Science Nature Books

As close to everyone knows, this is Al Gore's book which allegedly proves that, because of mankind's increased carbon emissions, therefore the global climate is warming and therefore we will suffer from a wide variety of catastrophic problems unless we act to reverse the situation. Gore actually argues in this book that, unless we radically decrease CO2 emissions, the oceans will rise 20 feet, most of Florida and New York City will be drowned -- he provides very real looking computer-generated maps of these predictions -- there will be many more hurricanes and, in general, the world as we know it will come to an end.

It is possible that Gore's basic thesis is correct. Our climate might be warming from CO2 emissions. There is no way to assess the value of his thesis from this book, however. This is a beautifully illustrated picture book. It is filled with gorgeous photographs. It has very little text. On the few occasions when Gore actually puts more than 50 words in a row it is generally to tell some heart-wrenching anecdote such as why the near-death of his son made him passionate about global warming. The book has no footnotes, and no connected argument. It is, to be blunt about, a coffee-table book, not a scientific book.

I appreciate that Gore's defenders will disagree. After all, the pictures show facts don't they? We can see, from the pictures, that there is less ice on Mt. Kilamanjero. We can see that many glaciers have retreated in the last century. We can even see the photos showing how much of Florida would be submerged, if the sea rose 20 feet, which it would, if all of the ice in Greenland melted.

Yes, the pictures give isolated facts. But science is not done with pictures, because one can always take a few facts out of context to prove anything. You do not do science with a few photos. You do science with hard data, taken from as many sources as possible. You do science by looking at the whole picture, or as much as you can. You also do science by seriously addressing critics and alternative theories. I am sorry, Al, but this book is much closer to a rock video than it is to a scientific argument. It relies on pictures, emotions and wild claims. That does not prove that it is wrong. You can not , however, rationally assess the truth or falsity of the statements with Gore's presentation.

Al thinks we are stupid. He does not think we will read through serious science. He thinks we need lots of pictures or we just won't get it.

Although i was well aware of global warming, the scientific evidence and the real statistics of the global warming from this book definitely raised my awareness even more. I mainly bought this book because i am very interested from saving the earth from the global warming. This book is informative and contains many pictures that reveal impact of the global warming in the world. This book is worth of every penny and worth of time to read it.

I purchased this book despite my skepticism on human caused global warming. I figure i need to know both sides of the argument before I formulate an opinion.

There were some great points made in the book and despite my belief that global warming is not entirely human caused, there are a lot of things where I said "ya, why not? Wouldn't hurt to reduce this or that."

I did have a problem with Al's failure to show both sides of the coin when he pointed out statistics and used charts. One chart he used pointed out recent increases of this or that, but didn't comment on the historical increases that were shown on the same chart.

I also felt like the charts and graphs were misleading in many ways. Often they used visual tips and tricks to draw the eye to the points they wanted to make while 'hiding' the counter arguments. Although I was probably especially sensitive to this as I just read a book on the visual presentation of data.

If you are interested in global warming, even if you are a conservative that is against it, I believe you need to read this book. It would be naive to argue against it if you haven't read it.

After forcing myself to read Al's tirade, the conclusion is obvious: An Inconvenient Truth is nothing more than a loose morph of Paul Erhlich's The Population Bomb, but with one caveat. Paul Erhlich was (and continues to be) the simple village idiot, happily distracted by butterflies, thinking that what might be true for winged objects of his research is true for homo sapiens, after the application of a strong Malthusian filter. Every one of his predictions were wrong. Enough said.

Al, however, is different in one important respect: he is the consummate capitalist and entirely distinterested in peer reviewed scientific literature. When he departed the office of Vice President, his net worth was about $2M. In 2008, that number is approaching $100M. He doubled his money almost six times in eight years. Not many are able to lay claim to that return on investment. And how did he do it? By peddling enough junk science and apocalyptic rhetoric that would choke a blue whale. And raking in more $$$ from his carbon credit front companies.

Nowhere in the book will you read how Al has worked out the causal mechanism) of global warming that caused rapid continental deglaciation about 10-14 thousand years ago, long before modern humans walked the Earth. In fairness to Al, I wouldn't expect that of him: the causative agents remains to this day poorly understood. But not a single word about Quaternary climate appears in this book. Al is betting most people will not bother read the Geological Society of America Special Paper #270: The Last Interglacial-Glacial Transition in North America. Good odds, I'd say.

