Unusually attractive and intriguing.
An inviting, inclusive introduction to notable figures in a critical field.
This book shows that environmental scientists no longer are limited by outmoded stereotypes. The informative assemblage introduces 16 practitioners who demonstrate the value added to science by increased diversity in researchers’ backgrounds and life experiences. Two Native Hawaiians concerned with oceanography bookend the collection: Cliff Kapono and Kelly Luis. Kapono uses analytical chemistry to study the effects of ocean waste on swimmers’ and surfers’ microbiomes worldwide. Luis utilizes satellite images to determine what the colors of the ocean can reveal about important environmental changes. Readers also meet Anita Marshall (Choctaw), a geologist with a mobility disability who pushes back against ableism; Lila Leatherman, a nonbinary forest scientist who uses remote sensing technology; Marshall Shepherd, an African American meteorologist who worked at NASA; and Katharine Hayhoe, a climate scientist who is also an evangelical Christian. Their life stories both highlight the challenges the subjects faced in education and professional advancement as well as the ways their diverse perspectives and life experiences have enriched the progress of research in their fields and their mentorship of students. Ample color photos show the scientists in their work environments, and extensive sidebars explain related subjects and offer advice for readers. A final chapter introduces seven environmentally active nonscientists from around the world. The lively design breaks up the smoothly written text, emphasizing important points.
Unusually attractive and intriguing. (DIY activities, bibliography, source notes, photo credits, index) (Nonfiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Feb. 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4971-2
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2022
A breezy, bustling bucketful of courageous acts and eye-popping feats.
Why should grown-ups get all the historical, scientific, athletic, cinematic, and artistic glory?
Choosing exemplars from both past and present, Mitchell includes but goes well beyond Alexander the Great, Anne Frank, and like usual suspects to introduce a host of lesser-known luminaries. These include Shapur II, who was formally crowned king of Persia before he was born, Indian dancer/professional architect Sheila Sri Prakash, transgender spokesperson Jazz Jennings, inventor Param Jaggi, and an international host of other teen or preteen activists and prodigies. The individual portraits range from one paragraph to several pages in length, and they are interspersed with group tributes to, for instance, the Nazi-resisting “Swingkinder,” the striking New York City newsboys, and the marchers of the Birmingham Children’s Crusade. Mitchell even offers would-be villains a role model in Elagabalus, “boy emperor of Rome,” though she notes that he, at least, came to an awful end: “Then, then! They dumped his remains in the Tiber River, to be nommed by fish for all eternity.” The entries are arranged in no evident order, and though the backmatter includes multiple booklists, a personality quiz, a glossary, and even a quick Braille primer (with Braille jokes to decode), there is no index. Still, for readers whose fires need lighting, there’s motivational kindling on nearly every page.
A breezy, bustling bucketful of courageous acts and eye-popping feats. (finished illustrations not seen) (Collective biography. 10-13)Pub Date: May 10, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-14-751813-2
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Puffin
Review Posted Online: Nov. 10, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2015
Hot on the heels of the well-received Leonardo da Vinci (2005) comes another agreeably chatty entry in the Giants of Science series. Here the pioneering physicist is revealed as undeniably brilliant, but also cantankerous, mean-spirited, paranoid and possibly depressive. Newton’s youth and annus mirabilis receive respectful treatment, the solitude enforced by family estrangement and then the plague seen as critical to the development of his thoughtful, methodical approach. His subsequent squabbles with the rest of the scientific community—he refrained from publishing one treatise until his rival was dead—further support the image of Newton as a scientific lone wolf. Krull’s colloquial treatment sketches Newton’s advances in clearly understandable terms without bogging the text down with detailed explanations. A final chapter on “His Impact” places him squarely in the pantheon of great thinkers, arguing that both his insistence on the scientific method and his theories of physics have informed all subsequent scientific thought. A bibliography, web site and index round out the volume; the lack of detail on the use of sources is regrettable in an otherwise solid offering for middle-grade students. (Biography. 10-14)
Pub Date: April 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-670-05921-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2006
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