Geoff Kirby's Book Shelf
Geoff has written seven books on a wide range of topics as well as editing and publishing two books for friends. Please browse these books by clicking on a book cover shown below.
Pooing and peeing is now something that we prefer to do in private and not give much thought to unless we are constipated or restricted to close proximity to a toilet due to over enthusiasm in the Indian restaurant the previous evening when drunkenly ordering “The hottest dish on the menu!”. This fully illustrated book takes the reader on a fascinating five-thousand-year exploration of toilet history. This starts with the Neolithic flushed toilets in the Orkney Isles, to the sophisticated Minoan and Roman latrines, the inventions of Thomas Crapper and the widespread use of maize corn cobs before the invention of toilet paper which was comfortingly advertised as “guaranteed splinter free”. The story finally takes us into space with the zero gravity contraptions used in the International Space Station.This story is a must to have on the toilet bookshelf to pass the time whilst waiting for nature to take its course.
All Amazon reviews are 5-stars. A reviewer wrote "I'm shocked this book hasn't gone viral. Well written, researched, informative, and very entertaining. A must-read for a history buff, or anyone who's just interested in stuff. I hope more people discover this book and give it the high ratings it deserves."
Please click here to go to this book on Amazon.
-----------------------------------
Geoff was inspired by his discovery that 80% of women are wearing the wrong size bra. Of these as many as 60% are suffering discomfort, breast pain, have multiple cysts and some even develop breast cancer. Geoff has bought his scientific expertise to find out why so many women suffer with ill-fitting bras.
Giving up wearing a bra benefits sufferers of breast cysts and breast pain. As a result of casting off their bras ladies reported improvements in breast health typically saying
"Leaving off my bra has given me back my freedom. My breast pain has gone. Worry has stopped and I’m enjoying life more".
However, given the pressures from the bra industry, most women will probably not cast off their bras despite the benefits.
Given this huge urge to conform and wear a bra how can you find that perfect bra that won’t pinch, strangle and possibly make you ill?
Geoff has tested over twenty online bra sizing guides and has found most of them to be unreliable - some to the point of being useless. In addition, large discrepancies can exist in bra size and comfort from bras having the same size on the label. This is ‘vanity sizing’ where some bra manufacturers deliberately put the wrong sizes on bras to fool the wearer into thinking she is slimmer and has more ‘sexy’ breasts.
Geoff introduces a new, simple bra sizing guide which will help you find a bra which can be comfortable, attractive and reduce your health risk.
Please click here to go to this book on Amazon.
-----------------------------------
Geoff Kirby’s ‘Lost Childhood’ started two weeks after the start of World War 2. He lived in North London throughout ‘The Blitz’ and later bombardment with ‘Doodlebugs’ and V2 missiles. On several occasions he was close to death; never more so than when his home was destroyed. But - his teddy bear survived being buried in rubble! Geoff’s parents organised a social club to build community spirit during the war. His father was a fancy dress fan. To see him dressed as a ‘Hawaiian Maiden’ wearing a flimsy grass skirt and a bra made of two saucepan lids and string whilst Luftwaffe bombs were dropping all around enthused his family and neighbours to be optimistic and cheerful.After the war there was no respite from misery as the terrible winter of 1947 very nearly bought wide scale famine to Britain with the expectation of over one million starved bodies needing to be stored in warehouses. Geoff’s father
died in 1949 and the worst possible outcome ensued when he was promptly locked up in an abusive boarding school run by Freemasons. The grotesque teachers beat pupils as young as eight with cricket bats, bullied them mercilessly for their physical deformities and even made them eat their own vomit. Geoff’s life greatly improved in 1953 - the year of the Queen’s coronation. This is Geoff’s story of misery, happiness and survival in London in the 1940s and early 1950s.
Please click here to go to this book on Amazon.
-----------------------------------
Geoff Kirby’s passion for astronomy started in 1943 when, as a small child living in bomb shattered London, he watched Nazi ‘Doodlebug’ missiles flying to deliver death and destruction against the backdrop of the night sky in blacked out London. The following seven decades of enthusiasm for the heavens have been captured in this book of six hundred generously illustrated pages.
