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CHEMISTRY STUDY GUIDE Cover
BOOK REVIEW

CHEMISTRY STUDY GUIDE

BY Gregory Gebhart • POSTED ON Sept. 21, 2017

Students can learn how to read the periodic table and carry out some rudimentary chemical reactions with this primer.

Gebhart, who has a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and a master’s in science education, covers a narrow range of chemistry topics in this slender volume. He starts by displaying several partial versions of the periodic table of the elements, each introducing a new piece of data, including chemical symbols, atomic number, atomic weight, and valence electrons. He then offers a brief history of chemistry, touching on ancient concepts of the four elements and atomistic philosophy, medieval alchemy, the dawn of modern chemistry in the recognition that elements combine into compounds in fixed ratios, the rise and fall of phlogiston, Dmitri Mendeleyev’s creation of the periodic table, J.J. Thomson and Ernest Rutherford’s discovery of the atomic nucleus, and Niels Bohr’s detection of quantized energy levels in electron orbitals. With these few scraps of theoretical background recapped, the author then presents problem sets on the basics of stoichiometry, the accounting system that spells out the amount of substances that will go into and come out of a chemical reaction. These straightforward quantitative problems—“How many grams of Cu will react with 200 grams of AgNO3 in a chemical reaction with the balanced equation: Cu + 2AgNO3 = 2Ag + Cu(NO3)2?”—involve reading numbers off of the periodic table and performing simple calculations with them. The book’s second part consists of 15 experiments that are about as elementary as laboratory chemistry gets, requiring students to mix a few ingredients in a water solution and see what happens. Gebhart gives detailed instructions on weighing the various reagents, measuring the temperature and pH of solutions, and ascertaining the amount of the resulting product to see how it tallies against theoretical predictions.

Gebhart’s well-written historical introduction to chemistry ably conveys the excitement of the field to neophytes. (“Rutherford described his amazement at this discovery as being the same as if he had fired a cannon at a tissue and the cannon ball bounced back at him off the tissue.”) The author’s problem sets will give students a good workout, albeit in a very limited repertoire of calculations. Unfortunately, there are typos and errors in the text—the atomic weight of argon is listed in Gebhart’s periodic tables as 83.90 instead of its correct value of 39.948—and the laboratory exercises have major methodological flaws. In one experiment, students are asked to measure the pH of 10-molar hydrochloric acid, but acid that concentrated is beyond the measurement range of standard pH meters. In others, students are told to dry and weigh an insoluble precipitate to determine the percentage yield of a reaction, but not to wash the precipitate first. As a result, other compounds from the solution will cling to the precipitate and increase its final dry weight. And in a third set of experiments, students are invited to weigh a reaction solution to gauge the percentage yield of a reaction, but that instruction is nonsensical because all the reagents and products are together in the solution and the weight cannot change regardless of the yield. Some students may want to look for a more comprehensive guide.

A lively but sometimes-confused introduction to chemistry theory and practice.

Pub Date: Sept. 21, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-97-753610-5

Page count: 74pp

Publisher: CreateSpace

Review Posted Online: Aug. 24, 2021

2 LIVES IN 3 ACTS Cover
BOOK REVIEW

2 LIVES IN 3 ACTS

BY Gregory Gebhart • POSTED ON March 10, 2017

Gebhart (Deere is Right Here!, 2016, etc.) offers a memoir about his lifelong struggle with mental illness and his reflections on a higher power.  

In 1965, when the author was in fifth grade, he first began to experience mood swings. These would prove to be mostly harmless to other people; the author recalls a time in gym class, for instance, when he “started calling my classmates ‘quacker buns’ and laughing uncontrollably.” But they were indications of trouble to come. After high school, he made his way to Swarthmore College, and in his sophomore year he began to understand more about his condition: “I came to realize that I would have one semester up on a manic swing and one semester down on a depressive swing.” In subsequent years, the author would earn an MBA, get married, live in various places, and have and lose a number of jobs, including postions as a substitute teacher and an oil-refinery chemist. He also suffered a number of nervous breakdowns. Looking back on it all, though, he seems to harbor no bitterness about his life: “I may have lost many jobs and have no career at all, but I believe that this serves God’s purpose,” he says, and his book concludes with his thoughts on Scripture and the universe. Overall, the book presents a nuanced and candid account of his various experiences. At just over 100 pages, it’s a swift story, but the author’s interjections of specific details give it a very personal feel. For example, he notes that one of his manic episodes resulted in him getting fired because his employer “just did not understand my behaviors which involved a lot of my swearing at my co-workers.” Many incidents in the book are movingly sad, as well. However, readers will come away, in the end, with an understanding that it’s only through difficulty that one can hope to find purpose.   