Even so, I hear Al replaced the incandescent bulbs in his multi-thousand square foot mansion with the energy-saving florescent variety. Good for you Al: thanks for leading the way and saving the planet!

31,000 U.S. scientests have signed a petition refuting the claims that mankind is causing global warming and many scientests are now saying we are about to enter a period of global cooling due to changes in our sun. A British court found over 30 of Gore's claims in his movie to be false. Al Gore's home uses more energy in one month than the average home owner uses in one year and the zinc mine that was on his property was once listed by an environmental group as the most toxic mine site in America and Gore wants to reopen it. Are these the actions of a man truely concerned about the environment? Do a little searching to find out about Gore's financial interests in promoting global warming, other than his film and books, and you will find what I believe to be his true motivation.

While we do need to be better stewards of our planet the rush to stop climate change is harming millions around the world and will harm hundreds of millions more if we continue on this course. Gore and his followers say warmer temperatures will produce crop failures that will lead to starvation for millions but in our rush to develop cleaner burning bio fuels we are currently leaving millions of people around the world without enough food to eat. The move to develop bio fuels is also causing a huge price increase in foods which will harm the poorest among us. The amount of corn required to produce 25 gallons of ethanol is enough food to feed an adult for one year and that is one years worth of food someone will have to go without. When you rush into something based on emotion instead of facts you often take the wrong course and that is what I see happening with the issue of global warming.

True science has shown us the earth has been warming for thousands of years, the earth has been much warmer in the past then it is currently, and the only thing normal about climate change is it's always changing. As once scientest has said, a never changing climate would be abnormal.

With a casual disregard for political correctness, the post-feminist generation is reintroduced to basic human nature. What for millenia was taken for granted as so fundamental that it needed no explanation, became the height of impropriety to mention in polite company. In fact, it's been a bizarre inversion of reality that's taken hold as the popular opinion in society. Because it's soft and cuddly and non-offensive and doesn't threaten to hurt the feewings of the poor widdle wadies out there.

There is no greater testament to our ability to suspend disbelief then the denial of human nature on such an elemental, such a rudimentary level. When Ridley dropped this book like a bomb in the mid-90's at the height of the PC movement, it was like the lone voice of reason in a sandstorm of blather. That we should have to go to such lengths - all the way down to the DNA, just to demonstrate common sense is nothing short of absurd.

A magnificent work of popular science. Instantly a modern classic. Eminently accessible to the laity, well written, engaging and entertaining. Any sex education curriculum would stand to benefit more from the inclusion of this book, then any other save a text on health and safety. Don't expect to see it on your school district's reading list any time soon though. But that doesn't mean you can't give it to you adolescent age child.

The quality of this book I think is very good, the way in which the history is related and the content of the book are very good. The subject is developed very well and the way in which we learn the importance of the sex in the combat with parasites and virus is amazing. In general, the content of the book is very good and interesting.

Though, the quality of paper in the book that I received is very bad, the impression is not clear and the book is very fragile, is a shame because the book is very good but with this quality of book the interest in read it decrease.

May be is my version, but I have not found another version in paperback.

This book is a fascinating analysis of research regarding human evolution. It puts together different theories of how we became the way we are, and reports both the supporting and rejecting evidence for each theory. Additionally, it is well-written and highly engaging.

The book has some interesting ideas, but could probably be summarized in about half the number of pages.

I can't add very much to the excellent reviews already posted. I'll just say quickly that I enjoyed very much the fresh insight into mating practices among the "lower animals" and among humans. I've read a lot about evolution and biology and so forth, and still found much new material here. I really enjoyed learning about how scientists finally discovered the rampant adultery among birds and how incredible they are at hiding it.

Several reviewers warn about having to "make it through" the first part, and I certainly understand that if your primary interest is in the evolutionary origins of human sexuality. However, I really enjoyed the first part as well, because it provides a broad understanding of sex in evolution and give lots of fun examples about different behaviors and adaptations.

Although I didn't give the book 5 stars (I reserve that for the best of the best), it showed me that Mr. Ridley is a great writer and I'll check out his other books (I think I'll start with Genome).

The book arrived in great condition and I am very pleased with Amazon's speedy delivery and the quality of the book.

