This no-nonsense series introduces a wide range of non-fiction subjects using a straightforward narrative approach. Young readers will find these lively texts on high interest subjects very approachable. A classic and uncluttered design uses a mix of photos and artwork to support the text, which is broken up into short chapters. Each book contains a simple contents, glossary and index. An explosive first look at Volcanoes. The book begins with an exciting description of an eruption and proceeds to explain simply and clearly the processes involved. Diagrams and dramatic photos illustrate active and dormant volcanoes such as Vesuvius, Surtsey and Krakatoa.
SLA theory attempts to explain the phenomena involved when a person acquires a second language. We observe that people whose native language is X acquire a second language Y: How do they do it? The point of this over-simplified description is to emphasise that any theory is an attempt to explain phenomena, and to highlight three key terms: phenomena, language, and explanation.
Aside from the first four chapters (which provide an excellent, if strident, history of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), this is a thorough text book on climate analysis for the layman. It develops a cogent theory of how the atmosphere works and explains each of the issues involved from the eccentricity of the earth's orbit, the tilt of the poles, the impact of the solar cycle, to a detailed look at the defects in climate modeling and how one might expect the atmosphere to react if, indeed, the earth were warming or cooling. Great care is taken to explain the impact of each of the green house gases (including the most significant, water vapor, and how its omission from IPCC studies impacts the conclusions). Not light reading, but well worth the effort.
A Briefer History of Time attempts to explain a range of subjects in cosmology, including the Big Bang, black holes, light cones and superstring theory, to the nonspecialist reader. Its main goal is to give an overview of the subject but, unusual for a popular science book, it also attempts to explain some complex mathematics. The author notes that an editor warned him that for every equation in the book the readership will be halved, hence it includes only a single equation: E = mc².
In addition to Hawking’s abstinence from equations, the book also simplifies matters by means of illustrations throughout the text, depicting complex models and diagrams.
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