Why is 13 an unlucky number? Why, where and how did the superstition begin? Why do we have an obsession with the number 13 and how does this affect our daily lives? Is there a place for superstition in modern culture? In 13, a book of 13 chapters of 13 pages, Nathan Lachenmeyer reveals the extraordinary history of one of the most prevalent and enduring superstitions in the Western world - the belief that 13 is an unlucky number. It is also a book about superstition in general - why do people believe in a superstition, knowing that belief to be irrational? How and why do superstitions die out? What was the original name for the movie Friday the 13th? (It had nothing to do with 13.) Which is the only New York hotel to have a 13th Floor? Who, out of Edgar Allen Poe, Woodrow Wilson, Oscar Wilde, Victor Hugo and Adolf Hitler had a deep-rooted phobia of 13, and who was particularly fond of the number? History, mythology, mathematics, psychology and trivia all play their part in this intriguing book about the world's unluckiest number.
- ISBN10 1861976887
- ISBN13 9781861976888
- Publish Date 13 October 2005 (first published 14 October 2004)
- Publish Status Cancelled
- Out of Print 25 May 2005
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Profile Books Ltd
- Edition Main
- Format Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
- Pages 169
- Language English