Shocking Science - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0600585573 ISBN 13: 9780600585572

Publisher: Hamlyn young books

Synopsis

For every experiment or invention that has been successful, hundreds have been dramatic failures. This book takes a humorous look at 5000 years of muddles, mishaps and understandings, from strange medical practices to unsinkable ships and aliens in space.

About this title

Review

A fun, cartoonish book for the scientifically-inclined -- ages 8 to 80 -- that records some of the more embarrassing cases of scientific muddles, misunderstandings, and mishaps.

From Kirkus Reviews

Quirky, humorous, frequently gross anecdotes about science, scientists, inventions, and discoveries fill this book, subtitled ``5,000 Years of Mishaps and Misunderstandings'' and profusely illustrated with busy, weird cartoons in a magazine-like layout. Readers who relished The Robot Zoo and Everyday Machines will enjoy this effort even if they are not familiar with the great names of science: Pliny, Ptolemy, Alhazen, Galen, Newton, Mendel, and Volta (women are all but invisible--Marie Curie gets a mention as do the sirens of Greek myth, but that's about it). The topics include theories about the age and origin of the world, information on plagues of pesky animals, the search for life on other planets, early medicine, a history of flight, experiments with electricity, accidental discoveries, failed constructions, etc. This is a browsing book: There are no sources given, no chronologies, and no biographical information on any of the people, whose ideas are not presented in the context of their times. Although both a table of contents and an index are provided, they are not always useful: Many of the pages do not include folios, making some flipping back and forth for information inevitable. (Nonfiction. 12-14) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: Hamlyn young books
• ISBN 10: 0600585573
• ISBN 13: 9780600585572
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English