Take me beyond Wikipedia!
February 24, 2012 9:41 AM Subscribe
So in a week I'm starting a gig writing questions for a tv quiz show! Where are your favourite online (or offline!) repositories or trivia and amazing facts?
Show is slanted towards science/nature/technology, so sites that deal with those are better than ones that deal with pop culture/history/literature/mythology. Hit me with your trivia stick!
Show is slanted towards science/nature/technology, so sites that deal with those are better than ones that deal with pop culture/history/literature/mythology. Hit me with your trivia stick!
There's nothing better for trivia-writing than being well-read and curious. Approaching it from a stance of "finding trivia" will just lead you to cliche. I would bet that the Steve Jobs biography would prompt a dozen excellent science/tech trivia questions that have nothing to do with Apple. Those questions will be much better than questions that come from a "science trivia" source.
posted by blueshammer at 9:54 AM on February 24, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by blueshammer at 9:54 AM on February 24, 2012 [2 favorites]
Depending how broadly you're defining "science" I'd bet that Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking would be a great resource.
posted by gauche at 9:57 AM on February 24, 2012
posted by gauche at 9:57 AM on February 24, 2012
Response by poster: I'm definitely well read and curious, I have been making note of questions that I think are awesome for weeks now as I come across interesting information or remember cool things I've learned in the past. Just looking to broaden my resources a bit for the inevitable times when I get stuck and have a daily quota to meet!
posted by yellowbinder at 9:58 AM on February 24, 2012
posted by yellowbinder at 9:58 AM on February 24, 2012
Best answer: The QI iphone app is full of factoids. In fact, get as much QI as you can. It will help.
posted by zadcat at 10:06 AM on February 24, 2012
posted by zadcat at 10:06 AM on February 24, 2012
The blogs at How Stuff Works, especially Stuff You Should Know is a great resource for nature/techie/biological stuff, plus the podcast is awesome.
posted by banannafish at 10:09 AM on February 24, 2012
posted by banannafish at 10:09 AM on February 24, 2012
From my bookshelf:
The Way Things Work, An illustrated encyclopedia of technology
Asimov: Biographical Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, Chronology of Science and Discovery, Chronology of the World
The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase & Fable, Allusions, etc. (This whole series of Oxford Dictionaries may prove enough on their own.)
posted by carsonb at 10:15 AM on February 24, 2012
The Way Things Work, An illustrated encyclopedia of technology
Asimov: Biographical Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, Chronology of Science and Discovery, Chronology of the World
The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase & Fable, Allusions, etc. (This whole series of Oxford Dictionaries may prove enough on their own.)
posted by carsonb at 10:15 AM on February 24, 2012
The Book of Lists series are old, but they're a great starting point.
posted by Sticherbeast at 10:19 AM on February 24, 2012
posted by Sticherbeast at 10:19 AM on February 24, 2012
Wikipedia, dude. List of X. List of poisoners. List of diseases of unknown etiology. List of LGBT Canadians of African Descent. Just spelunk.
Also, Ken Jennings's book.
posted by Tesseractive at 10:22 AM on February 24, 2012
Also, Ken Jennings's book.
posted by Tesseractive at 10:22 AM on February 24, 2012
Oh, I did this for a while. A visual dictionary is a great resource for those stumpers--"What's the name of that doohickey?"
posted by Ideefixe at 10:32 AM on February 24, 2012
posted by Ideefixe at 10:32 AM on February 24, 2012
Don't know who your target audience is, but An Incomplete Education is a longtime favorite of the high school quizbowl set. I liked using books or existing question banks to make sure my distribution was on track by sub-category, and to remind me of things that I hadn't considered in a while. That or high school AP review books are handy for those times when you might remember to write some questions on elements or the names of subatomic particles, but you might forget that a question to which the answer is 'Lewis structures' is also fair game.
posted by deludingmyself at 10:39 AM on February 24, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by deludingmyself at 10:39 AM on February 24, 2012 [1 favorite]
Scientific American's Ask the Expert, with 15 years of archives.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 11:00 AM on February 24, 2012
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 11:00 AM on February 24, 2012
Best answer: I'm not sure how the J! Archive hasn't been mentioned yet. Every Jeopardy question ever. For the last 27 years.
posted by phunniemee at 11:26 AM on February 24, 2012
posted by phunniemee at 11:26 AM on February 24, 2012
Best answer: You need to fall into the rabbit hole of the quizbowl archive. This is the tribe that Ken Jennings came from if that helps to give a flavor of how intense it can get. Jonp72 may chime in with more details.
posted by jadepearl at 11:38 AM on February 24, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by jadepearl at 11:38 AM on February 24, 2012 [2 favorites]
Uncle John's Bathroom Readers are full of this kind of stuff.
posted by SisterHavana at 2:07 PM on February 24, 2012
posted by SisterHavana at 2:07 PM on February 24, 2012
Nth QI. It's brilliant
posted by ThisKindNepenthe at 9:41 AM on February 25, 2012
posted by ThisKindNepenthe at 9:41 AM on February 25, 2012
Robertson's Book of Firsts is really, really well-researched and fabulous. The eponymous Robertson is obsessed with learning who was the first (the real first, not just the commonly held first) person to do, discover, or invent a particular thing of interest, and the book is incredibly compelling reading, as well as providing a truly encyclopedic knowledge of its subject.
posted by ocherdraco at 3:51 PM on March 27, 2012
posted by ocherdraco at 3:51 PM on March 27, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Duffington at 9:48 AM on February 24, 2012 [1 favorite]