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An entertaining and fascinating examination of the rules and regulations that dominate everyday life—how they came about, who they serve, and whether they actually make us safer

Does an airline pilot really need to surrender his fountain pen at airport security when he's about to board an aircraft equipped with an axe on the back of the cockpit door? Can a cellphone really cause a major explosion at a gas station? Is there really a good reason why you should be prevented from swimming in a lake more than a foot deep? These rules exist, and they exist in the name of our own protection. But this engrossing dissection of global health, safety, and security regulations digs a little deeper to discover the real reasons behind many of the instructions we obey without questioning their creators' motives. The conclusions range from the startling to the staggering, and in presenting them the authors argue that many safety rules are not as unassailable as we think, and seek to empower us to question the people and organizations who come up with them in the first place.