Book picks similar to
Cool Math by Christy Maganzini
childrens
math
nonfiction
professional-books-education
Bugged: How Insects Changed History
Sarah Albee - 2014
. . for better or for worse. Once you begin to look at world history through fly-specked glasses, you begin to see the mark of these minute life forms at every turn. Beneficial bugs have built empires. Bad bugs have toppled them. Bugged is not your everyday history book. From the author and illustrator team behind kid-favorite Poop Happened! A History of the World from the Bottom Up, this combination of world history, social history, natural science, epidemiology, public health, conservation, and microbiology is told with fun and informative graphics and in an irreverent voice, making this one fun-to-read book.
Why Fish Fart and Other Useless or Gross Information about the World
Francesca Gould - 2009
In Why Fish Fart and Other Useless (or Gross) Information About the World, Francesca Gould sifts through the world's most unpleasant creatures, diseases, physical deformities, culinary delicacies, ritual practices, and hideous torture tactics to uncover every horrifying and stomach-turning fact under the sun. This book is full of questions you never thought to ask?and perhaps will wish you?d never had answered?including:?What exactly is maggot cheese? ?How did anal hair help to lead to the conviction of the Great ?Train Robbers? ?What is the job of a ?fart catcher How exactly do ?crabs? cause such intense itching around one's private parts? ?The real story behind why the toilet is often referred to as ?the john.? ?Why you might want to steer clear of some coffees. (Hint: If poo isn't exactly your idea of appetizing . . .)Why Fish Fart and Other Useless (or Gross) Information About the World is sure to delight any and all hard-core fans of the obscure, esoteric, and?last but not least?grotesque.
100 Deadliest Things on the Planet
Anna Claybourne - 2012
There are animals that can use an arsenal of deadly weapons--teeth, claws, stinging spines, powerful pincers, or scary suckers--to fight, hunt, or defend themselves. There are natural disasters--from towering tsunamis to massive volcanic eruptions--that can destroy whole cities in the blink of an eye. With 100 DEADLIEST THINGS ON THE PLANET, young readers will learn all about these ferocious animals, deadly disasters, and much more! Along with all of the interesting facts, 100 DEADLIEST THINGS ON THE PLANET includes side panels, a "deadly factor" rating, and photos throughout to help enhance the level of fright.
Case Closed?: Nine Mysteries Unlocked by Modern Science
Susan Hughes - 2010
The ancient Arabian Peninsula city of Ubar vanishes, seemingly without trace. Find out how old maps and modern space shuttles help solve the mystery. Sir John Franklin's 1845 expedition to find the Northwest Passage is never heard from again. Find out how spectroscopy points to some probable explanations. Case Closed? examines these and six other mysteries from ancient and modern times. Accompanied by photos, maps, diagrams and illustrations, this book reveals how modern science sheds new light on people, vessels and entire civilizations throughout history that simply vanished. In some cases, the mystery has been solved. In other cases, readers can examine the latest evidence and decide for themselves.
Murdering Mr. Monti
Judith Viorst - 1994
If she knows the answer, she can't shut up--even if no one's listening.Since Brenda knows what's best--for everyone--she secretly decides she must murder her son Wally's prospective father-in-law, before he can get to Wally. She has a foolproof plan. In fact, she has a million of them. But first she's got a few kinky desires of her own to satisfy (."Viorst keeps us laughing....A serious look at family and cultural issues while still a farce, narrated by a needling Machiavellian who keeps winning us over."--San Francisco Chronicle"A wry look at the follies of superficial urbanites...Enjoy."--The Washington Post Book World"Acerbic and extremely funny...Done with the arch, sardonic flavor familiar to readers of Ms. Viorst."--The Baltimore Sun
But Enough About You: Essays
Christopher Buckley - 2014
In his first book of essays since his 1997 bestseller, Wry Martinis, Buckley delivers a rare combination of big ideas and truly fun writing. Tackling subjects ranging from "How to Teach Your Four-Year-Old to Ski" to "A Short History of the Bug Zapper," and "The Art of Sacking" to literary friendships with Joseph Heller and Christopher Hitchens, he is at once a humorous storyteller, astute cultural critic, adventurous traveler, and irreverent historian.
Hillary
Jonah Winter - 2016
This stunning project follows Clinton from her early years as an outspoken student at Wellesley College and Yale Law School to marrying Bill Clinton and raising daughter Chelsea, to becoming First Lady of the United States and then a U.S. Senator and Secretary of State. Here is the inspiring story of the woman who may soon change the world—into a place where a girl can dream of growing up to be president.
Jack's Path of Courage: The Life of John F. Kennedy (A Big Words Book)
Doreen Rappaport - 2010
Kennedy was a popular, charismatic president. But he didn't always believe he had the strength or courage for that office. Rappaport once again combines real-life quotes with her own lyrical prose to create a moving portrait of a beloved figure. Full color.
