It is not a book in the classic sense, but there is a lot to read and learn in the Young Scientist Science Calendar 2019. A fine collection of facts, experiments and jokes from all kinds of different fields.
My seven-year-old daughter was a little too young for the 2018 version, but we used the Young Scientist Science Calendar already arranged as a small reading exercise at the beginning of the day last year. At least if the subject was suitable for it. She read the question over the front; I the explanation at the back. The first question of the 2019 calendar will also be to her taste:'Dogs are loyal and listen well, but cats always do what they want. How come?'
Magic mud
Just like this year's, the 2019 calendar excels in versatility:in addition to exact fields such as physics, mathematics and biology, there is also room for linguistics and history. It's not just tidbits, like the answer to the question about dogs and cats (in short, man chose the dog and turned wild wolves into good dogs, while the cats themselves chose to come and live with us. They just had to behave a bit neatly so we didn't chase them away).
There are also assignments ('Name all seven continents. And to make it really difficult also the eighth') and experiments ('How can you tell that the Earth is a sphere?' – that's what the people of the Flat Earth Society should know). It also contains recipes for, among other things, making a whistle from a straw or magical mud from potatoes. Riddles and puzzles and even parenting advice:your parents are right when they tell you to eat your Brussels sprouts, because you have to train your taste.
Ada Lovelace Day
The calendar is made by the editors of the Dutch-language NewScientist and you notice that. The pieces are written by people with expertise and not only well-established facts are discussed (such as an explanation about stalagmites and stalactites and the formula E=MC 2 ), but also more recent insights and stories from science. For example, that eighth continent from the question above is Zeelandia, a largely submerged continent of which New Zealand is the largest landmass, and which was not recognized as a true continent until early 2017. And there's also a story about the extraordinary ever-exploding supernova discovered by astronomers four years ago.
Featured by the editors
MedicineWhat are the microplastics doing in my sunscreen?!
AstronomySun, sea and science
BiologyExpedition to melting land
Perhaps the only downside to the calendar is that the bits almost never have anything to do with the day itself. No tidbits about on π day (March 14) and nothing about love or flowers on Valentine's Day. Go ahead:something about writing poetry on December 5, but the only special day that I have come across is Ada-Lovelace Day and then also on the wrong date. Namely on December 10. That may be her birthday, but Ada-Lovelace Day, the international day to celebrate female achievements in science, engineering, engineering and mathematics, falls on the second Tuesday in October. However, on Tuesday 8 October, the Young Scientist Science Calendar is talking about the Arctic fox…