Why?: Answers to Everyday Scientific Questions - Softcover

Levy, Joel

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0982732295 ISBN 13: 9780982732298

Publisher: Zest Books, 2013

Synopsis

Why? Answers to Everyday Scientific Questions gets to grips with concepts that appear simple and straightforward, but which most people, when asked, really can’t explain. Why is the sky blue? Why is water wet? Why do we need sleep? Why are there 24 hours in a day? For each question, author Joel Levy provides a simple, single line answer followed by more in-depth information about the scientific background on these essential topics. The book spans physics, biology, chemistry, geology, geography, meteorology, paleontology and planetary science  - allowing readers to wow friends and family alike with pithy answers to the obvious questions they never thought to ask.

About this title

About the Author

JOEL LEVY is a writer and journalist specialising in history and science. He is the author of more than a dozen books, including Newton's Notebook, Great Scientists, Mad Science (revealing the secret histories of madness, magic, and mysticism among great inventors and scientists), The Doomsday Book (a guide to scenarios for the end of civilisation), History's Lost Treasures, and the forthcoming History's Worst Battles. He has also written features and articles for the national press, and has appeared on national television and numerous local and national radio shows. A long-term student of the history of science and medicine, Joel has a BSc in Biological Sciences and an MA in Psychology.

Reviews

For browsers with somewhat longer attention spans than those served by Kath Grimshaw’s short-answer The Book of Why? (2010) and the plethora of like titles, Levy (Phobiapedia, 2011) offers nontechnical but detailed explanations for a wide range of randomly chosen natural phenomena. The 54 queries he poses range from questions for which specific answers are relatively easy to deliver—“Why is the sky blue?” and “Why does my cell phone lose its signal?”—to more complex ones, such as “Why are men bigger than women?” and “Why is the world getting warmer?” Despite occasional oversights, such as an explanation of how lightbulbs work that mentions only the filamentous kind, there is plenty here to satisfy casual interests and spark new ones. Grades 6-9. --John Peters

Edition details

• Publisher: Zest Books
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0982732295
• ISBN 13: 9780982732298
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 192