One of the great things about the Internet is that it enables you to "meet" a lot of folks you previously knew only as names. I long ago discovered a series of terrific books by a gent named David Feldman. They all have different titles but they're part of a series he calls "Imponderables," meaning a question about something that's right in front of us all but which we cannot understand. Dave collects such questions and, amazingly, answers them. It's a cliché to say of a book that once you start reading it, you can't put it down…but it applies with his volumes.
Thanks to the wonderful worldwide web, I now exchange the occasional e-mail with Dave and one of these days, when we find ourselves on the same coast, we're going to have lunch or whatever meal seems applicable. This will give him the chance to research an important Imponderable, which is why it is that when two writers eat together, neither one will pick up the check. In the meantime, here's a link to his website where you can buy his books and read his weblog.