Science and Scientists (True Stories From Ancient China)

SCIENCE AND SCIENTISTS: TRUE STORIES FROM ANCIENT CHINA is a new four-volume series designed to introduce the wonders of ancient China’s science and technology to a younger audience. Featuring full-color illustrations, each volume tells the unique story associated with the history of Chinese science, medicine, technology, and engineering. Here, legendary folk heroes come to life and their contributions to Chinese (and World) history can be discovered by new generations.

Gr. 3-5. Using comic-book style panels with word balloons in addition to occasional narrative or expository text, this unusual collective biography introduces four ancient Chinese scientists. Zhang Heng created a model to explain the movement of heavenly bodies as well as inventing seismography and figuring out what causes a lunar eclipse. Zu Chongzhi derived fractional and decimal approximations for the value of pi. Yi Xing introduced a more accurate calendar. Xu Xiake explored China and wrote about its geography as well as the plants and animals he saw on his extensive travels. Within the little rectangles that divide the pages are lively, expressive ink drawings tinted with watercolors that give the book a handsome yet accessible look. Though American readers may not be familiar with these scientists, the format and the narrative combine to create a reader-friendly introduction to these men of achievement. Three other books in the True Stories from Ancient China series present notable engineers and architects, inventors, and doctors. Carolyn Phelan
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