THE LIBRARIAN WHO MEASURED THE EARTH

The story of Eratosthenes, a scholar of the third century b.c. Blending fact with informed conjecture, Lasky describes the education of a wellborn Greek boy, suggests questions he might have asked, and follows him from school in his native Cyrene (in what is now Libya) to further study in Athens and his post at the great library at Alexandria. Lasky highlights her subject's most notable qualities in a perky, lucid narrative. She depicts Eratosthenes's curiosity and orderly mind (he was an inveterate list maker) as the foundations of his greatest accomplishment: While writing a comprehensive geography, he estimated the circumference of the earth to within 200 miles of today's most precise measurements. With admirable clarity, Lasky explains exactly how he did it. Hawkes's pop-eyed characters burst with intelligence, while his lively full-bleed paintings include touches of humor amongst authentic details of the setting—in particular, some mischievous action on otherwise stately vases. An excellent contribution. Bibliographies for both Lasky and Hawkes; a note and an afterword place the librarian in histical context. (Nonfiction/Picture book. 5-10)