A vivid, well-paced account of one man’s winding personal journey.

Pub Date: March 10, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-5446-3123-3

Page count: 116pp

Publisher: CreateSpace

Review Posted Online: May 1, 2017

DEERE IS RIGHT HERE!  Cover
BOOK REVIEW

DEERE IS RIGHT HERE!

BY Gregory Gebhart • POSTED ON March 3, 2017

John Deere tractors show their multipurpose usefulness in this continuation of a picture-book series for young children.

Picture books about heavy machinery, construction equipment, big trucks, and tractors are hardly in short supply, but considering the genre’s avid young fan base, there’s always room for one more. With engaging simplicity, nonfiction author Gebhart (2 Lives in 3 Acts, 2017, etc.) offers a crisply photographed tribute to the venerable John Deere tractor for children in the pre-K to early-elementary range. Following the formula of his previous celebrations of heavy machinery brands Caterpillar and Bobcat, Gebhart introduces the John Deere tractor as “him,” again personalizing a utilitarian vehicle for his young audience as he did with “Bob” the Bobcat and “CAT” the Caterpillar. Rather than a story narrative, however, children are treated to photographs of Deere models (one with treads, one with wheels) in action, equipped variously with drills, rollers, forklifts, a snowplow, excavators, and loaders. The photographs, mostly taken under blue skies and shot on farms, construction sites, and other outdoor areas, are centered on the top half of each page. The eye-pleasing design includes captions beneath the images with simple descriptions of the actions shown (“Deere lifts a concrete block,” “Deere plants a Christmas tree,” “Deere pours stones”). There is also a shot of the tractor’s control center interior (“What Deere looks like inside”). For the most part, tractor operators are glimpsed through the vehicles’ windows, although two captions refer to human “help.” One says, “Deere gets help on a farm,” but because the driver is only dimly seen, the caption’s meaning could be clearer. The second “help” photo shows a tractor operator and other workers front and center, and the context is plain to see—as is this book’s overall appeal for pint-sized enthusiasts.

A well-designed and likable addition to the hefty field of picture books for young fans of useful heavy machinery and trucks.

Pub Date: March 3, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-5447-8860-9

Page count: 24pp

Publisher: CreateSpace

Review Posted Online: April 27, 2017

CAT IS WHERE IT'S AT! Cover
BOOK REVIEW

CAT IS WHERE IT'S AT!

BY Gregory Gebhart • POSTED ON Feb. 25, 2017

A versatile vehicle is the subject of Gebhart’s (Deere is Right Here!, 2017, etc.) latest picture book for very young readers.

“This is CAT!” the book’s narrator announces with enthusiasm, introducing kids to a Caterpillar skid-steer loader vehicle, alongside a photo showing the machine in profile. Although the CAT in the first picture has treads, the CAT in the second has wheels and a drill, showing a particular task that the machine can do. The next has treads again and carries sod to a lawn in a forklift. This picture book is full of partial-page images, accompanied by sparse but easy-to-decipher text, which show a variety of CAT’s jobs—“CAT carries a log” and “CAT scoops gravel” among them. A photo of a small, toy CAT shows that the machine is popular enough to be found in a child’s home, and two other photos show CAT’s drivers. There’s little sense of continuity from one picture to the next—each CAT has different features, and the mentions of “help” by CAT’s drivers aren’t placed consecutively. However, pre-K readers interested in construction vehicles, as well as very newly independent readers, will appreciate the short, concise sentences, which clearly describe the action in each photograph. The final page sums up the types of actions that CAT can take: drilling, scooping, and carrying, “all with help!” The amount of white space and the large print make the book highly approachable, overall. The photos are of varying quality (and one bears a website label), but each clearly depicts its subject in a way that will entice lap-readers to point to the machine’s features or imagine its noises with help and prompting.

