Science Book Club | Science books, reference materials, and textbooks for sale

Desert Days, Desert Nights

Roxie Munro’s Desert Days, Desert Nights is such a fun picture book to use when exploring all of the different creatures in the desert with a child. My family’s exploration began when my daughter watched an episode of her favorite show, The Magic School Bus, and saw that there were many different animals that inhabited the desert. She promptly wanted to know what other animals there were who occupied the desert, of course, so we went to the library to find out. (Okay, we went online, too—but we also used a couple of books!)

Her favorite book out of the selection we brought home was this one, and I must admit that I really enjoyed it, too. The book highlights each of America’s main deserts, both during the day and during the night. Animals are depicted all across each page, putting the idea that there isn’t much life in the desert to rest immediately! You’ll be surprised at what you’ll learn in the book, too. While many people know that deserts are homes to scorpions, snakes, and coyotes, did you know that some types of antelope and bats also make their homes in the desert?

At the beginning of the boo, there is a brief introduction about the different deserts of North America. There is a fun, colorful map to see where the deserts are located, as well as a few facts about the deserts—including the fact that many animals have adapted to desert living.

There are 275 animals in the book total, but what’s really fun about the book is that it’s organized like a game. You have to find the “critters” listed on each page, much like an I Spy book. For example, in the Chihuahuan Desert, you’ll be looking for five scaled quail, a yucca moth, a javelin, a Mexican ground squirrel, and many other animals. If you aren’t sure about where the animals are, fear not: an answer sheet is located for each page in the back of the book. You’ll probably be able to figure it out—with the help of your child!

Along with each answer sheet, you’ll find additional facts about the critters listed—such as the fact that javelinas can eat cactus with spines, or that ants and termites may outnumber all of the other animals combined in some deserts! The book is so much fun, and so interesting for children interested in animals; I would highly recommend it to the fledgling naturalist in your life.

Why Do Leaves Change Color?

One of the nonfiction books we selected at the library this week is Chris Arvetis’s Why Do Leaves Change Color, a Just Ask book and Weekly Reader selection. The book is a cute story about some animals noticing the changing of the season, and figuring out why the leaves change color. Though most of the animals—such as the mouse and the worm—do not know why the leaves change color, the wise squirrel, who lives in the trees, seems to understand, and he or she takes time to explain to the rest of the animals.

Admittedly, some of the book is a bit boring; a description of photosynthesis, for example, might lose some readers (as it did my daughter). But most of it is fairly engaging and interesting. Most kids are very interested in the changing of the season and why leaves change color, and the book can definitely answer some questions kids have. The woodland animal characters also help bring the story to life, and what child doesn’t love an animal story? Overall it’s an enjoyable and helpful story, though I wouldn’t use it alone when kids ask about changing seasons.

The animals color pictures in the book, which presents a great opportunity to color leaves with children—either with rubbings or by coloring paper leaves in stages. Using oil pastels is particularly pretty for a project like this, as are watercolor paints.

Here are a few other leaf projects you can do with children:

Collect leaves and make a leaf collage by gluing them on paper. Let kids explore the leaves’ texture; identify them together with the help of a book or the computer if you like.

String the leaves together on some yarn and make a garland or a necklace. We put these around our pumpkins for a fun decorative touch.

Make piles of leaves to jump in, of course! Fall isn’t fall without one of these piles for jumping.

Teach kids how to rake. Use a toddler rake if necessary.

Trace leaves on paper and make your own. Use oil pastels on newspaper for a particularly striking look. Make leaf people. Use sticks for bodies and leaves for clothing and hair, or arrange the leaves on paper in different designs for a piece of abstract art.

Draw the changing colors of the leaves on the sidewalk with various colors of chalk, from green to brown.

Henrietta Lacks finally gets the kind of immortality she deserves

The success of Rebecca Skloot’s book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, must be making the Lacks family proud. Forgotten, ignored and dismissed for decades, the Lacks family is now the subject of a book that has climbed to the top of the non-fiction bestseller list. Skloot’s book tells the story of Henrietta Lacks, a black woman who died of ovarian cancer in the 1950’s. Before she died, doctors took a sample of the tissue from the cyst on her ovary without her knowledge, and created the first “immortal,” or constantly dividing, cells from it. Since the 1950's, Henrietta's cells have been sent to the moon, used to develop polio vaccine and studied to create procedures for in vitro fertilization. The heart of the book, however, is Skloot’s relationship with Henrietta’s family, none of who knew anything about immortal cells and little about science and were confined to cyclical poverty. More than for their mother, this book is for them.

