‘Of what a strange nature is knowledge ! It clings to the mind, when it has once seized on it, like a lichen on the rock.’ Mary Shelley, Frankenstein

For years lichen clung to my mind without me really noticing: the S in Harry S Truman didn’t stand for anything ... the stretch of road between the Strand and the Savoy is the only public highway in Britain where you’re legally obliged to drive on the right ... an HB pencil will draw a line 35 miles long. Yes, this stuff fascinated me – but it wasn’t actually important, was it ? Then along came Schott’s Miscellany – and QI – and Does Anything Eat Wasps? ... and all of a sudden trivia was cool. Instead of just being intrigued by the facts, I became intrigued by why I was intrigued. ‘What does our love of trivia say about us ?’ I asked. ‘It’s so interesting to so many people that there must be a message here. A clue as to who we are, how we think, where we’re going.’ I resolved to find out.

The journey took me further than I could ever have imagined ...