Science Comics - various
Bridges: Engineering Masterpieces - Dan Zettiwoch
Bea, Archie, Trudy, and Spence — the B.A.T.S. (Bridge, Arch, Truss, Suspension) gang — take us on a tour of a few dozen of the most remarkable bridges in the world (and in history). They also introduce the concepts of loads (live, dead, and environmental), and forces (compression, tension, torsion, and shear — CaTTS). I don't think I'm the best audience for this one, because the science didn't engage me. Instead, I wished I could read more about the history of the bridges and the people behind them, rather than their materials, span, chords, abutments, trusses, etc; that's the liberal arts brain in me. For example, the short page on how pig iron is made was more interesting to me than the pages of different truss bridge styles. I also found the characters somewhat shoddily drawn, and their silly puns distracting rather than amusing. [3.5]
Cars: Engines That Move You - Dan Zettiwoch
The history of the car, from Bertha Benz's 120-mile drive in 1888 to the driverless electric cars of today. Along the way, a plethora of information, some only tangentially related to cars, is presented in a fascinating and entertaining manner. From ox-drawn carts and King Tut's war chariot, how a four-stroke engine works, the inner workings of the Model T, attempts at aqueous cars, the first cross-country road trip (by Horatio Jackson, in 1903), various car horns through history, the first drive-in (Red's Giant Hamburg), a brief history of gas stations, hot rodders and pony cars, down to the Weinermobile, hardly a pebble is left uncovered. And yet, with such a broad topic, naturally nearly every page could be a book in its own right, leaving the reader wanting more. It's a terrific introduction to the automobile, with the vast majority covering the history of car development, although there are excellent diagrams and explanations of how the engines work. Gorgeous technical art, with only one or two bizarre choices when it came to faces. [4.5]
Coral Reefs: Cities Of the Ocean - Maris Wicks
A yellow goby introduces the reader to the world of coral. A brief explanation of the taxonomic classification system shows them in the phylum cnidarians (along with jellyfish). Other chapters show the vast biodiversity of coral reefs, and a handful out of the thousands of species of coral. There's more on the importance of coral to the ecosystem and why and how we might work to reduce harm to the oceans. I enjoyed the information (for example, I learned that coral gets its color from algae that live on it symbiotically), and the art is simple and appealing. However, on the whole I think this is a weak entry in the series. First, it seems thin, with a good amount of information at first but petering out over 100+ pages. A nearly six-page goodbye sequence at the end seems to corroborate the thesis that some of this is padding. Also, while I do enjoy the art, there's not a lot of detailed, vibrant art of fish and corals that I would have expected from the topic. There is a lot of blue space. [3.5]
Flying Machines: How the Wright Brothers Soared - Alison Wilgus
A very thorough look at the Wright brothers' trials and tribulations over the years perfecting an airplane, as narrated by their adult younger sister. Starting from the Wright boys' fascination with a model helicopter, the book shows many iterations (and the specs) of their various machines, interspersed with the less advanced steps the French were taking. The book does spend a few more pages on
Frank Whittle, inventor of the turbojet engine, but this is mostly the Wrights' story. (A handful of other pioneers are briefly outlined in the endpages.) To me the tale is more history than science, although Wilgus does include a great deal of the science of how flying machines work (lift, Newton's laws, ailerons, etc). Sadly, while the text is informative and likely to inspire aficionados to seek out more, I didn't find the blocky, two-color art very appealing. [4]
Solar System: Our Place in Space - Rosemary Mosco
Framed through the conceit of a girl trying to cheer up her sick friend by telling about an imagined crew of anthropomorphic animals touring the solar system, this book gives a general overview of the solar system and our exploration of it so far. It's a lot of solid information, although much of it is basic. I found the information about Jupiter's and Saturn's moons to be most interesting (Titan has an atmosphere! Enceladus has water! Ganymede has an iron core!). On the negative side, I was disappointed that the book used many times the very misleading picture of the planets all in a line next to the sun, all terribly out of scale, which gives a completely distorted view of the size of the orbits. Also, the drawing of the characters is sketchy and their antics were not particularly amusing. [3]
