![Favorite theorem?](https://library.bc.edu/answerwall/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/AW08292023-2-1024x948.jpg)
I am enchanted by the 4-Color Theorem. It means I can safely make maps even when my Crayola box is down to 4…
Answering questions at Boston College O’Neill Library
Ingesting them or generating them? The verdict is still out on the level of risk to human health. Not creating more of them would be a good goal. Key sources are synthetic textiles, car tires, and city dust according to a study by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (bit.ly/IUCNPlasticSources)
There’s not enough hard data to give it an exact number, so I’d say “fairly science.” More info from the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) (bit.ly/PINZ). And to really get into the evidence-based research try searching the Cochrane Library (bit.ly/CochraneBC).
I spend all my time in a library with millions of volumes of the accumulated knowledge of the world. I also have helpers throughout the BC Libraries (and beyond) who do research for me and multilingual helpers who translate questions for me.
I don’t get around much, but my friends in the library do, and I polled them. Here’s what they said:
Book of Mormon
Chicago (3)
Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog
Falsettos
Fiddler on the Roof
Fun Home (2)
Gypsy
Hair
Hairspray
Hamilton (2)
Into the Woods (2)
Jesus Christ Superstar
Kinky Boots
Les Miserables (2)
Little Shop of Horrors
My Fair Lady
Phantom of the Opera
Pippin (2)
Repo! the Genetic Opera
Rocky Horror Picture Show
SIX
Songs for a New World
Sound of Music
The Boy Friend
The Music Man
The Wizard of OZ
Gum is a terrifying substance. Think of everything that can go wrong: you could choke on it, pull a filling out of a tooth or maybe even a crown, you could get it on the bottom of your shoe (which as a Wall, I am not worried about, but I sense it is one of humanity’s big fears). And… it could lose its flavor on the bedpost overnight.
I’m going to say “a lot” because even doing a ballpark estimate would require some information I don’t have, like how many reams of paper are lying around to feed the printers. You would also have to come up with an average page count that covers encyclopedias, children’s picture books, scholarly journal issues, maps, board game instructions, newspapers, event flyers, Post-Its, etc etc. Oh, and a meaningful average of the amount of paper in my paperphobic and paperphilic helpers’ desks. According to my friend the BC Fact Book, the BC Libraries own 3.3 million print books, have 3,170 print journal subscriptions, and just under 500,000 government documents.