He shares with aspiring, as well as experienced observers of the universe, advice on choosing binoculars and telescopes as well as observing the Moon, Sun, planets, stars and artificial satellites. Geoff has built several telescopes, observatories and camera guiding systems. The emphasis has always been on producing well-performing equipment at low cost using mainly second-hand materials.
This has enabled him to study the heavens with substantial equipment on
a low budget.
He describes his astronomically-themed travels around observatories in the USA and the Canary Islands. This included observing through the huge 660 mm aperture refractor in Washington DC with which the moons of Mars were discovered by Asaph Hall in 1877.Over forty astronomically themed projects are described which can be pursued either individually or by groups of astronomy club members. Many of these projects require nothing more than the unaided eye or binoculars and are suitable for inspiring both children and adults into looking up and enjoying the heavens.
In the last chapters of this entertaining and inspiring book Geoff describes his investigations of astrology and UFOs. There are 450 easy to follow references to guide readers towards other sources of information and inspiration.
Please click here to go to this book on Amazon.
-----------------------------------
Having recently celebrated her fiftieth wedding anniversary, Ilene reminiscences about her childhood and her career in the Women's Royal Army Corps (WRAC). On marrying Johnny in 1964 she embarked on a life offering many adventures mainly based in Germany and the Middle East. In their married life Ilene and Johnny were to live in 16 houses.
Despite the travelling and disruption of army life, Ilene and Johnny successfully raised two children.
Since their retirement they have been enthusiastic Hash House Harriers and Ilene was for several years events coordinator and secretary to the famous White Helmets army motorcycle display team.
Please click here to go to this book on Amazon.
-----------------------------------
There are eighteen tee shots in a game but a medium to high handicap player will take as many as thirty-five to fifty putts during a game. Reading the green is an essential component of a successful game of golf. Ninety percent of the golfing literature deals with moving the ball from tee to green. Books and articles published on putting deal almost exclusively with grip, technique, and stroking the ball. Practically nothing is written about reading the green and estimating how much a ball will break.
This book explains the way that a golf ball rolls and breaks after being hit. This book will guide you to better putting skills.
“I would say that each day I holed between 2-5 putts that I would not have holed using the naked eye to judge. That is a huge return for someone with my handicap (six) representing a saving of nearly half of my handicap each round!!” Unsolicited praise from a fan of my work!
Please click here to go to this book on Amazon.
-----------------------------------
Amateur athletics enjoyed a huge upsurge in interest in the 1890s. Aspiring sportsmen were spurred on by the exploits of famous runners of the day such as W.G. George, the world mile record holder in 1896, with a time of 4 min 12.7 sec.
The first revived Olympic Games were held in 1896. Around this time St. Paul's Harriers were founded in Weymouth, Dorset.
This book records the history of this athletics club from its foundation up to 1991.
​
Please click here to go to this book on Amazon.
-----------------------------------
The coastal town of Weymouth in Dorset has a long history of flooding. Most of the Town Centre and a large residential estate (The Park District) are all less than 3 metres above sea level. This has resulted in many floods over the past 150 years; several where residents have had to be rescued from their upstairs rooms by boat.
In 2001 a defensive wall was built to keep the sea out and yet, only seven years later, the sea reached within 50 mm of over-topping that wall and seriously flooding the Town Centre. Geoff Kirby’s book describes the history of Weymouth’s floods and examines the effect of sea level rise over the coming decades.
He predicts that without new extensive and expensive flood protection measures the sea will be catastrophically flooding the Town Centre at least once every two years by 2045.
Measures to alleviate this disaster include building a tidal barrage across the harbour entrance, permanently moving the Town Centre to higher ground about two kilometres away, greatly increasing the height of the existing sea wall, etc.
Please click here to go to this book on Amazon.
-----------------------------------
From unicorns on the Moon to UFOs piloted by Martian bees, this book chronicles some of the strangest ideas that have been put forward – and have actually been believed in -- about our universe.
Drawn from tales dating from the Middle Ages to the present, this collection of stories takes readers on an imaginative and wild ride through the ages and minds of some of the wackiest, tackiest, most outlandish concepts in astronomy, cosmology and physics.
Follow along as Geoff Kirby recounts each quirky idea in detail and explains how these theories fare against modern astronomical research and technologies.
​
Please click here to go to this book on Amazon.