This summer, when I moved my library to a new location, I got a fresh look at my non-fiction offerings. There is a significant hole in the science section. That’s why I was particularly excited about Purple House Press’s new Immortals of Science series.
There are seventeen books in the series – biographies of scientists from ancients like Aristotle and Hippocrates to Joshua W. Gibbs and the Curies of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Though these are biographies rather than science textbooks, when it is relevant, they do have excellent illustrations that demonstrate equipment a particular scientist developed or experiments they made.
From my rather cursory science experience in high school, what I chiefly remember about most of these men (and a woman) is reading a paragraph or two about the most well-known discovery of each. To pass the test, all I had to do was match each scientist to the one thing considered his most important discovery. I don’t remember a single mention of Aristotle having anything to do with science!
These books make each of the scientists real humans who experienced the same struggles we all do. Many of them were misunderstood when they were children. They often had a hard fight to be allowed to follow their chosen career path. Most of them worried constantly about having enough money, not just for continuing their scientific studies, but sometimes simply for food and shelter. It seems that many of them carried on their work in spite of ill health. Often, they also had to worry about the political climate in their country and be extremely careful about with whom they aligned themselves, while what they desired most was to be left alone to work.
A recurring theme is how many of them, as children, were noted for their unusual interest in the natural world. Some had parents or teachers who encouraged this, and some were discouraged, or even ridiculed or punished for focusing on observation and the wonder of nature rather than chores or lessons.
These books are of varying lengths based on how much is known about the lives of the subject. Whatever the length, I sped through each one as though it were a suspense novel. How will this one manage to carry on his work in the midst of civil war? How can that one earn the respect of the scientific community so his work can be published for the world? What will be the exciting sequence of events that will lead to the ultimate breakthrough? Will he live long enough to find the answer he has searched for all his life?
The science in these books is written in language any curious reader will be able to understand. The authors don’t condescend, but the writing is not above a confident reader, perhaps ten and above. They would also be interesting enough for reading aloud so they can be shared with the entire family, whatever their ages.