The New Everyday Science Explained

An update to science writer Suplee's fantastic 1999 original, this gorgeously illustrated, clearly written volume unlocks nature's secrets with the same enthusiasm and panache. Though the cross-referenced entries quite short--they'll satisfy a YA audience best--they offer the basics on Matter and Motion (entropy; inertia; leverage), Forces of Nature (gravity; magnetism; conductivity), The Right Stuff (elements; alloys; water) and The Chemistry of Life (photosynthesis; blood; dreams). Interesting tidbits include the""gas-exchange area"" of human lungs (spread flat, it would be the size of tennis court), the""star nursery"" in the NGC 604 nebula (which is experiencing the same""cosmic events"" that began our own solar system) and the phenomenon of resonance (which, in 1940, caused a single-suspension bridge to""literally shake itself apart"").