Appealing fare for STEM-centric flipping and dipping.
A gallery of gadgets, gizmos, and groundbreaking innovations, from sliced bread to smartphones.
Concept definitely trumps content, as Gifford introduces in no discernible order an arbitrary 100 inventions in a likewise arbitrary 100 words (more or less) apiece. For each, Gu supplies brightly hued representations of a fancifully rendered version, often being used by racially diverse groups of figures sporting stylized features and a range of skin colors. The entries go back to prehistoric times to include the wheel, scratch plow, and writing but mainly comprise more recent innovations like printing and telegraphs, bubble wrap and search engines, lasers and plastics. Amid all these usual suspects lurk some lower-profile picks, from paper bags and Kevlar to the dishwasher and Barbie dolls. All of the inventions in the previous sentence and others besides, the author notes, were invented by women—in fact, for all the brevity of his anecdotes and descriptions, he’s careful to identify specific inventors whenever possible, and he also highlights any who are or were particularly young. Closing timeline notwithstanding, this isn’t offering any coherent picture of the grand sweep of technological advance, but the format will draw casual browsers and collectors of random facts. 100 Things To Know About Art, by Susie Hodge and illustrated by Marcos Farina, publishes simultaneously, taking a similar approach to visual arts, covering periods, media, techniques, and more.
Appealing fare for STEM-centric flipping and dipping. (index, glossary, resource lists) (Nonfiction. 8-11)Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7112-6808-1
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Happy Yak
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2021
A broad if somewhat arbitrary survey, more suitable for casual browsing than systematic study.
One hundred watershed discoveries and developments in science and technology.
Conceptual and design flaws render much of this panoramic survey only marginally usable. Within each of 10 general areas ranging in scope from “Space” and “Numbers” to “Wheels,” Gillespie highlights 10 significant prehistoric and historical advances. Her explanations are concise but clear, and she consistently gives credit where credit is due to women scientists and inventors. But along with some factual flubs—no, we don’t have seasons because “the sun spins on a tilted axis”—and overlapping entries, none of the topics or names are easy to look up, as the volume is unpaged and unindexed. Worse, the decision to use small, hair-fine type over dark green or blue backgrounds leaves large portions of the narrative only semilegible even in bright lighting. Du occasionally tints the skin of some human figures in the stippled cartoon illustrations a very light brown, but a lab-coated redhead who elbows her way into many scenes and sometimes actively participates in them inserts a white, Eurocentric presence into the overall narrative.
A broad if somewhat arbitrary survey, more suitable for casual browsing than systematic study. (glossary) (Nonfiction. 9-11)Pub Date: April 6, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-84780-843-1
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Wide Eyed Editions
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
A truly delicious, hands-on way to study science in action.
A high-calorie introduction to rocks, minerals, geological processes, plate tectonics, fossils, the reason for seasons, and more.
Coppens dishes up compact but flavorful slices of science framed as questions and answers—covering topics including the types of fossils, the difference between rocks and minerals, weathering and erosion, continental drift, our planet’s inner structure, and the origin of the moon. But throughout, the large, red central question is seldom more than a page turn away: “How does this relate to cake?” The answers, often presented in full recipes, are as illuminating as they are delicious. Young researchers can, for instance, not only better understand the Mohs hardness scale by comparing the sliceability of angel food cake and fruitcake, but actually observe chocolate “magma” flow and harden just like igneous rock from the core of an “Extrusive Molten Lava Cake,” among other tasty “experiments.” As a final challenge, round “cake pops” painted with blue and green candy melt can be set up around a yellow “sun”…if they last long enough. Many of the color photos (many supplied by the author, and the rest from stock libraries) are on the small side, the source list at the end shows a heavy reliance on Wikipedia articles, and the recipes all require significant tooth-brushing afterward. Still, directions are clear (and note where adult help is required), the earth science information is solid, and the whole premise hangs together beautifully.
A truly delicious, hands-on way to study science in action. (Nonfiction. 9-11)Pub Date: May 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943431-28-1
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Tumblehome Learning
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2017
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