The War to End All Wars: The American Military Experience in World War I
Edward M. Coffman - 1967
Covering famous battles, the birth of the air force, naval engagements, the War Department, and experiences of the troops, this indispensable volume is again available in paperback for students and general readers.
The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure
Hans Magnus Enzensberger - 1997
As we dream with him, we are taken further and further into mathematical theory, where ideas eventually take flight, until everyone--from those who fumble over fractions to those who solve complex equations in their heads--winds up marveling at what numbers can do.Hans Magnus Enzensberger is a true polymath, the kind of superb intellectual who loves thinking and marshals all of his charm and wit to share his passions with the world. In The Number Devil, he brings together the surreal logic of Alice in Wonderland and the existential geometry of Flatland with the kind of math everyone would love, if only they had a number devil to teach them.
Two Miserable Presidents: Everything Your Schoolbooks Didn't Tell You about the Civil War
Steve Sheinkin - 2008
Brooks lifted his cane to beat Sumner, and here the action in the book stops, so that Steve Sheinkin can explain just where this confrontation started. In the process, he unravels the complicated string of events - the small things, the personal ones, the big issues- that led to The Civil War. It is a time and a war that threatened America's very existence, revealed in the surprising true stories of the soldiers and statesmen who battled it out. "Two Miserable Presidents" is a 2009 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.
A Woman in the House (and Senate): How Women Came to the United States Congress, Broke Down Barriers, and Changed the Country
Ilene Cooper - 2014
All of that changed, however, in November 1916, when Jeannette Rankin of Montana became the first woman elected to Congress—even before the Nineteenth Amendment gave women across the U.S. the right to vote.Beginning with the women’s suffrage movement and going all the way through the results of the 2012 election, Ilene Cooper deftly covers more than a century of U.S. history in order to highlight the influential and diverse group of female leaders who opened doors for women in politics as well as the nation as a whole. Featured women include Hattie Caraway (the first woman elected to the Senate), Patsy Mink (the first woman of color to serve in Congress), Shirley Chisholm (the first African-American woman in Congress), and present-day powerhouses like Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton. The book is filled with lively illustrations and archival photographs. It includes a glossary, index, and chart of all the women who have served in Congress.
Praise for A Woman in the House (and Senate)
STARRED REVIEW"It is no small task to create a book that summarizes over a century of U.S. history, gives a crash course in civics, and provides succinct, pithy biographies of numerous women who have served in the legislative and judicial branches of government. Cooper pulls it off."—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
Things to Make and Do in the Fourth Dimension
Matt Parker - 2014
This book can be cut, drawn in, folded into shapes and will even take you to the fourth dimension. So join stand-up mathematician Matt Parker on a journey through narcissistic numbers, optimal dating algorithms, at least two different kinds of infinity and more.
Math with Bad Drawings
Ben Orlin - 2018
In MATH WITH BAD DRAWINGS, Ben Orlin answers math's three big questions: Why do I need to learn this? When am I ever going to use it? Why is it so hard? The answers come in various forms-cartoons, drawings, jokes, and the stories and insights of an empathetic teacher who believes that math should belong to everyone.Eschewing the tired old curriculum that begins in the wading pool of addition and subtraction and progresses to the shark infested waters of calculus (AKA the Great Weed Out Course), Orlin instead shows us how to think like a mathematician by teaching us a new game of Tic-Tac-Toe, how to understand an economic crisis by rolling a pair of dice, and the mathematical reason why you should never buy a second lottery ticket. Every example in the book is illustrated with his trademark "bad drawings," which convey both his humor and his message with perfect pitch and clarity. Organized by unconventional but compelling topics such as "Statistics: The Fine Art of Honest Lying," "Design: The Geometry of Stuff That Works," and "Probability: The Mathematics of Maybe," MATH WITH BAD DRAWINGS is a perfect read for fans of illustrated popular science.
Hello, Mr. Hulot
David Merveille - 2013
Hulot—he's always in the middle of the action! Created and played by French comic actor and filmmaker Jacques Tati, Mr. Hulot is a beloved charater in France. David Merveille’s comic strip style illustrations depict 23 captivating scenes with a page turn that builds suspense for each surprise ending. From buying a snow globe on a warm summer day—shaking it—and causing the sky to snow, to a crazy visit to the zoo where Mr. Hulot has something in common with every animal at the zoo—Merveille’s creations are a delight to the observant and curious eye. • This almost wordless picture book is entertaining, unique, and oh so very French! • Children will love Mr. Hulot’s boundless imagination and enthusiasm, as well as his Gallic charm. • The books were turned into a series of short French films in the 1960’s, and Rowan Atkinson cites them as inspiration for his Mr. Bean character.