The Usborne Big Book of Experiments

A dear friend runs a local independent Usborne books store and we often enjoy visiting, attending her story times and projects, and buying books from her. Recently we purchased The Usborne Big Book of Experiments—my husband’s choice—and we were thrilled with the full-colored pictures of experiments, easy instructions, and variety of projects to do with our child.

My husband and I have always been big experimenters. We may not have gone to many—or, in some cases, any—parties, concerts, or traditional dates, but we’ve always found time to, say, start an experiment to see how long it will take our French fries to deteriorate, or compare amounts and prices from stores—while we don’t even have money to buy anything—just to see how much one could potentially save (and for future grocery trips). Our daughter has inherited this love of experimentation, particularly with mechanical operations, and we’re always looking for new ones to do with her.

There are a few mechanical experiments in the book, too—from balancing to floating to finding pressure. But there are also electrical, biological, and many other types of experiments just waiting to be conducted. Most of them require things that you pretty much find around the house, and they’re mostly all safe as well. Red warning signs throughout the book warn the reader when an experiment has the potential to be dangerous.

Some experiments, such as a bubble experiment with vinegar and baking soda, are also right up my daughter’s alley; anything that’s wet and contains food coloring is something that she will love! Many pages also offer multiple experiments, such as testing the quality of water, changing its surface tension, and making it bulge (many of these may be familiar, as I remember doing one of them in school).

The book is sure to make any science geek in training smile—and to provide a lot of fun for the whole family.

Charlie’s Playhouse

For All of Your Evolutionary Needs

Recently I was about to check out one of dozens of homeschooling books I’ll be sure to read this year when I was flipping through its science section and found myself appalled at some of its language. The gist was that the author deemed evolution to be “junk science,” and that she had all of these “respectable” books about creationism listed for like-minded people to choose from instead.

This book was not marketed as a religious one; in fact, it looked pretty darn ordinary and did not mention Jesus, the Bible, or Billy Graham at all on its outside or inside cover. But I’m finding that more and more of the books written for—and especially by—homeschoolers tend to be religious whether you want them to be or not—further fanning my desire to write books for homeschoolers, but also that they be labeled so we know what we’re getting into. At least I wasn’t purchasing the book; I was only considering it for an interlibrary loan (see if your library has them; they probably do, and they are pretty much the highlight of my life!).

While reading through the ever-awesome Geek Mom blog, however, I ran across this super cool resource for parents and teachers who do teach evolution. It’s called Charlie’s Playhouse: Evolution for Kids, and it was created by—who else?—a Geek Mom. It’s a place where you can purchase all kinds of toys, visual aids, and even t-shirts (my favorite is a onesie that says “98% chimpanzee”) about evolution and other science topics.

The products offered here are so cute and helpful! There’s a flipbook where you can watch a fish evolve that I’d really like to purchase, as well as a giant evolutionary timeline with a mat you can walk on that features 67 different creatures across 600 million years of evolution, which won several toy of the year awards and is recommended for both teachers as well as homeschooling families.

Of course, the site isn’t all products (which are mostly eco-friendly, according to the site) for purchase; it also features lots of resources for parents, teachers, homeschoolers, and journalists, including interesting blog posts, book recommendations, and other cool things to learn. I can’t wait to get some of these cool science tools to use at home. My five-year-old is still very much into dinosaurs, as well as preventing extinction of modern animals, and some of these toys—particularly the animal cards and mat—would be right up her alley.

DK Pockets: Gemstones

The DK Pockets series is a wonderful book series to have in your home. Though each volume is about $7, you can get them cheaper used—or buy them during the buy 3 get 1 free sales at your local book store. They offer mounds of information in just a tiny book, which is perfect for carrying around in your pocket or purse. Pocket books are a great way to keep little ones busy at the store, while waiting in line, etc. as well.

Recently we purchased DK Pockets Gemstones, written by Emma Foa. My daughter is very into gemstones right now. I keep bags of them around the house, as well as small jars of gemstone chips, and she has taken to having me bury them in her sandbox and digging them out as treasure. Then, she puts them in her treasure chest for later. Gemstones has helped her identify some of these (though many of them are not in the book).

Right now she mainly wants to know what the stones are called, but later, when she wants to know more about their history or what they are typically used for, there is information about that in the book as well. Different cuts of each gem are shown, as well as where some of the stones received their names. Their coloration, use, and many different examples of each—all in color—are also shown. For example, when I think of topaz, I think of yellow topaz, which is my birthstone; however, the book shows many variations, including pinks and blues, and all in different settings, from pendants to brooches to raw cuts straight from the earth.

Something else I really like about this book is the little box on each entry that says “Myth and Magic.” It tells you about the magical properties and history of each gem, including how they were used by famous people or healers in order to solve problems and health issues.