I'm of two minds about this book.
My girlfriend is reading it at the moment for an intro psych course, and there seems to be little to no checking going on when it comes to creating a unified narrative.
There are multiple instances where multiple pages of text are devoted to a single phenomenon/finding, followed by the question "might it be the case that ", as if they weren't just explaining just that they had found this.. This (lack of?) redaction tends to make me suspicious of the content presented.

ie. on page 476-482, concerning 'Self-esteem variability', the book references a 1994 study by Butler/Hokanson/Flynn about 'Self-Esteem Lability', stating the study found that the daily variation in self-esteem levels found was random, rather than explaining they were talking about "daily event-related variability in state self-esteem" (study abstract, effectively: people can indeed become offended when insulted and/or happy when complimented), and concluding the paragraph stating that people who were more vulnerable to criticism/social valuation are more prone to become depressed.

On the whole, the book does discuss a lot of different theories/research findings, which one might consider a pro, but the flip-side of that is that they give nearly no textual clues as to which findings they consider more relevant or which are generally accepted, and which aren't (yet).
The amount of studies referenced varies wildly, (sometimes 1 study, sometimes 30+) but they never bother saying why they feel findings supported by single studies should still be considered important, relevant, or interesting, nearly always phrasing sentences using "might be the case"

This book is probably one of the best textbooks that I have encountered in my study of psychology. Buss/Larsen put this book together very well and included all the important facts on personality. I really enjoyed the different self tests that were included.

I have recently completed teaching an undergraduate course on Theories of Personality using this text. It is well written and very usable for an introductory course in personality theory. It's biggest strength is also it's biggest weakness in my opinion. The text presents personality theory from the perspective of current psychological research. Thus, it provides students with a wealth of research in the realm of personality from six domains: biological, intrapsychic, cognitive/experiential, dispositional, cultural, and adjustment. This is the text's strength. Because of this format, however, it basically plays out as a survey course of the research associated with personality theory. In my opinion, it minimally addresses the grand theories of personality. The authors contend that this is because the research has not substantiated these theories. Yet, from a clinical perspective I would argue that there is merit with having students wrestle with many of the concepts and ideas associated with those theories. That will not happen in this book. Nevertheless, the book does a good job of reviewing research in areas that would probably not be addressed in traditional theories of personality courses. Kevin Dugan, Ph.D.

One thing I admire about Jared Diamond is his ability (like Carl Sagan) to take complex issues and scientific concepts then molding them into comprehensive bites that the average reader can swallow. The Third Chimpanzee a book that Diamond had published in 1992 has come back into print because of the success of Collapse and Germs, Guns & Steel which is terrific since it tackles a very different series of subjects from the ability of animals to communicate with each other, natural selection and why homosapiens managed to come out on the top of the heap, how/why we find certain people attractive and select our mates to whether or not aliens are listening for our radio signals (and why we might be in big trouble because we gave them our address IF they were listening).

All of this falls under the general theme of the book which focuses on the nature and future of humanity. Diamond has a breezy, enjoyable style that most readers will find inviting and that makes the more complex scientific ideas that much easier to swallow (whether it be how scientist calculate how often we go through evolutionary change or which theory about why men have bigger...you know what than our nearest relatives).

Diamond's book is over 15 years old so things have changed a bit since he first wrote it although interestingly the very things that he suggested could happen do appear to be coming true in many cases so he's added a post script discussing some of these new ideas, etc. that weren't available when the book was written.

As with Diamond's other books he is very upfront about his thoughtful opinions on the subject he focuses on. Whether or not you enjoy the book will probably depend on whether or not you like to have your preconceptions challenged, you agree with him or both.

I thought this book made many interesting and intellectual connections between human nature and the evolution of primates. The author does an excellent job of substantiating his hypthesis with scientific and established facts. His predictions for the future of humans are logically explained.

That being said, some topics are over explained and repetitious.

Overall I think this book is very much worth reading.

I took away the following:

1. Humans are descended from animals. Diamond shows that the things we think distinguish humans from animals - art, language, lifecyle (long child rearing period, menopause, long lives) - have strong roots in our biological history. There is a TON of fascinating detail covering a wide range of topics, and is essentially an articulate reinforcement of the latest science showing the truth behind Darwin's theories.

2. Language is the key to rise of humanity. It's obvious, though, that humans are somehow unique, and the book postulates that language is the key. If humans are 98% the same genetically as chimpanzees, what small thing could make the huge evolutionary difference? The voice box and ability to form languages allow humans to cooperate, form more complex social organizations, and advance knowledge from one generation to the next. Language is the foundation of innovation, which has been essential to our rise. As someone who enjoys languages and can speak a few, I really liked this idea.

