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Usborne Internet-Linked Science Encyclopedia Review Review by Heather Jackowitz

www.usborne-quicklinks.com
http://www.usborne.com/quicklinks/eng/?loc=uk

Do you find science boring and difficult to understand? Well, have I got the book for you! Usborne's new Internet-Linked Science Encyclopedia is a complete reference work covering physics, chemistry, biology, earth sciences, astronomy, information technology, and more in a beautiful and fascinating way. One of Usborne's new Internet-Linked books, this one has 1,000 recommended websites where you can find further information on any subject that catches your interest. The easiest way to access these websites is to go to Usborne Quicklinks at www.usborne-quicklinks.com. All you have to do is enter the book title and page number for a complete list of links to related websites. After reading about pollination, I clicked on a link to see an animated video of a bee pollinating a flower. You can listen to many different animal sounds, read about a new theory of what caused the Hindenburg airship disaster, or play a game about the periodic table. This book stands on its own, however, even if you do not have Internet access. "See for yourself" boxes throughout the book give ideas for experiments you can easily do at home. You can build a balloon rocket to see how jet engines work, observe a convection current using a piece of paper and your oven, and build a card tower to demonstrate the forces of equilibrium. Usborne has added much more photography to its books than in the past, and the effect is stunning. Each of the books is available separately, but for half the price you can get one hardcover bind-up of all eight titles. (Individual titles are Animal World; Earth and Space; Energy, Forces, and Motion; Human Body; Light, Sound, and Electricity; Materials; Mixtures and Compounds; and World of Plants.) You should consider hosting an Usborne book party to earn free books: I have built an incredible Usborne library just by inviting lots of friends to my house and letting the books sell themselves. I must caution readers that Usborne is a secular publisher, and many Christian parents object to their presentation of certain topics, such as reproduction and evolution. Some parents, like myself, use this as an opportunity to discuss the evolutionary theory and contrast it with the Biblical creation account. Reproduction is presented in a very factual way, and some parents will want to avoid such explicit descriptions, possibly by gluing pages together. (Usborne books are all printed in double-page spreads, so this is easy to do.) The longer I homeschool, the more I find myself turning to my Usborne books because they make science (and history) fascinating to my whole family, from age three to 33. So, check out the new Internet-Linked Science Encyclopedia at www.ubah.com/H0927. What more can I say about a book that makes chemistry understandable and interesting?



-- Product Review by: Heather Jackowitz, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine

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