Gemstones aren’t the only things covered in the book, either. Shells, ivory, and other substances are also listed. My daughter particularly likes to hear about amber, which comes from trees; there is a photo of a mosquito trapped in amber that looks a lot like the one on Jurassic Park. The back of the book also contains helpful information, such as an index, glossary, table of properties, and even a diagram of how to make jewelry.

Sun, Moon, and Stars

The Usborne Beginner’s Series of books is such a wonderful introduction to so many things. We recently purchased Sun, Moon, and Stars by Stephanie Turnbull from our favorite bookstore in St. Louis, the Reading Habit(at), and now my daughter (who previously mentioned wanting to be an astronaut) is obsessed with both the book and her new glow-in-the-dark stars and planets she got for Christmas from my sister. (She called the planets her “worlds.”)

Readers of the Beginner’s Series already know that the books are designed to be simple introductions to fascinating topics that kids love. They do contain lots of information and descriptions—often including diagrams, charts, and actual photographs—but they do so without overwhelming the reader. It’s just a taste, really; an appetizer of space, in this case, before seeking out a larger entrée after one’s appetite for the subject is teased. This book in particular starts out with some statements that most kids can relate to—the stars and moon that they see in the sky. From here, it takes them into the vast enormity that is our solar system, and explains that all that they see are truly only pinpricks of light in the greater scheme of things.

Like the other books in this series, the illustrations (designed by Zoe Wray) and photos in the book are gorgeous—both attention-capturing and informative at once. Photos of an astronaut on the moon, as well as one of a crater on the moon, are my five-year-old’s favorites, while I love illustrations such as “the whirlpool galaxy” and an exploding star.

While reading through the book, there are plenty of opportunities to stop and discuss the various things that we know as well as what we learn from the book. Adults may trip over a few notes of interest, however; most of us grew up thinking that Pluto was a planet and now that it’s not, it’s a hard idea to change—especially if it’s been drilled into your head with a rhyme like it was mine! Planetary rings, the heat of the sun, and plenty of other cool topics await young readers in the book.

I would recommend Sun, Moon, and Stars to any fledgling reader or person of a scientific mind, as well as any reluctant reader who might take interest in reading it if they enjoy staring at the stars. We’ve enjoyed many other books in the series as well—from topics as varied as plants to kittens to insects—and look forward to adding more to our collection.

Reading Books About Physics

Trying to Understand String Theory

I recently picked up The Fabric of the Cosmos, by Brian Greene—not the first physics book I’ve read and probably not the last. I have a laywoman’s understanding of physics, which pretty much means that I have a vague definition of the Big Bang, dark matter, particles, and a few other physics-related concepts, but have ZERO understanding of what anything beyond four dimensions might actually resemble. I was hoping that reading The Fabric of the Cosmos would help me understand more about the ideas current physicists are floating around about the physical world.

Although Brian Greene is a great writer, The Fabric of the Cosmos is just a book and not a miracle-worker, so I’m not all that sure how much more I understand about science after reading the book. Brian Greene does seem much more adept than some of the other physics’ writers at using examples to show his points. After reading the first few chapters of The Fabric of the Cosmos, I felt as if I had a much firmer grasp on the general theory of relativity than I had before, and also felt as if I understood some of the finer nuances of physics because of his specific analogies.

That said, I still don’t understand string theory even after reading his lengthy explanation; since Brian Greene is one of the leaders in string theory---along with Michio Kaku—I have a strong feeling that the concept of string theory and its many dimensions will stay out of my grasp.

Lisa Randall is another physicist who understands the importance of using stories as examples to explain difficult physics concepts to laypeople; in her book, Warped Passages, she begins each chapter with a different story—often with the same characters—designed to illustrate her points about physics. When Lisa Randall explains string theory, however, she doesn’t seem to do a better job than anyone else at explaining the controversial theory. (Her story at the beginning of the chapter focuses on a scientist or future-man who has just received a special viewing device that doesn’t quite work because of the sheer number of short strings floating around.)

As Lisa Randall explains string theory:

Particles arise from the resonant oscillation modes of strings. Each and every particle corresponds to the movements of an underlying string, and the character of those vibrations determines a particle’s properties.

So far, so good. But to me as a laywoman, string theory gets increasingly difficult to understand when it gets into the realms of superstring theory and curled up dimensions. The fact that physicists are still unsure about how to prove or disprove string theory doesn’t help matters much either.

If anyone has a good resource to recommend about string theory or physics in general, I’d be happy to read it.

