Why moths hate Thomas Edison : and other urgent inquiries into the odd nature of nature

"Outside" magazine's editor and contributor, Hampton Sides, rollicks through the questions readers ask about the world around them in the magazine's "The Wild File".

Why do worms writhe on the surface after a storm? What good are goose-pimples? Is is true that a great fright can cause your hair to turn grey suddenly?

Are elephants really afraid of mice? What is the oldest living creature on earth? Focusing on natural history and outdoor lore, this collection ranges from the gothic to the comic to the cosmic.

It includes the sorts of questions that most of us stopped asking (at least out loud) when we were eight years old.