Middle-school science students will find this title a useful jumping-off place for science explorations using readily available household products, including toothpaste, shampoo, soap, hand lotion, sun block, detergent, aspirin, and orange juice. The author begins with a review of the scientific method and detailed safety warnings, then presents a variety of projects, for example, evaluating shampoos for cleaning power, analyzing aspirin for the amount of active ingredient, and testing the vitamin C content of orange juice. The author notes all the experiments included are to help the reader become a more educated consumer and to have fun with science. For science-fair projects, additional research and elaboration would be necessary. Some useful extension ideas include investigating “anti-bubbles,” and exploring the scientific concerns regarding overuse of antibacterial products. One experiment, testing large doses of lipid-soluble vitamins on the ability of planarian worms to regenerate lost parts does not seem to provide sufficient safeguards for humane treatment of the experimental animals. A sturdy, readable, and useful title in the “Science Fair Success Series.” (brief glossary, further reading, useful Web sites, suppliers, index) (Nonfiction. 12-14)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-7660-1626-9
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Enslow
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2002
. Adamson is revered as one of the pioneers of the endangered animal movement; Neimark, though capturing much of Adamson’s milieu and the events of her life, paints her as a talented, but impulsive, moody woman. Growing up in Austria between world wars, Adamson trained as a pianist and as an artist. At 18, while attending a ball, she is carried off by a masked “apache” who declares, “You are mine.” The author burbles: “She felt the strength of his arms and the gritty warmth of his body.” That’s only one instance where the lack of source notes is keenly felt; readers will have to digest some astonishing information unaided. Although her romantic interlude lasts two years, her lover’s identity remains concealed (readers will have to suppose that she knew who he was, even if they don’t); Adamson, pregnant and abandoned, has an abortion, becomes a patient of Sigmund Freud, marries twice, and has two miscarriages before meeting her third husband, George Adamson, a gamekeeper in Kenya, who brings home three orphaned lion cubs. The many anecdotes comprising this biography are interesting, but without citations, leave readers unsettled; what is the possible source for Adamson’s dramatic death scene following a confrontation with a disgruntled ex-employee? “Blood seeped from her, but she felt no regrets. She had always chosen risk over safety. She would not, even now, be victim to fear.” (bibliography, index) (Biography. 12-14)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-15-201368-7
Page Count: 118
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1999
This entry in the Milestones in Discovery and Invention series presents clear, if uninspired, stories of medical technology, supplemented by many anecdotes and resource information. Defining medical technology as ``inventions that put science to practical use,'' Yount (Twentieth-Century Women Scientists, 1995, etc.) presents information on the discovery or invention and development of anesthesia, antiseptics, X rays, blood transfusions, artificial and human organ transplants, and medical imaging techniques. Boxed features present useful and intriguing information but classify it too narrowly to be helpful. Another flaw is the often arbitrary inclusion of definitions in the main text, which chops up the discussion. An overview of the world of inventors and medical breakthroughs offers the instructive aspects of competition and ambition and shows the importance of observation and scientific experiment. Yount also treats controversial subjects with intelligence and balance. It's not immediately clear how the book might be used in the curriculum, but there is valuable and fascinating information for researchers here. (b&w photos and diagrams, index, not seen, notes, chronologies, further reading) (Nonfiction. 12-14)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-8160-3568-7
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Facts On File
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 1997
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