Quinn Mons has written a book full of scientific misconceptions Photo: Omerpe Gelderland
Negmen – Flowers should be cut diagonally, spinach should not be heated twice, and packed vegetables are harmful to the environment. These are just three wisdom rooted in society. “But are they right?” Asked Queen Mons (44). A native of Nijmegen did research on it and wrote a book full of scientific nonsense.
The answer is no. You don’t have to cut the flowers diagonally (you can also cut them straight), and you can safely heat spinach twice. The satellites reached this conclusion after reviewing the scientific literature about them. In his book “Magpies love bling bling” he dissected hundreds of such misconceptions.
“The idea arose when we heard that biology books contain things that are not true,” says Munz, who wrote his book with two of his colleagues. “He wrote about the taste areas on the tongue: sweet in the front, bitter in the back, and sour on the sides. But this is wrong: This is mixed. Perhaps misinterpreted.”
A book used in biology classes
The moons have studied biology on their own. And later the Department of Forest and Nature in Philip. As a freelancer, he writes about nature and science for the daily newspaper Trouw and Bionieuws, a trade journal for biologists. When he heard about the error in biology books, he and his colleagues wrote the first book on misconceptions, published by the Netherlands Institute of Biology. There is widespread interest in this; It’s even used in biology classes.
And so there will be a second book: The publisher Cosmos will now be on the market. “It has become a fun and joyful book,” says Mons proudly. “It is not a difficult scientific work, but it is fun for everyone.” Not only have a hundred misconceptions been debunked, but the authors have also investigated how they emerged.
Packaged vegetables are not harmful to the environment
But what about packaged vegetables? Are they not harmful to the environment? Moon: “I can really worry about that in the past: Why is it all in plastic parts? It’s not necessary, is it? Until we investigate why. Lots of vegetables come from far away. They emit and rot slowly. If you put them in, they have a duration Much longer shelf life in plastic containers. So you have much less food waste, but also less travel and less packaging at the end. So if you add everything together, this piece of plastic is actually more beneficial than harmful to the environment. “
Hear here how Koen Moons talks about more science nonsense:
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