SCIENCE FAMILY

Odd Boy Out:  Young Albert Einstein by Don Brown

Will:  I loved Odd Boy Out and I would recommend it for several reasons.  The book tells you incredible facts about Albert Einstein that are not usually found in Albert Einstein biographies.  For example, when he was born they thought his head was too big, but it was fine (even though the back of his head seemed swelled for the rest of his life.)  Also, he tried to go to college before he finished high school.   He came up with the E=mc part of his famous equation before he finished high school.  In school he was thought to be slow because he would linger over his answers.  Reading about how Einstein was different made me feel good because I feel left out sometimes and it is good to know that I am like Einstein.

Dogs and Cats by Steve Jenkins

Mom: Steve Jenkins is an illustrator who specializes in handmade paper collage. His best-known books are non-fiction titles about subjects that interest young children. There is not too much information per page, and the illustrations, not surprisingly, are exquisite. Any one of his books would be a great read with a curious, science-minded preschool or primary elementary student. They don't have enough information to be useful beyond about grade 2 for school reports.

Other good books by Steve Jenkins:

What Do You do with a Tail Like This? (Caldecott Honor Book)

Prehistoric Actual Size

Actual Size

The Little Giant Book of Science Trivia by Glen Vecchione

Sam:  I enjoy reading this book because it is a great reference source.  It gives you facts in 1 to 3 sentence entries.  This is a great book for light reading.  You can read it for 5 minutes or 5 hours.

Jon Krakauer's Adventure on Mt. Everest by Scott Werther

Sam: Jon Krakauer's Adventure on Mt. Everest is a great one-day read. It is only 41 pages long and in fairly large print. There are lots of pictures, too. This book is about writer/climber Jon Krakauer and 25 others trying to summit Everest. They get caught by a fatal storm. Read it to find out the outcome. 

Backyard Ballistics by William Gurstelle

Mom: This is a great book for people who like to make things blow up. The author is an engineer, and he designed the 13 devices in the book to go together inexpensively (with materials found at the grocery or hardware store) and with safety in mind. It is definitely a book for young adults/adults, but the boys are very into doing the experiments with us. We have tried, to date, the Cincinnati fire kite (successful) and the match rockets (still perfecting our technique.) Next up is the water balloon flinger, before the weather turns cold…

The Leaping, Sliding, Sprinting, Riding Science Book: 50 Super Sports Science Activities by Bobby Mercer

Mom: The author is a high school physics teacher and coach of several sports. He has designed a set of simple experiments to illustrate scientific principles through the fun of sports. Some of the experiments include: calculating your own horsepower, how to hit a topspin and throw a perfect spiral, why spitballs are illegal, the aerodynamics of downhill cycling, locating the sweet spot on your bat or racket, and why drafting gives race car drivers an advantage. Many sports are touched upon and few unusual supplies are needed. A kid could easily do several of these in a day, and the majority of them are designed to do alone. Geared toward grades 4-8.

Crime Scene: Science Fair Projects by Elizabeth Snoke Harris

Mom: The section at the beginning that discusses what forensics are, how to formulate a good question, and how to apply the scientific method to an experiment are very well done. Various careers in forensics are described, including forensic anthropologist, forensic entomologist, and a questioned document examiner. Others are touched upon in descriptions of various analyses, such as forensic geologists in the soil analysis section and materials engineers in the fractography section. The experiments are terrific, covering many aspects of crime scene investigation. Some examples: DNA extraction from fruit, fingerprint extraction and comparison, handwriting analysis, document recovery, soil analysis, chemical identification, and more. We tried the blood spatter pattern experiment and the dental print analysis recently, and have also used the method described to dust for fingerprints. The author does a good job laying out supply lists, detailed instructions, and asking questions to prompt further investigation in the conclusion of each experiment.

The Immense Journey   by Loren Eiseley

Dad:  I first read this group of essays in high school and have found myself going back to them periodically.  I am now reading selected ones to the boys.  No one does a better job at explaining the human condition through science than Loren Eiseley.

Will: I loved The Birds and the Machine because of him releasing the bird.

E=mc2: A Biography of the World's Most Famous Equation by David Bodanis

Dad: I could not put this book down. It is a series of stories that tell the background of each of the parts of the equation, and how earlier scientists had set the stage for Einstein's ground-breaking theory. Later the book discusses how this equation changed the world, explaining the development of both nuclear energy and nuclear bombs. NOVA did a series based on this book (Einstein's Big Idea) but the book is much better. This is a must-read for any person who has more than a passing interest in physics.

The Great Dinosaur Hunters and Their Discoveries by Edwin H. Colbert

Dad: Calling all "boneheads": if you are interested in stories of early paleontologists, this is the book for you. Colbert's extensive research into the first dinosaur bones unearthed and the men and women who figured out what they were is amazing. Some of the great stories covered here are the Iguanadon, the Megalosaurus, the Apatosaurus, and the Hadrosaurus. The feud between O.C. Marsh and Edward Drinker Cope (known as the Bone Wars) brings a real Wild West feel to the early finds in Morrison, Colorado and Como Bluff, Wyoming.

The Dragon Seekers: How an Extraordinary Circle of Fossilists Discovered the Dinosaurs and Paved the Way for Darwin by Christopher McGowan

Dad: This is a fascinating book that takes the reader back to the time when dinosaurs were first being identified in England. Characters include Richard Owen, who coined the term Dinosaur, Mary Anning, Gideon Mantel, and a young Charles Darwin. McGowan is a scientist first and a writer second, so there are times that the prose gets bogged down in the Latin names. Along with this, McGowan sometimes spends too much time on what I would call trivial matters instead of sticking to the story, but all in all I found the Dragon Seekers to be an interesting story about the fathers of paleontology.

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach

Dad: I listened to this book driving from Chicago to Denver. The book is just as it is titled-the story of cadavers after the funeral. Roach follows many different cadavers through organ transplants, medical research, gross anatomy class, a body farm, mortician's school, even composting. Each story is told with compassion, humor, and tact. Stiff may sound a little morbid, but it sure made Iowa and Nebraska go by quickly.