Focuses too much on the mundane and too little on the sublime.
Since prehistoric times, human beings have been trying not to get lost; Aschim traces how we got better and better at finding our way.
Before the advent of radio waves and GPS (which the book also covers), humans navigated using everything from stars and ocean swells to trees and sand dunes. Aschim traces how humans used these natural systems to build increasingly sophisticated navigation tools, such as the chronometer and the compass rose. Interspersed among the historical and scientific descriptions are activities designed to reinforce concepts and to help readers become master navigators themselves, such as making a sextant and practicing dead reckoning. The book is at its finest when it explores broad scientific and social concepts, such as the inherent navigational capacities of the human brain or the seafaring practices of the ancient Polynesians. Unfortunately, as the book continues, these moments grow fewer and fewer, the text bogging down with lengthy mathematical explanations and dense exposition. The book’s hectic design—including its frenetic color scheme—makes it even more difficult for readers to concentrate. Additionally, while Aschim admirably highlights navigational advances made by a range of nations and cultures, from the nomadic Bedouins to the ancient Chinese, he does not apply this same critical lens to the European conquests, which he describes as exploration rather than the dangerous beginnings of colonialism.
Focuses too much on the mundane and too little on the sublime. (afterword, index) (Nonfiction. 9-12)Pub Date: June 23, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5235-0634-7
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Workman
Review Posted Online: April 7, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2020
How and when the Western Hemisphere, particularly North and South America, came to be populated continues to be both mysterious and controversial for scientists. Archaeologists plug away with the tools at their disposal but have “more questions than answers.” Harrison does a good job setting the issue in context. He describes the earliest efforts to identify the original inhabitants of the continents, exploring the Clovis culture, believed by many to be the first humans to reach North America. After clearly explaining how scholars decided that they were first, he then lists the arguments against this hypothesis. In the course of looking at both sides, he introduces young readers to “the strict rules of archaeology.” The author demonstrates the precise work of those attempting to understand the hidden aspects of human history and how many of these old questions are seen in the light of new technologies and discoveries. The narrative is aided by both photographs and original illustrations that imagine scenes from both the distant past and the field experiences. (glossary, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-59078-561-4
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2010
"A human is a pretty wild thing," argues the author of this collection of curious facts and intriguing studies about human behavior. With a breezy text supported by a lively design, the author of Gross Universe (2004) again presents science in a way certain to attract middle-grade and middle-school readers. Chapters on the senses, emotions, communication and interactions with other human beings cover a variety of topics, each on headlined double-page spreads. Each chapter includes a description of “a cool study” organized into appropriate sections: question, observation, experiment (illustrated with step by step cartoons), results and summary. “Are you an animal?” sidebars describe comparable animal behavior. From dirty diapers to canned laughter to body language, he finds topics that both appeal and enlighten. Directly addressing readers, he invites participation by asking questions—“How are you sitting right now?” “Does smell affect your dreams?” “Does your heart race when….?”—and draws them in further with do-it-yourself experiments. A section on good manners even includes guidelines for behavior at a concert—differentiating between classical and rock. The digital art includes bits of photographs, line drawings, the use of color and shapes to help organize the print and plenty of symbols. No specific sources are cited, but an extensive list of experts is acknowledged. Popular science through and through, you can’t help enjoying this. (index) (Nonfiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-926818-07-8
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Maple Tree Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2011
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