211 0088::4488