3. All humans are equal. Differences among humans in Africa, Europe, Middle East, Asia, the Artic, and so on are not based on genetic selection but rather sexual selection. I've read Stanford research that tracks maternal genes through the millenia and shows that humans spread from Africa to all corners of the world. Diamond postulates that the reason people look different is perhaps due to genetic adaptations to local environments (fairer skin in colder climates, etc), but more likely due to random changes reinforced by our predilection for choosing mates who look most like our own families. My favorite detail: people are more likely to choose mates with similar index finger length (0.6 correlation coefficient) than economic background (only 0.2).

4. Random distribution of geographic resources makes some cultures and societies more successful. From #3, Diamond goes on to say that the reason European culture has come to be pre-eminent in today's world is not because of genetic superiority. Rather, it is simply due to the fact that Europe (and its culture progenitors Greece and Rome) happened to be lucky enough to have the best natural resources. If you've played Risk, Civilization or World of Warcraft, this is pretty obvious. You want to found your cities or capture the areas where there are the most resources that allow you to build the biggest and most advanced armies (Diamond expanded this theory in his more famous book Germs, Guns and Steel, which I haven't read yet). But, I don't know. Though this theory is interesting and powerful, it sparked the biggest reaction in me. I found it somehow...Marxist, stating that all human history can be reduced to economic drivers. While I know resource advantages are helpful to some degree, my humanist side rejects this as the primary driver of history. Where is the role of the individual, of the struggle to grow and learn? Could it really be that Western culture produced Plato, Newton and Churchill simply because it happened to have plentiful deer, while other places didn't? Do I go to work everyday, invest time into my children and bust my tail without a single ounce of impact on the fate of my culture? Of course not, so though Diamond postulates this as a strong theory it gives only a partial explanation of history.

5. The end is near: beware of nuclear weapons and environmental catastrophy. In this area Diamond seemed to leave the field of science and enter that of personal political view. Most of the book felt deeply analytical and data driven, the last sections felt light on science in comparison. That said, I don't disagree with the point. It's just hard to accept when his argument for protecting endangered species is "you never know which one matters."

Overall, an enjoyable and thought-provoking read.

The only way to describe this book is 'excellent.' Starting with our evolutionary origins, Jared Diamond examines possible reasons for many uniquely human (or so you'd think) behaviors and oddities, ranging from art to relative penis size (after reading this book you will be able to say that you're better hung than a gorilla). Next, Diamond turns his focus to some of the nastier behaviors of human societies - genocide, racism, etc - and explores what recent findings mean to us as a species. Finally, in the last few chapters, Diamond goes on a conservation crusade, convincingly arguing the case for working toward a sustainable future. Read it - it will change the way you think of yourself and others in relation to the world.

Hey, my review is going to be broken down in to four sections, the introduction, the information that you can retain from this book, the interest level of this book, and the age group I recommend this to. This book (The Third Chimpanzee) talks about how us humans are what we are today and what came in the process of it. This is an interesting topic to speak about because it is a surprise to know what we came from and how our great ancestors chose the "right" mates for them, which eventually created us in the end.
I will be talking about a few of the subjects Jared Diamond covers in his book, the evolution of human sexuality is a very important subject, you will learn about how your ancestors chose their mates and what made them do it. You will learn about male jealousy over a female and the evolution of extra-marital sex. The chapter on how we pick our mates and sex partners will make you want to read even more, Diamond talks about the scientific studies about this subject and how we subconsciously become turned on by different characteristics in a male or female without even realizing it, as example the temperature of their hands or as funny as it sounds the way they give you a hug may allow you to make a subconscious decision for mating. The information you retain from this book is amazing, if you are looking to find as much information as possible about human evolution, this book is for you. Now, how interesting this book is to me, I do not know, even though this books hold a lifetime worth of information, there is also a lot of ranting and raving, so many people might become very bored with this type of writing. This book is just a very hard read, to get into it you MUST give it your full attention or else you wont really learn anything about. I found part three to be one of the most interesting subjects because it spoke about the origins of art and how some societies elaborated on it and how some did not. The reason this book is a crucial read is because Jared Diamond does not just question the reader he also provides them with answers that have been long awaited. I recommend this book to a 16+ age group, not necessarily because younger children could not understand the book, but it is long and tiresome and certain points, so they may lose interest. This book is excellent for any information seekers, that are looking for theories and scientific studies to back a book or essay they are writing about, yet I would not really recommend this to someone who just wants to read for fun. Jared Diamond also covers an interesting topic which might spark an interest in high school readers which talks about why people smoke, drink and use dangerous drugs. This book is full of fun and interesting information so you kids who are in high school or you students who are in college, I recommend you read this for it will benefit you in the future.

