October 8, 2018
This substantial chemistry primer (following The Book of Totally Irresponsible Science) explores complex concepts in an approachable, graphics-laden format. Connolly’s first 20 chapters focus on a single element per section—discussing each element’s discovery and attributes, and concluding with an experiment. Later chapters round up the “Dirty Dozen,” denoting elements too dangerous for experimentation. Connolly writes with light humor that serves to spark readers’ natural curiosity: “Red phosphorous is the most common form of the element, and it is the only phosphorus that you’ll ever come across—unless you’re really unlucky.” The experiments are accessible and intriguing: “Playing Cat Detective” invites readers to use a black lightbulb to detect cat urine (it contains phosphorus, which glows under ultraviolet light, Connolly explains). Charts and sidebars offer visual variety to weightier sections of text, and playful illustrations anthropomorphize the elements (hydrogen resembles a bearded wizard). This is a lively, hands-on introduction to chemistry. Ages 9–up.
August 1, 2018
A highlights reel of the periodic table of elements, with 24 experiments and demonstrations.Connolly (The Book of Potentially Catastrophic Science, 2010, etc.) focuses on 20 of the table's common "key players," providing for each accounts of its historic discovery, how it bonds or otherwise behaves with other substances, common uses, quick snapshots of neighboring elements, and one or two experiments. These last are the weakest link, as, for instance, the author simply instructs budding chemists to buy trick birthday candles rather than try to make them, pulls a bait and switch with a project for neon that uses a fluorescent bulb ("Sure, it's filled with a different gas...but the experiment gets the same result"), and, thanks to garbled instructions, leaves the circuit unclosed in a supposed demonstration of graphite's electrical conductivity. In her very simple cartoon illustrations Bean doesn't always pick up the slack (placing the wire and nail in a potato "battery" close together rather than, as the instructions specify, as far apart as possible) but does at least portray a diverse cast of young makers along with decorative historical and fanciful images. Otherwise, the author further punches up a set of colorfully delivered tales of discovery with plenty of side notes on hazardous products and isotopes, capped by a closing rogues' gallery of particularly dangerous elements, and also offers lucid pictures of chemical processes and how the periodic table is organized.Fresh and informal but stronger on background than hands-on experiences. (glossary) (Nonfiction. 10-13)
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November 1, 2018
Grades 4-8 The author of several science experiment books, including The Book of Wildly Spectacular Sports Science? (2016), Connolly turns his entertaining, conversational style to chemistry. From hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen to aluminum, chlorine, and zinc, the first 20 chapters each highlight a readily available element. Each profile comprises element basics (e.g., atomic number, symbol, melting point, etc.), an overview, descriptions of what it looks like, how it was discovered, and where it's used in everyday life. A Meet the Relatives section looks at related elements and how they compare and contrast, while a culminating experiment (requiring easy-to-find items) lets young scientists examine the elements for themselves by making crystals, hot ice, magic sand, potato clocks, and more. The concluding section gives short snapshots of 12 deadly elements, such as mercury, lead, and uranium. Keeping the text lively throughout are comics-style illustrations, photographs, danger levels for each element, and sidebars with interesting stories (e.g., the theory that Napoleon died from arsenic poisoning). Pair with the young readers edition of Sam Kean's The Disappearing Spoon (2018) for more periodic fun.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)
January 1, 2019
Each of twenty familiar elements (helium, carbon, sodium, etc.) is explored in a chapter offering detailed information on its characteristics, discovery, uses, and relationships to other elements represented in the periodic table. Sidebars introduce additional general chemistry concepts, and appropriate activities allow readers to experiment. The final chapter covers a "Dirty Dozen" elements deadly to humans. Cartoonlike illustrations and a chipper narrative voice lighten the book's tone. Glos.
(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)