The manual which should come with all children's microscopes | Adventures with a Microscope

book: Adventures with a Microscope | Richard Headstrom

books:


	• Adventures with a Microscope Richard Headstrom Dover Publications, 1977 - 232 pages average customer review:based on 2 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

Excellent beginners text

While it's true that this book was written a long time ago and many of the chemicals will no longer be sold to children, it still teaches science to children the way it should be. I'd recommend this text over any of the recent efforts that compromise the science for political correctness.

Furthermore, the author does not talk down to his audience. Adults reading along and helping their children will be just as engaged and informed. Scientific terminology is used in the book but it's explained very well. Since it's written for the intelligent reader however, it's only explained once.

Headstrom's insightful observations are as relevant now as they were when they were written, and this should provide a sound basis for further study and exploration for the inquiring mind. The constant use of puns and the style of writing comes from a time when the world was a different place, however this adds to the charm of the book. 142 line drawings are used throughout.

I'd highly recommend this book to adults and children of any age taking their first steps in microscopy. I'd also recommend that adults do not give a child a microscope without a copy of this book.

Subjects covered include protozoa, algae, diatoms, desmids, flowers, insects, spiders, common food items, mosses molds and lichens, higher invertebrates, blood, and forensic subjects such as fibers, hair and fingerprints.

for more information click here

The manual which should come with all children's microscopes

Microscopes in toy stores haven't really changed much with time. There are better-quality models now available, but the box still usually contains the 'scope and a few dozen glass slides of blood, insect parts, and such. Rarely are the directions enough to keep a child's interest in microscopy alive for more than a few weeks, at best. This book offers a guided tour of the microscopic world, in the form of 59 "adventures" which range from the kitchen to backyard pond or shoreline. More than instructions on how to capture a fly and examine its feet, the adventure includes a discussion of how the fly can walk on the ceiling. The microscope, then, becomes one gateway to rich discoveries in nature study. If there is a problem with this book, it is its age. This is a reprinted version of the 1941 edition. Many of the supplies recommended "for your laboratory table" are no longer easily available, while some are now considered hazardous. The fly mentioned earlier is to be killed with chloroform, for example. There are safer alternatives available, but the reader will have to do some further research. Nonetheless, it's a stimulating book, charmingly illustrated with many line drawings. The language is at times too difficult for younger readers, but a parent/child team of adventurers will find it useful.

for more information click here

With a simple microscope and this book you can embark on 59 exciting adventures in the natural world?make discoveries about the structures of numerous microscopic animals; find out what everyday objects and foods really look like at the cellular level; learn how to prepare specimens and slides. Unabridged republication of the original (1941) edition. 142 illustrations.