I felt somewhat obligated to at least look at one book that supports the "Intelligent Design" argument. With all the attention that writers like biologist Richard Dawkins and atheist Michel Ofray have seen of late, I thought I should at least look at one of their antagonists to see if there were any cogent arguments or good science to refute Dawkins and Ofray. What an eye opener this venture provided. Lee Strobel's tome on Creationism was insulting to anyone of modest intelligence. Most, if not all of his interviews were with Christian believers and the logic expressed by these alleged scientific experts would shame even a first year college student. If ever there was an argument to keep "Intelligent Design" out of our public schools, Strobel's screed and complete lack of any testable proof is an excellent reason. It should certainly rank as the poster child for putting books by Dawkins and Onfray into the public school systems along with Darwin. "The Case For A Creator" is merely a collection of straw man arguments taken apart with extremely bad logic and commentary. For a great look at the world of monotheistic religeons, look to Michel Onfray's "Atheist Manifesto" and for great science on evolution, the Dawkins books are a must. Both books are well written. Man, I've got a real headache.

Bob

It was nice to see a different view point of how creation could have occurred. This book does not try to convince you that Buddha, Yahweh, or Krishna is the force behind our existence. however they have a good argument that simple chance is not viable with our current scientific evidence.
I really enjoyed it. The scientific facts are very interesting and explained very well.

This is a great book and I have not been able to put it down. Its easy to read and a great introductory book for apologetics.

For those who have written reviews that he has only used Christian theists, fair enough. But that does not obscure the facts. Science verification is not dependent or should not be influenced by what the testor believes. After all we are creating an hypothesis and testing it against the evidence we find. Beliefs should be shaped on the evidence and this is what Strobel attempts to do.

I would like to have seen some interviews with atheists which would have given this a 5. But plenty of the naturalist arguements were presented in a way that seemed fair and honest. But this book and read both sides. If you only read one side you risk making a straw man out of the opposition.

My favourite chapter was the one on Cosmology & the Kalam Cosmological arguement by William Lane Craig. I heard him speak at a recent debate in Auckland. He was fantastic.

I'd wholeheartedly reccomend this book to anyone with a general interest in the ideas of intelligent design or creationism.

10 April 2008 - This is a fantastic book for the beginners-level apologist. The experts that Strobel interviewed to provide excellent cases for "Intelligent Design" based on data from their respective fields of study. It is said we cannot discus facts in schools because they lead toward a religious viewpoint.

First, I believe in a creator who did create the universe and whose son lived among men and died for the sins of those who accept Him as their savior.

Second, I am a trained, practicing scientist.

I am not a fan of creation science. Mostly, I think it is dangerous to use scientific arguments as the basis for faith in God. If somebody could refute some of Strobel's arguments, does that mean God didn't create the universe? I'm sorry, but that's the way science works. You put forward a theory that explains all the known facts, and if a single fact is discovered that is inconsistent with your theory, then your theory is abandoned, refuted, incorrect. That is what science is. That is what I do for a living.

The guys Strobel interviews, like most creation "scientists," are not practicing scientists. They do not collect and evaluate data. They are members of a philisophical think tank. They package arguments for a living. They do not understand the data they make arguments about, and more importantly, they would not abandon their theory if they were presented with evidence that refutes it.

If, for example, someone could explain to them that the Miller-Urey experiment was seminal rather than terminal and that it started a whole field of research that continues with refinements today, they would not abandon their theory or its major conclusion. They don't have to, because they are not practicing science.

If they understood basic organic chemistry, they would see that even the earliest, simplest versions of the Miller-Urey experiment produced a mixture containing formaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide, and they would remember from their sophomore organic chemistry course that these are the components of the Strecker amino acid synthesis, and they would be greatly embarassed to dismiss such a mixture as "embalming fluid." It's in fact one of the types of mixtures that people first used to make synthetic amino acids. Add ammonia (which you get by hydrolysis of cyanide), and you would see amino acids. Strobel's sources don't know this, because they are not competent, practicing scientists.

