Wells of Knowledge Science Series - 3 books of 12

★★★★★

Difficult to Fathom

​There are 12 books overall in this series and I am looking forward to adding a few more to my own modest collection.

​‘How Do You Lift a Lion’ discusses gravity, friction, simple machines such as levers, pulleys, and wheels, the components that make them work and a couple simple changes you would need to make to lift a heavier load, among a few other key words. The book closes with a glossary a short explanation about these simple machines in the world around us and asks if the readers can spot anymore.

‘What’s Smaller than a Pygmy Shrew’ opens with an introduction, questioning what kids know to be small. We learn that a pygmy shrew may seem the smallest thing, but it is then compared to other creatures. This continues down the line as kids are introduced to microbes, cells, atoms, etc., what scientists use to be able to see such tiny particles and what everything is made of. The book closes out with a glossary.

‘Is A Blue Whale the Biggest There Is’ is a book about the universe and introduces children to the concept of large numbers and how long it can take to count to a million. Similar to the pygmy shrew, the blue whale is compared to things that are larger than itself, but since the blue whale is the largest creature on this earth, you can see how that can quickly become incomprehensible to most and such a wonderful exercise for the mind.

These books are written to help children try to comprehend subjects that even some adults have trouble fathoming, especially how big or how small some things really are. It’s absolutely mind boggling. Even as an adult, I enjoy reading these, trying to grasp the sheer incomprehensibility of such things! It truly is amazing.