Simple text, accessible vocabulary, and plentiful photos may spark conversations about the types of jobs that machines can do.

Pub Date: Feb. 25, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-5441-0203-0

Page count: 34pp

Publisher: CreateSpace

Review Posted Online: April 18, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2017

BOB ON THE JOB Cover
BOOK REVIEW

BOB ON THE JOB

BY Gregory Gebhart • POSTED ON Nov. 25, 2016

A large-print debut picture book showcases the many tasks that Bobcat trucks can accomplish.

“This is Bob. His full name is Bobcat!” exclaims the enthusiastic introductory caption in this volume. The work consists of nearly full-page color photos of various Bobcat trucks accompanied by brief captions, typically a sentence or two. With the second caption noting, “Bob comes in many shapes,” the text then proceeds to focus largely on these vehicles’ numerous capabilities—how they can scoop snow, lift blocks, build walls, lay pipe, etc. The last caption presents a culmination of the celebration: “Bob on the job! With help, a tread, and a scoop, he scoops dirt!” The book also provides a sprinkling of holiday themes, with one photo revealing a Bobcat with a “Happy Mother’s Day” sign on it and the caption explaining, “Bob works on Mother’s Day,” and another page displaying a Bobcat planting a Christmas tree. Many of the photos include construction-type workers with the Bobcats, although one page features a photo of a child at the wheel of a Bobcat with an accompanying caption underscoring the importance of people in operating this vehicle: “Bob needs help to go.” In similar fashion, there are pages dedicated to depicting a Bobcat being towed to a job and a worker pushing along a truck with the caption “Bob helped on the job.” Gebhart, who holds graduate degrees in operations management and science education, demonstrates his love of the science of machinery in this tale focused on—and excited about—the multidimensional functionality of these vehicles. The author’s deft shortening of Bobcat to “Bob” makes these trucks anthropomorphic and accessible to his target audience. Gebhart could have dug even deeper to develop this book, perhaps with more details about the different Bobcat variations and a fully shaped story about a particular Bob. Still, the volume delivers a pleasing conversation starter in its current form.

A charming tale that offers parents an opportunity to teach their young children about the versatility of trucks.

Pub Date: Nov. 25, 2016

ISBN: 978-1-5406-5045-0

Page count: 28pp

Publisher: CreateSpace

Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2016

SELECTED KING JAMES BIBLE VERSES Cover
BOOK REVIEW

SELECTED KING JAMES BIBLE VERSES

BY Gregory Gebhart • POSTED ON Sept. 3, 2016
A compilation offers inspirational verses from the King James Bible.

Writing that “the purpose of this book is to display wonderful verses selected for their beauty,” Gebhart and Graul provide readers with encouraging extracts as they walk them sequentially through the Bible book by book. With only a handful of verses presented from each book, the collection largely leaves out narrative passages as it zeroes in on motivational lines. The chapters on Exodus, Numbers, and Joshua, for instance, omit the underlying stories of the Israelites’ deliverance from Egypt and the 40 years spent wandering in the desert before conquering the Promised Land. Instead, they focus on verses like Numbers 6:24-26 (the only passage from Numbers in the volume), in which God promises to “make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee.” Some books, such as the Song of Solomon in the Old Testament and 2 Thessalonians in the New Testament, are skipped entirely. Likewise, none of the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox deuterocanonical books that were in the original King James Version of 1611 appear in this compilation, which makes for a distinctly Protestant biblical survey. Like some of Gebhart’s other works, such as Favorite Bible Verses (2015), this uplifting volume is an easily digestible introduction to the Bible in its aversion to problematic, violent, and controversial passages. The authors’ choice to use the poetic lyricism of the King James Version complements this approach, which emphasizes style and inspiration. But without narrative passages or editorial commentary, many of the verses come without any of the prerequisite context needed to fully grasp their meanings. Additionally, while the authors suggest in the foreword that they, in part, wrote the work because “Scripture can prove scripture,” the lack of editorial guidance will cause readers to parse for themselves which verses seemingly “prove” others. By reducing the Bible to feel-good aphorisms, the collection also counterproductively risks turning a complex, ancient holy book into an extended greeting card chock-full of clichéd one-liners.