A real scientist would give up at some point and admit that the facts don't support their theory. These guys don't. They are not scientists, by definition. They probably don't know enough about what constitutes science to even realize that what they are practicing is not science. If they know what they are doing, then they are charlatans that are arrogantly misleading people. As a Christian and as a scientist, I am embarassed by the bulk of what is offered as "creation science," and I am embarassed that Strobel's book claims to be "the" case and "the" "scientific" basis on which people should worship the Lord.

I have a harder time explaining my religious beliefs than I have explaining why they have nothing to do with believing in a shell game of selected scientific material observations. I'll tell you this much. If I had to rely on someone revealing God to me through tests in the laboratory, I would not be relying so much on faith.

I also have a hard time writing this review. I want people to believe in the one who created the universe and to be saved. I am really torn as to whether it is a good thing that this book might cause someone to have or keep faith. If someone's flawed argument (to be generous) or lies (if that's what they are) leads a person down a path and he ends up saved, does that make it right to mislead people? Ultimately, I think that belief in God should be based on truth rather than trickery. That is why I wrote this.

This is the first magic school bus book we got. It is written for 4-5 years and up to 3rd grade. I was expeting it to read easier, but got use to it and enjoyued it. There are lots of bubbles or boxes on each page. They all have very intersting tidbits & information, but is is hard to know what to read first. Good intro to the solar system, although they are drawings and no pictures. Also, note that Pluto is no longer classified as a planet as it says in the book!

This book came out when I was pretty young, and it got me interested in astronomy since the age of five. Now planetary science is my career, and I put that down in part to the influence this book had on me as a kid! :)

the magic school bus get lost in space is a very good book read it all the time you will love it

All the magic school bus books are fantastic. This one is no different.
It is great for learning about the solar system.

My 5yr old son is a huge fan of Magic School Bus series.
Especially, Solat system and human body are his favorite among them.
He memorizes the order of all the plantes in the Solar system. Draw pictures about it and make planets with playdough. Great book!

Don't buy it, it's a useless book, why a book without scientific names can work, the paper look like a pocket bible, amazon put this book as it were important but shouldn't be there.

I really needed this book with all the different mushrooms that we have wild in the NW area where I live. The pictures are beauiful and easy to find the mushroom you are looking for in the book.

Audubon requires that regardless of the subject, a certain format and presentation guidelines must be adhered to.
This severly limits information in finding various species and the pictures limit the variety of views a hunter needs to identify a find accurately.
Pretty book but not for the serious hunter.
Check birding books by Audubon to see the similar editorial approaches.

This guide has the clearest most detailed pictures of any field guide I've seen. The info on how to use the guide is simple and understandable. I've identified and documented many mushrooms using this guide.

If you know anything about mushroom hunting, or even if you don't. This book is a must have. If you know anything about mushrooms or mushroom hunting you know that it is a dangerous adventure. Some are poisonous, some are just plain NASTY! Some will alter the mind, some are delicious. If you are into mushrooms or mushroom hunting this is a must have to identify mushrooms. I trust this book with my life. I have many times.This guide displays the mushrooms vividly and has great in depth details about the mushrooms in it. It will tell you a variety of information that will keep you safe, and remember, "If in doubt...throw it out." If you cannot without a doubt identify something, do NOT eat it. It is a helpful guide and an excellent buy for anyone. Very nice compact guide for field identification.

I homeschool and this is a good book for teaching K and 1st grade kids their "place" in the world. It starts with a girl mapping her room and extends all the way to her place on the globe. It is a really fun easy way to introduce geography/maps.

What a great book. Great pictures. After reading it we sat down and made a map of my 4 year old's room. If only it explained the difference between living out in the country (like on a farm) and living in a different country (like China or Australia). But I can't complain. We love it!

I homeschool and this is an excellent book for teaching elementary school kids their "place" on the map. It starts with a girl mapping her room and extends all the way to her place on the globe and back again. An excellent teaching tool for putting things in perspective! Not enough words to make this a bedtime book, but enough to cause interaction and learning.

I use this book in PS and Elem. settings to set up lesson plans related to maps and how they can be used. This book helps children to relate maps to their own environments.

