Lively writing, pertinent science, and an urgent topic make this a must-read for all.
A comprehensive look at the state of planet Earth.
This book is full of dire facts, but it’s not doom and gloom. Its lively, conversational tone with plenty of jocular asides keeps it unintimidating and accessible. Part I gives a brief, clear history of the cosmos and planet Earth and, particularly, its five earlier extinction events, which wiped out at least 75% of species. Part II discusses possible threats for a sixth extinction event, including asteroids, supervolcanoes, diseases, overpopulation, and war. Each is dissected in a way that manages to be more compellingly informative than scaremongering. Part III, entitled “What’s Going Wrong Today,” is where things get a bit terrifying. Climate change is scrutinized with the available facts and real-world examples—and the results are grim. But any good science book will leave readers feeling empowered, and that is the case here. An easy-to-understand checklist of things readers can do is provided along with the science that backs up these seemingly how-could-this-possibly-make-a-difference actions (eating less meat, for example). The book has loads of fun, interesting data; impeccable organization; and an enjoyable, nonpatronizing tone. Young readers will appreciate that this book is talking to them, not at them. It’s difficult to write a science-based book about the possible demise of the human species and make it empowering and entertaining, but this one does it. Final art not seen.
Lively writing, pertinent science, and an urgent topic make this a must-read for all. (author’s note, glossary, source notes, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 10-17)Pub Date: May 10, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5394-1
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2022
PERSPECTIVES
Wordplay and wry wit put extra fun into a trove of fundamental knowledge.
With an amped-up sense of wonder, the Science Guy surveys the natural universe.
Starting from first principles like the scientific method, Nye and his co-author marvel at the “Amazing Machine” that is the human body then go on to talk up animals, plants, evolution, physics and chemistry, the quantum realm, geophysics, and climate change. They next venture out into the solar system and beyond. Along with tallying select aspects and discoveries in each chapter, the authors gather up “Massively Important” central concepts, send shoutouts to underrecognized women scientists like oceanographer Marie Tharp, and slip in directions for homespun experiments and demonstrations. They also challenge readers to ponder still-unsolved scientific posers and intersperse rousing quotes from working scientists about how exciting and wide open their respective fields are. If a few of those fields, like the fungal kingdom, get short shrift (one spare paragraph notwithstanding), readers are urged often enough to go look things up for themselves to kindle a compensatory habit. Aside from posed photos of Nye and a few more of children (mostly presenting as White) doing science-y things, the full-color graphic and photographic images not only reflect the overall “get this!” tone but consistently enrich the flow of facts and reflections. “Our universe is a strange and surprising place,” Nye writes. “Stay curious.” Words to live by.
Wordplay and wry wit put extra fun into a trove of fundamental knowledge. (contributors, art credits, selected bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 11-15)Pub Date: Oct. 27, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4197-4676-5
Page Count: 264
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: Aug. 24, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
Hot on the heels of the well-received Leonardo da Vinci (2005) comes another agreeably chatty entry in the Giants of Science series. Here the pioneering physicist is revealed as undeniably brilliant, but also cantankerous, mean-spirited, paranoid and possibly depressive. Newton’s youth and annus mirabilis receive respectful treatment, the solitude enforced by family estrangement and then the plague seen as critical to the development of his thoughtful, methodical approach. His subsequent squabbles with the rest of the scientific community—he refrained from publishing one treatise until his rival was dead—further support the image of Newton as a scientific lone wolf. Krull’s colloquial treatment sketches Newton’s advances in clearly understandable terms without bogging the text down with detailed explanations. A final chapter on “His Impact” places him squarely in the pantheon of great thinkers, arguing that both his insistence on the scientific method and his theories of physics have informed all subsequent scientific thought. A bibliography, web site and index round out the volume; the lack of detail on the use of sources is regrettable in an otherwise solid offering for middle-grade students. (Biography. 10-14)
Pub Date: April 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-670-05921-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2006
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