Saturday, April 23, 2011

Math and Science Books Recently Found!

Crossing the River with Dogs: Problem Solving for College Students (Key Curriculum Press)
New books (new in the sense of something different to add variety to your day, not necessarily brand new) always excite me. I sometimes think it's a good thing I wasn't born rich and didn't marry rich. I'd have blown all my money on books! Useless personal info aside, I often wonder if there's some kind of book-alert service out there that'll help remind/ notify me about books I might like. Hmm, this is something to google for the weekend. I know Amazon has a similar feature but I don't know if they actually send you emails about it. Anyway, here is a quick update of a bunch of finds I made on Amazon and elsewhere on the web!

Crossing the River with Dogs: Problem Solving for College Students (Key Curriculum Press). Yes, it's from Key Curriculum Press! I love those guys. Some of kiddo's favorite math workbooks were from Key Press and we also have Patty Paper Geometry, a great geometry curriculum, at about upper middle to high school level. I haven't had a chance to peruse a copy of Crossing the River yet (ordered a used copy and it hasn't arrived) but Amazon allows you to search inside and although it says college student on the cover, the initial pages look as if a middle schooler (or interested elementary schooler) will appreciate them. I am quite sure that kiddo will like them. I'll report more if kiddo decides to use it! It looks like there's a teacher guide available too. When I report back I'll tell you whether I think it's doable without the teacher guide.

M. C. Escher ® Kaleidocycles: An Illustrated Book and 17 Fun-to-Assemble Three-Dimensional Models
M. C. Escher ® Kaleidocycles: An Illustrated Book and 17 Fun-to-Assemble Three-Dimensional Models. I plan to use this in the summer for fun. Kiddo has been a bit of an Escher fan for a while now. He knows this one will be a delicious finale to his spring semester and is excited. It actually comes as a box containing a black-and-white illustrated paperback with some background info on Escher, his art and also information about the geometrical pieces you'll be assembling. Included of course are instructions on assembling the models. The flattened models are scored and seem to be easily detachable. You will certainly need glue and very possibly, a discerning eye. :)

Amazing Paper Pets: 6 Animated Animals to MakeI've been looking for a long time for an affordable way to practice/ play with physics using paper. Now if you haven't heard of Arvind Gupta, check this out. He shows you for free, how to create cool physics toys out of recycled materials.

I also stumbled upon Rob Ives a while back. If you have a paper toy fiend at home, it's good to know that Robs' paper animation models are reasonably priced for download. If you don't feel like printing them out but want to buy something similar (who has the time to print these days?), Rob has a book that carries pre-printed models of his animated animal models.

Making Things Move DIY Mechanisms for Inventors, Hobbyists, and ArtistsAnd speaking of building, animating and physics, I also stumbled upon Making Things Move by Dustyn Roberts. This 2011-published tome is clearly a book for the more serious inventor and hobbyist. It even says so on the cover: DIY Mechanisms for Inventors, Hobbyists and Artists. Screams "possible supplementary living physics text for high school" to me.

It's not a visually colorful book like Physics, Fun, and Beyond and tends to be closer in style to books by the Make folk. However, it doesn't seem as complicated (to me at least, I'm no "hobbyist") as the Make books. It really feels like a cross between a living physics text (the author asserts it is not a textbook) and a builder/ hobbyist's manual. It's not yet the right book for kiddo. He's certainly not ready for this. But it looks like one of the better ones for him when he IS ready. I like that each chapter comes with a list of books for further reference!

4 comments:

  1. Oh, no! Don't tell me about awesome new books! I'm still recovering from my last spending incident! :)

    These all look really cool (and affordable.)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey Suji, register on Amazon and they do send emails on regular intervals to tell you about books you might like. And try Goodreads.

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  3. With the exception of Crossing, yes, they are reasonable I'd say. :) Thanks for visiting Sparklee! I loved those easter eggs!

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  4. Aaah, Goodreads! You're are awesome as usual. Thanks dear!

    ReplyDelete

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