Science Comics: Bridges: Engineering Masterpieces - Hardcover

Zettwoch, Dan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1250216893 ISBN 13: 9781250216892

Publisher: First Second, 2022

Synopsis

A 2023 National Science Teachers Association Best STEM Book

From the deepest oceans to the farthest reaches of space―and everything in between―Science Comics turns STEM topics into unforgettable graphic novel adventures. This smash-hit series has sold over a million copies!

Suspend your disbelief with Science Comics: Bridges, a new volume of First Second's STEM graphic novel series!

Follow Bea, Archie, Trudy, and Spencer (otherwise known as the BATS!) as they crisscross the globe using every type of bridge: beam, arch, truss, and suspension. From ancient low-slung rope bridges to modern hi-tech towers of steel, they’ll traverse ‘em all. Their journey will take them through history and connect them with new ideas and different cultures. Along the way they'll identify the dangerous forces trying to bring bridges crashing down, and how to defeat them…through engineering!

· Science made exciting: Complex STEM topics become fun, accessible, and easy to understand

· Expertly researched: Created in collaboration with subject experts to deliver accurate, up-to-date information

· A great gift for young scientists: Inspires curiosity, critical thinking, and a lifelong love of discovery

· Supports classroom learning: A valuable resource for independent reading, school libraries, homeschool curricula, and STEM education

About this title

About the Author

Dan Zettwoch is a cartoonist, information designer, and printmaker. In addition to many self-published zines and handcrafted mini-comics, his books include Birdseye Bristoe (Drawn & Quarterly), Amazing Facts & Beyond (Uncivilized Books), and Science Comics: Cars (First Second). His goofball illustrations and jam-packed diagrams have also been seen in the Missouri History Museum, the State Capitol, and in homemade screen prints commemorating local birds, baseball, and gross foods.

Reviews

Gr 4–7—Bea, Archie, Trudy, and Spence are fans of the architecture and engineering of bridges, and together they zip across the globe to visit prominent examples, each allying with a construction technique similar to their names: beam, arch, truss, and suspension. As the physics of each category is explained, the book becomes cumulative, with the reader able to notice how newer bridges use combinations of techniques to distribute force. However, as the gang crisscrosses the planet, the hollowness of the framing narrative is revealed. A fourth-quarter induction of Spence into B.A.T.S. feels groundless, and aside from providing a variety in age, gender, and ethnicity, the characters feel simply like a mnemonic of the types of bridge—which is already present in their team name. They exist to fill out the page while contributing an overstuffed quality to the narration, which is so eager to inform and entertain that the spectacle of the subject matter—the book repeats that bridges should be beautiful as well as functional—never lands under the deluge of captions, jokes, and marginalia. Ultimately, the book wants the reader to use the tools provided to appreciate the bridges one sees in the world, but the aesthetics of the presentation don't inspire the reader with sufficient awe. VERDICT An effective primer on the physics and variety of bridges, but too frenetic and lacking in a sufficient humanist or aesthetic hook to grab many readers unless other volumes in the series are already checked out.—Benjamin Russell

Edition details

• Publisher: First Second
• Publication date: 2022
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1250216893
• ISBN 13: 9781250216892
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 128