It’s a light once-over that really doesn’t do the complex topic justice, but it may spur young readers into taking care with...
From fingerprints to voice, tongue, and even odor recognition, Birmingham explores the ways our identities are being linked to unique physical features or behaviors.
It’s a quick overview, with general looks at several types of established or experimental biometrics and briefer glances at a few more-speculative ones. For each of the former the author rates collection difficulty and (putative) level of security on a simple scale, then goes on to discuss in nontechnical language collection methods, current uses, and distinctive pros and cons. As food for thought, she does weigh the convenience of using biometrics rather than plastic or passwords as identification over such larger privacy and security issues as the proliferation of surveillance cameras in public places. This nuance is missing, however, with her closing, superficial observation that even if it’s “anyone’s guess” where the science of biometrics is headed, at least it shows that we’re all “unique through and through.” Turner’s small cartoon views of stylized high-tech gear and simplified (if diversely hued) human figures brighten the presentation without adding much of substance.
It’s a light once-over that really doesn’t do the complex topic justice, but it may spur young readers into taking care with their IDs and personal information. (index, source list) (Nonfiction. 9-11)Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-77147-193-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Owlkids Books
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2017
The cleanup, finger pointing, litigation and economic recovery are still ongoing, but this overview of the Deepwater Horizon disaster offers a short and coherent account of the spill itself, the well’s eventual capping and, in broad strokes, the immediate environmental impact. Noting that the initial explosion occurred the very night of a ceremony commending the crew’s safety record (but not going into the long tally of construction shortcuts that made that ceremony so disingenuous), Landau provides a linear nonjudgmental account of major events between the April 20 eruption and the announcement of a permanent plug on Sep. 19, 2010. Big color photos add views of the platform burning, ships cleaning up oil slicks, oil-soaked wildlife and damaged coastal areas, along with smaller murky pictures of the failed blowout preventer on the ocean floor and the replacement cap. Additional graphics provide clear views of the technology—the rig itself, a cross-section of the blowout preventer and the relief well in relation to the original well—and a map of the Gulf coastline shows the affected areas. Limited, out of date and entirely based on secondary sources as it is, this still presents younger audiences a slightly more complete picture than Mona Chiang’s Oil Spill Disaster (2000). Includes eco-activities, resource lists and a tally of other major spills. (Nonfiction. 9-11)
Pub Date: April 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7613-7485-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Millbrook
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2011
All those hundreds of witnesses and researchers can’t be wrong, can they? (Nonfiction. 9-11)
A true believer presents the evidence.
Expanding on a partial chapter in her outstanding Tales of the Cryptids (2006), Halls makes her case by tallying Native American legends, the many footprints and reported sightings (a map of the latter claims hundreds from every state except Hawaii), the famous Patterson-Gimlin film, the recorded “Sierra Sounds” and other circumstantial evidence. She also interviews scientists and Sasquatch hunters, includes an account of early searches for Tibet’s Yeti, adds the transcript of a panicky 911 call and even covers some proven hoaxes. She maintains a believer's voice, gently challenging refuseniks: "Serious Sasquatch hunters are as skeptical as unbelievers. They are not out to collect great stories. They are out to put together facts. Proof. The difference is, they are willing to keep an open mind." Illustrated with photos, drawings and archival images aplenty and closing with generous lists of print, Web and video resources this is about as convincing as it gets—considering the continuing absence of any incontrovertible physical proof—and should give young cryptid hunters a good hairy leg up on investigations of their own.
All those hundreds of witnesses and researchers can’t be wrong, can they? (Nonfiction. 9-11)Pub Date: Oct. 25, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-25761-7
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
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