96 An Unusual Reference Book

Where do you find out about the world's longest walk? The world's tallest man? The world's oldest woman? You know the answer, of course. It is the Guinness Book of World Records. How would people find such unusual facts without this book?

The Guinness Book did not exist until 1951. Here is what happened. The managing director of Guinness Brewery was a curious man. He wanted answers to some questions about records. For example, he wanted to know what was the fastest flying game bird in Europe. But he was frustrated. There was no book to answer questions like this.

The director, Sir Hugh Beaver, contacted the McWhirter twins. They were brothers who owned a research agency. He asked them to put together a new reference book. It would include all kinds of unusual records. The brothers quickly accepted. The first edition of their book was published in 1955. Soon the Guinness Book of World Records was a best seller. It has sold more copies than any book except the Bible. A new edition is published every year.

Where do all the book's records come from? They are a combination of things like natural wonders, sports records, and stunts. (How many people would push an egg with their noses if they weren't trying to get into the book?) But the editors try to keep things honest. All records must be verified by an investigator. Only then are they printed.

The Guinness Book is big business. It is published in dozens of languages. There are TV shows and museums. It is proof of how intrigued people are with strange pieces of information.

你在哪里可以查到世界上最长的徒步旅行、世界上最高的男人、世界上最年长的女人的信息呢？当然，你知道答案，那就是《吉尼斯世界纪录大全》。如果没有这本书，人们该如何找到这些如此不寻常的事实呢？

《吉尼斯世界纪录大全》直到1951年才出现。事情是这样的：吉尼斯啤酒厂的常务董事是个充满好奇心的人，他想知道一些关于纪录的问题的答案。例如，他想知道欧洲飞得最快的猎鸟是什么。但他很沮丧，因为没有一本书能回答这样的问题。

这位董事休·比弗爵士联系了麦克沃特双胞胎兄弟。他们是拥有一家研究机构的兄弟俩。他请他们编写一本新的参考书，这本参考书将包含各种各样的不寻常纪录。兄弟俩很快就接受了。他们的书的第一版于1955年出版。很快，《吉尼斯世界纪录大全》就成了畅销书，它的销量仅次于《圣经》。每年都会出版一个新版本。

这本书里的所有纪录都来自哪里呢？它们是自然奇观、体育纪录和特技表演等多种事物的结合。（如果不是想进入这本书，有多少人会用鼻子推鸡蛋呢？）但编辑们努力保持内容的真实性，所有纪录都必须经过调查人员的核实，之后才会被刊登。

《吉尼斯世界纪录大全》是一门大生意。它被翻译成数十种语言出版，还有相关的电视节目和博物馆。这证明了人们对奇怪的信息是多么感兴趣。