Lawrence Weschler, "Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder"

It's hard to believe that this book is over fifteen years old at this point. I remember reading it when it was new! It didn't seem that long ago! I ran across a mention of this book a few weeks ago, and ended up tracking down a copy. I'm glad to say that it bears up well for its age.

This is on my short list of non-fiction books that I have purchased repeatedly over the years. Its main subject is the Museum of Jurassic Technology in Los Angeles, but its broader focus is the weird and wonderful (and often confusing) nature of life itself.

The Museum of Jurassic Technology is many things, and it's difficult to decide which thing it is "mostly." Is it an art installation? A critique or satire of museums? A genuinely bizarre collection of things both real and unreal jumbled all together? Yes. Its Wikipedia entry uses words like "challenging" and "eclectic."

I did a bit of searching and was pleased to find that the Museum of Jurassic Technology is still in full swing. This, despite its tenuous financial standing, even at the time that Weschler published his book. Its financial solvency was no doubt helped in 2001 when the museum's founder, David Wilson, received the MacArthur Genius Grant (which is an award of $500,000 just for being awesome).

Part of the genius of Weschler's book is that it leads you through the various stages I imagine a person goes through when they first encounter the MJT. Incredulity, then credulity, then research, and finally a conclusion.

Incredulity is an understandable first response. The Museum of Jurassic Technology is a collection of fringe science subjects and displays, but not on any topics you have ever heard of. One of the items that Weschler mentions several times is the Deprong Mori. Also called the "piercing bat," this is ostensibly a bat which can pierce walls using a sort of x-ray beam. The museum's display shows a little thatched hut, with an arrow swooping through it, which shows the flight of the Deprong Mori through the hut's walls. The museum also has a big slab of lead, inside which is (according to the display) a trapped Deprong Mori.

The Deprong Mori may be the least believable of the exhibits, but others play it closer to the vest. What are we to think of an exhibit about "the nature of memory," a typically crackpot-y theory from a long-forgotten philosopher of the 1800s? Sure, it seems credible enough.

Weschler must have spent months doing the research for this book. What he found was a mish-mash of real things (for example, the bat researcher who ostensibly identified and trapped the Deprong Mori is a real person) and fabrications (there is no Deprong Mori, and the bat researcher had never heard of anything like it).

Weschler's final conclusion is a mixed one. One thing is certain, though: the world is a richer place for having the Museum of Jurassic Technology in it.

Jared Diamond's "Collapse" is a Book Worth Buying, Not Just Reading

Jared Diamond’s Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed is one of the least dry works of non-fiction I’ve ever read despite its serious subject matter. The amount of information that Diamond manages to pack into the book is incredible.

Diamond starts off Collapse with an introduction, and then goes into the eco-politics of Bitterroot Valley in Montana; he discusses a few specific environmental problems as they relate to larger environmental problems including de-forestation through logging, mining, and agriculture-related issues. If Collapse was all like the first chapter, I wouldn’t recommend it so highly, so it’s important to continue reading.

As Collapse progresses, Diamond examines the causes for population loss in a few small societies. His basic premise is that as societies grow more quickly, they tap into more of their resources. He believes the rapid growth, combined with natural environmental causes that are unavoidable, has directly contributed and possibly caused the demise of several small societies (or civilizations depending on how you want to label them.) Fortunately, Diamond goes beyond the causes for a society’s collapse and discusses the building up of societies and the remnants that are left from previous societies. One of the most interesting examples he provides is of the statues left at Easter Island which some believe were left by aliens. (I’m not joking.) He also discusses incidents of cannibalism and other interesting factors related to the collapse of small societies; these details not only make for interesting reading, they can give you fodder for discussion for days on end.

Despite the inclusion of juicier tidbits about cannibals and alien theories, Collapse stays on target through the book as a serious discussion about what contributes the rise and fall of societies; the later chapters focus on larger civilizations where Diamond poses more hypothesis about why the larger societies or civilizations vanished over the years. One of the very last chapters looks into environmental problems that will eventually face Australia over time; as I was reading that particular chapter, Queensland was flooding, so it appears that Diamond may not be all that off in his predictions.

Collapse has an enormous amount of information and it’s difficult to choose what’s most important from the text. De-forestation and over-population are constant themes throughout the book and are definitely more emphasized than the more interesting tidbits scattered through the book about cannibalism and the like. Diamond also examines the difficult subject of genocide and ethnic cleansing and the possibility that Malthusian principles of over-population may play a role in certain situations.

Although Collapse will definitely be available at your local library, I strongly recommend buying a copy because you will probably want to have the book on hand as a reference or to read again because of the sheer amount of factual information and theories in the book. If you read Guns, Germs, and Steel, but didn't like it, you might still like Collapse.

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