This 4-vol. set illustrates the importance of scientific and mathematical principles through their use in everyday life. Each volume focuses on a specific scientific discipline -- biology, chemistry, earth sciences and physics -- offering students an in-depth understanding of each discipline and its theories. Creating a sense of real-life relevance for students, the Science of Everyday Things expands on the explanations of scientific principles and concepts using a straightforward, step-by-step approach, and presents theories in their everyday applications. Some of the entries covered include: how osmosis is used in dehydrating fruit; how the principles of aerodynamics are applied to cars; Charles law and the chemical reaction that sets off an airbag; how algorithms are used to figure out the NCAA playoff tournaments; and more. Each volume the Science of Everyday Things presents approximately 40-50 entries and includes photos, diagrams, sidebars containing short glossaries and interesting facts and details relating to each principle.
The first two volumes of this series are
Real-Life Chemistry and
Real-Life Physics, released in 2001. The purpose of the series is to explain scientific phenomena using common real-world examples.
Real-Life Earth Science has about 40 entries covering various scientific phenomena and principles. Information in each entry includes "Concept" (defines the scientific principle or theory), "How It Works," "Real-Life Applications," and "Where to Learn More." A "Key Terms" section defines terms from the text. Examples of topics include study of the earth, geology, geomorphology, soil science, geochemistry, and meteorology. Under "Real-Life Applications" we can learn about the greenhouse effect (under
Ecosystems and ecology); mass extinction (under
Paleontology); and the 1812 New Madrid, Missouri, earthquake (under
Seismology).
Entries, written at a level accessible to high-school students and the general reader, average about 10 pages in length. The "Where to Learn More" section provides about 10 books and Web sites for further information. Black-and-white line drawings and photographs supplement the text. There are no color illustrations. An index offers subject access to the contents of the volume; in addition, there is a cumulative subject index of all 4 volumes. The basic facts provided in these books are available elsewhere, but the "Real-Life Applications" may be interesting to some. Recommended for high-school and public libraries. RBB
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