The Blackbirch Encyclopedia of Science & Invention Volume 4.

Acclaimed science writers Bryan Bunch and Jenny Tesar have created a wonderful 4-volume set that places every entry within the context of history. The lives and achievements of everyone from Aristotle to Vladimir Zworykin (inventor of the television camera and tube) are explained here, along with detailed entries on inventions and developments that changed the course of human history. Thematic discussions of broad topics -- such as airplanes, heat, and motion -- are presented in a format that clearly shows the development of each idea, and its connection to the work that came before and after.

This set includes:

• Highly cross-referenced entries for easy research
• Full-color icons indicate field of science for each entry
• "Connections timeline" element shows -- at a glance -- the progression of ideas that led to the development of each invention
• Special features-- such as Famous Firsts, How It Works, Nobel Prize profiles, and Yearbook -- add fun and interest

"This four volume series broadly surveys topics and people in science and technology. The presentation is outstanding. The text is lively, illustrations are widely used and informative, there is heavy use of cross-references and each topic has a corresponding resource list...One of the goals of this series is to place scientific achievements and personalities in the context of history, and it succeeds admirably. The authors have been exemplary in avoiding a Eurocentric perspective and in citing accomplishments of women and members of minority groups...These books are worth having and using in a science classroom."
-- Science Books & Films (October 2002) (Science Books & Films 20021001)

"...broadly surveys topics and people in science and technology. The presentation is outstanding. The text is lively, illustrations are widely used and informative,..provides both print and Internet references for further information and background and compensates well for often-cursory topic coverage...authors have been exemplary in avoiding a Eurocentric perspective and in citing accomplishments of women and members of minority groups...worth having and using in a science classroom."
-- Science Books & Films (September-October 2002) (Science Books & Films 20021001)

"..being chock-full of basic, nontechnical information on subjects as diverse as map making, musical instruments, concrete, and food chains, as well as introductions to major figures from Aristotle to Tim Berners-Lee, this volume merits consideration as a support for such standard specialized encyclopedias as Inventions and Inventors or Eureka!"
-- School Library Journal (Febraury 2002) (School Library Journal 20020201)

"A very fine four-volume set covering the latest developments in science and invention will appeal to middle school collections which want to replace aging references with something new."
-- Children?s Bookwatch (December 2001) (Children's Bookwatch 20011201)