Ig Nobel prizes - Marc Abrahams

For 10 years the august scientists of Harvard University have scoured the world's research establishments for the most bizarre and weird real-life scientific research.

WHAT: The Ig Nobel Prize honours individuals whose achievements in science cannot or should not be reproduced. 10 prizes are given to people who have done remarkably bizarre things in science over the previous year. The Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony is held in October. Prizes are awarded by genuine Nobel laureates.

WHY: The 'Igs' are intended to celebrate the unusual, honour the imaginative and shine a grubby spotlight onto the weird corners of laboratories around the world.

PAST WINNERS: Peter Fong's experiment in which he fed Prozac to clams (Ig Nobel Biology Prize, 1998) on the basis that if they chilled out more they'd taste better.

Harold Hillman's report on 'The Possible Pain Experienced during Execution by Different Methods' (Ig Nobel Peace Prize, 1997)

Jerald Bain and Kerry Siminoski's examination of The Relationship among Height, Penile Length, and Foot Size (Ig Nobel Statistics Prize, 1998).

Masumi Wakita (Ig Nobel Psychology Prize, 1995) and their achievement in training pigeons to discriminate between the paintings of Picasso and those of Monet

Richard Seed (Ig Nobel Economics Prize, 1997) and his plan to clone himself and other human beings.

Ida Sabelis (Ig Nobel Biology 2000) for Magnetic resonance Imaging of Male and Female Genitals During Coitus and Female Sexual Arousal

The book will look behind the scenes of these landmark researchers and feature the weirdest research from a hundred years of science.