A lyrical but simplified rendition of the Bible that divorces verses from their literary contexts.

Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2016

ISBN: 978-1-53-748111-1

Page count: 258pp

Publisher: CreateSpace

Review Posted Online: May 15, 2021

CHEMISTRY GAMES: VOLUME 2 Cover
BOOK REVIEW

CHEMISTRY GAMES: VOLUME 2

BY Gregory Gebhart • POSTED ON Oct. 26, 2012

A workbook teaches readers how to balance chemical equations.

This follow-up to Chemistry Games: Volume 1 (2011) gives readers an enjoyable way to study a complex subject. Providing four board games, the volume focuses on teaching students about stoichiometry and the law of conservation of mass. It also seeks to help them memorize the periodic table. Once again, each board is made up of colored squares on the “Outer Path,” which list the elements that each player needs to collect to balance a series of stipulated chemical reaction equations. Players move their pieces on the blank squares of the “Inner Path” by selecting Step Cards. The cards are marked with an element, such as carbon, along with its chemical symbol, atomic number, and the number of protons it has. These games also include Claim Cards, which provide the answers for how to balance the equations in the “Outer Path.” Each board comes with its own periodic table, broken into four sections by the “valence,” or combining power, of the elements. The games are specifically aimed at students who are taking chemistry either at the high school or college level, but they may also be valuable for readers who wish to brush up on the basic, foundational elements of the subject. To anyone else, the offerings will probably be incomprehensible. Gebhart’s (2 Lives in 3 Acts, 2017, etc.) determination to make chemistry accessible and interesting for students, especially by presenting them with a new challenge to explore, is admirable. Best of all, his games can all be reproduced and distributed by educators looking for an innovative way to keep their chemistry classes engaged with the topic. The imaginative work should be especially useful for students struggling with the material in their chemistry classes, who may not expect the curriculum to be amenable to games. The volume subverts the belief that learning the hard sciences has to be difficult or laborious.

This worthy sequel makes learning chemistry fun with a quartet of inventive board games.

Pub Date: Oct. 26, 2012

ISBN: 978-1-4611-3894-5

Page count: 54pp

Publisher: CreateSpace

Review Posted Online: April 18, 2017

CHEMISTRY GAMES: VOLUME 1 Cover
BOOK REVIEW

CHEMISTRY GAMES: VOLUME 1

BY Gregory Gebhart • POSTED ON May 9, 2011

A set of games that aim to show chemistry students how to build chemical compounds.

Gebhart (Time to Move On Again!, 2016, etc.), who’s previously authored more straightforward chemistry workbooks, here offers one that presents five educational board games for students. Each comes complete with instructions and playing materials, including pieces for each player, and each is focused on showing how to build compounds from different chemical components. The board is made up of differently colored squares on an “Outer Path,” which list each compound, and blank, white squares on an “Inner Path,” where the players move their game pieces. Players move on these squares by selecting “Step Cards,” which contain specific chemistry lessons. Each Outer Path square lists elements that the players must collect. (A periodic table of elements is also provided.) Players also collect “Claim Cards” that show the specific combinations of elements they need. For example: one square lists the elements “K, Cl, and O,” which are used to create potassium chlorate; the Claim Card shows how those elements are specifically configured (“KClO3”). These games may be incomprehensible to people who aren’t already in the midst of their chemistry education. But for college and high school students who are, this is a useful, alternative way to learn about the basics of chemistry that also provides an element of fun. For instance, if a player pulls the three-step card, he or she not only moves three spaces—but also learns that because the element lithium has three protons, its atomic number is three. (The card also reveals lithium’s symbol and abbreviation.) It’s also worth noting that each of the board games are reproducible, so educators may easily distribute them in classrooms.

The first workbook in a series that helps to make science more accessible through play. 

Pub Date: May 9, 2011

ISBN: 978-1-4611-3899-0

Page count: 64pp

Publisher: CreateSpace

Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2017

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