It’s always great reading material about rocks and in particular, ceratin types of rocks where the author has no idea what they’re talking about.

Take How to Perform Strong Man Stunts, which I found via Boing Boing. Of particular interest is the stupendous instruction on How to smash a rock with a blow of the fist. The instruction states that in order to amaze your brain dead friends with a display of your fantastic strength, you will have to choose a soft rock (did I mention that your friends were brain dead?) which will crumble from a single superman-esque blow, after some careful preperation.

The preperation and properties of limestone is where the instruction becomes hilarious for anyone with any idea at all. Geologist or not. Sayith the guide;

The trick lies in the kind of stone you use, and the preperation you give it beforehand.
Get a good sized piece of limestone and soak it overnight in plenty of water. Limestone is so porous it absorbs water like a sponge which actually rots the stone.
[...]You need not be afraid that the water absorbed will show when the stone is broken. It has become soaked into the pores of the stone which rots it by gourging the stone tissues. It is like hitting a blown up balloon. You will get a rousing cheer from this stunt.

This book was printed in 1952, but I’m confident the basic properties of limestone and sedimentary geology have not changed in the past 53 years. In order to properly wade through this ocean of wrongness would take more time than I’m willing to give it, but let’s just say I’d be well impressed if the author had actually ever done this, and the result looked like the provided illustration.