My daughter is six years old, and it's tough to explain some of the more complex concepts like time and space. This series of books does a great job using colorful illustrations and text that's a lot easier to understand than anything I could come up with myself! Besides, I am a map and globe lover, so this book especially keeps our attention. I also recommend Sweeney's other books, including the one about Time.

My son read this book to me for reading but it can just as easily be read for health or science. He really likes these books while he does not care for the shows much. In this one they take a trip through Ralph's body and learn about the main systems - digestion, circulatory, nervous... Recommended for ages 6-9 years and 3rd grade reading level.

My daughter has been reading Magic School Bus books in school and we bought this one for her this past Christmas. She probably enjoys this one more than any other so far. It is well written and very educational with great illustrations. If your young reader likes science, then this is definitely a great choice!

Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen outdo themselves in "The Magic School Bus: Inside the Human Body." It is their most ambitious collaboration yet, and it definitely doesn't disappoint.

As is the custom, the third book in this science series (written in 1989) picks up where the second story left off. Ms. Frizzle is showing her students a filmstrip about the human body. "We're going to learn all about ourselves," she says. Then she announces the next field trip - the class is heading to the museum to "see an exhibit about how our bodies get energy from the food we eat." However, anyone who has even an inkling as to the kind of person Ms. Frizzle is should know that things rarely, if ever, go according to plan. A field trip is never just a field trip when you're taking a ride aboard her magic school bus.

The Friz and her students stop at a park for lunch before arriving at the museum. Afterward, everyone goes back to the bus . . . except for Arnold! He's still sitting at a picnic table, daydreaming and eating a bag of Cheesie-Weesies. And before the class realizes what is happening, the bus shrinks to the size of a Cheesie-Weesie . . . where it is promptly downed in one gulp by Arnold!

"I thought we were going to the museum," says one student.

"There's been a slight change of plans," explains Ms. Frizzle. "We're being digested instead."

Why visit an exhibit about the human body when you have a magic school bus and a teacher like Ms. Frizzle who can take you directly to the source?

If "At the Waterworks" was like priming the pump, and "Inside the Earth" was like getting the ball rolling, "Inside the Human Body" is like plowing full-steam ahead. Cole and Degen have firmly established themselves as a literacy force to be reckoned with; this is proven in the confidence of the writing and the boldness of the illustrations. There is so much going on in this story that you almost need a scorecard to keep track of it all. It seems as though Cole and Degen are bound and determined to one-up themselves with every book they come out with.

A list of some things Ms. Frizzle educates her class about would include: blood cells (red and white), blood vessels, digestion, germs, the heart, lungs, molecules, oxygen, plasma, the small intestine, etc. Do you know what villi are? You will after you read this book! Any idea what the cerebral cortex does? Ms. Frizzle will show you! Ever wondered why you sneeze? The answer resides in this story!

"Inside the Human Body" deserves just as much, if not more, a home on a person's bookshelf as does "At the Waterworks" and "Inside the Earth." Cole and Degen loaded their latest adventure to the bursting-point with information. You can see the growth author and illustrator have taken since their inaugural effort with "At the Waterworks." They prove that some things do, indeed, get better with age.

At the end of "Inside the Human Body" is a true-false test to help readers distinguish what things were true in the story and what things were made up. And, of course, Ms. Frizzle drops another clue as to where her next great adventure will take us. I'm pretty sure the class will think of their next field trip as out of this world!

It doesn't seem possible, but Cole and Degen managed to improve upon an already-winning formula. They are both in top form with "Inside the Human Body," a field trip that will take you from the brain to the small intestine and back again. Well, what are you waiting for? Hitch a ride on the magic school bus!

As Ms. Frizzle herself would say, "Seatbelts, everyone!"

This book is really out of this world. I have been hooked on the magic school bus series. I can't wait to read more books in the series. The inside the human body book is full with very interesting facts and I learned so much from reading it. Arnold doesn't know where the bus is and is trying to find it. He doesn't even know that it is actually inside him. Then Arnold sneezes and finds the bus right next to him. He doesn't understand how he didn't see it before.

Ms. Frizzle is taking her class on a memorable field trip through the human body in this entertaining book featuring the beloved eccentric teacher and her curious class. My only complaint is that the pages are so busy with information that it's impossible to sit and really read the whole book, but perhaps it's best to let a child's curiosity guide you through a number of readings rather than trying to get everything in at one sitting. Concepts are expressed clearly and with humor. Justly popular with young students.