Hatch's Order of Magnitude has the benefit of being both a solid reference (in terms of its thesaurus attributes) as well as a fun, browsable book. While some of Hatch's lists have informational use (such as degrees of distance) nearly every list has an element of whimsy, especially lists such as degrees of flat circular bread. The book is intended as a tool for writers, a catalyst for debate, a handrail for the imagination, and much more. The declarative audacity of this book could spark discussion from regular folks to taxonomists, stand-up comics to lexicographers, writers, teachers, and other language professionals and enthusiasts. The book endlessly identifies the Best, Worst, Least, Most, Biggest, Smallest, Hottest, Coldest, in short, the Ultimate.