Popular Science Children's Review - Can You Feel the Force

Home Authors Books Subjects Events Software Features Links Newsletter Gifts Blog Write Review What's New

Review - Can You Feel the Force - Richard Hammond

Not just force, in fact, but more "may the physics be with you," in this well-illustrated romp through the most fundamental of the sciences.

Non-UK readers may need a little explanation about Richard Hammond. He's a very popular TV presenter in the UK (sadly seriously injured when a jet-propelled car crashed in Autumn 2006, but recovering well as this review is written), best known for presenting the irreverent car show Top Gear, and the laddish science programme Braniac. Most of Hammond's TV work is aimed more at the teens and twenties audience, but this is solidly for the typical children's popular science age range.

Cynics might wonder how much Hammond contributed much more to the book himself than the introduction - it may well be that most of the content was down to the "advisors" credited in the front - but with Dorland Kindersley's highly illustrated, bitty articles style this is less important than the authorship with a proper popular science book. On the whole the content reads well. It's at its best when it gets excited about something practical (with some nice little experiments, that aren't too prissy and risk averse) - sometimes the rest can have a slightly textbook feel, but the segments are short enough to mean there's always something new and interesting to come.

Unlike most DK books it avoids the 2 page spread per topic - the first part of the book is a timeline of pre-Newtonian science, and the rest has sections varying in length depending on the subject, though most do still work in 2 page chunks. I was delighted that for once a children's science book didn't resort to describing atoms using the old planetary model - it's a shame no one told the illustrator, who still drew the old planet-and-satellites style pictures. Sigh.

Mostly the coverage was just at the right level. The most obvious omission was that despite having a good few pages on forces (I suppose there had to be given the title) and a clear description of velocity and acceleration, there was no exploration of angular acceleration, and why there's no such thing as centrifugal force - this was a real opportunity missed. There also could have been a bit more on post-Victorian physics - we had two pages about relativity (sort of) but nothing really on quantum theory.

All in all a very good introduction to physics with a light-hearted feel, and as you would expect from this publisher, some very effective illustrations.

Only in hardback.

* Our age range recommendation is an estimated guide, but individual readers outside the range could still enjoy the book!

Reviewed by Brian Clegg

DISCLAIMERS

This site has no connection with Popular Science magazine or other sites and publications with a similar name.

Much of the content of this site is written by popular science writers or friends of popular science writers. Inevitably many of the reviews in such a small community are written by or about someone we know. We always aim to be impartial in our reviews, but there is a connection which we need make clear, as there is no intention to deceive. The content of any review or article is solely the opinion of the author and should not be read or understood on any other basis. The site exists to promote popular science writing and popular science authors and for this reason should be considered promotional material, just as the editorial reviews in an online bookshop or the blurb on the back of a book should be considered promotional.

The website should not be eaten or used where it can come into contact with water.

Disagree with our review? Want to comment on a feature? Contact us at info@ popularscience.co.uk - have your say!

Part of the site