Backward Science

Seems like the wrong book file downloaded from here — my e-reader got Who Do You Think You Are instead — not sure of just a blip, but wanted to be sure to let you know — thanks!

BACKWARD SCIENCE: What was life like before world-changing discoveries? by Clive Gifford is a children’s nonfiction book aimed at seven to eleven-year-olds. It was illustrated by Anne Wilson. This is a well-written book that has short chapters and lots of information. The author uses a different tactic than most by starting with more current inventions like smartphones and works backwards in time.

After the introduction, each chapter starts with a section that describes life before the chapter topic. It then has several short sections on related inventions, discoveries, etc. giving names, dates, and information about the early devices. Besides a table of contents, there is also a glossary, a timeline, and an index.

I read the occasional children’s non-fiction book to seek out gift ideas for family members. I can definitely recommend this one. The youngest targeted readership will likely need help with some of the words, but it would make for a fun family read. The illustrations are well-done, colorful and engaging. The content is entertaining and informative. The one thing that I thought was missing was references for additional reading (appropriate for the age group) on the various topics.

Thanks to Quarto Publishing Group – QEB Publishing and Clive Gifford for a complimentary ARC of this novel via NetGalley and the opportunity to provide an honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way.

I found this to be very enlightening but also engaging and fun. This explores different advancements that we have had and the timeline of how we got there. For example, medical treatment, appliances, smartphones. The illustrations were great. They were realistic, but also brought an air of humor and quirk to the writing. This is not too detailed, but just enough to really enjoy reading about our advances in the world. Great to read to kids or for kids to explore on their own.

This book is awesome! Instead of teaching how modern things work, it teaches how things worked before modern inventions. The content seems interesting to children and answers plausible questions they might have. The illustrations are very colorful and intriguing and I think this book will capture attention across a range of ages.

My 11-year-old son saw "Backward Science" available for review, and he read it and told me his thoughts. I'm compiling them into this review, since he didn't feel like putting fingers to keyboard right now. Whaddya do?

Quick synopsis: Told in short chapters with full page illustrations, this book explains what life was like before certain inventions. It's a mashup of history and innovation told backwards -- starting from present day working our way back in time.

Overall, he really enjoyed the book. He says the content and illustrations were entertaining, and topics were explained in a clear way. Some topics he wanted slightly more detail.

Chapters that struck him most were about fire fighting and the anesthesia/antiseptics chapter.

He recommends the book for ages 10+ depending on their reading and interest level. He gives it
4.5 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group for the free digital review copy.

This non-fiction title presents the context and the benefits of many technological advancements. Filled with informational side bars and profiles of inventors, the central piece, the invention, takes the bulk of the presentation. Some sections also present the futuristic view briefly providing the view of the past, present, and future. This is a wonderful book for all #science, #STEM, nonfiction lovers.. Buy this book for providing hours of delightful engagement for your young reader.

I received an advanced reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

This book is a fantastic unique book about certain devices/equipment that has evolved/adapted over time but starts with it as it is now and goes backwards in time.
The book is told in short chapters with fantastic drawings and illustrations to help children visualise what certain times in history were like compared to now.
This in an interesting and informative book that children will love on both a science and history level.

The title to this book is rather misleading in two ways because for one, there's nothing backward about it really. There are almost thirty sections which deal with advances in science or, mostly, with inventions. They begin with asking what life was like before the discovery, and how the change came about and was developed. The other way is that it's less about science per se, than it is about invention.

The chapters are short but fascinating, and they cover a wide variety of topics, from smart phones and DNA profiling, to assembly lines and gunpowder, and textiles and steam trains. The book doesn't shy away from naming the inventors, so we see, unusually, several women mentioned as well as some people of color. Unfortunately people of color do not appear in the illustrations very much. Those consist mostly of white folk. I'm not sure why.

Some of the inventors might not seem familiar to you, for example if you think that Thomas Edison invented the light bulb (nope!), or that William Hoover invented the vacuum cleaner. Nope. Had the original inventor of a practical home vacuum cleaner not sold everything to Hoover, we might well be spangling the rug today, not hoovering it!

This book was fun, knowledgeable, and nicely-illustrated by Wilson. I commend it as a worthy read

Backward Science - Clive Gifford

In this new non-fiction book for children Gifford clearly and interestingly shows children the development in modern technology. I think that this is very important in our modern world - I remember once a picture of a home telephone on a PowerPoint presentation at school and a child in my class asking ‘is it an old style calculator’. Made me feel about 100! So this book comes at a good time to help children chart the innovation in what they see around them. When I first read the title I did assume that the book was going to be set out almost like a timeline. And I was a bit disappointed when it wasn’t. However this doesn’t take anything away from the book as a whole.
I read extracts from this book out to the children at school during our inventions project today And they found it incredibly interesting, and most importantly easy to access and understand. A good addition to the non-fiction box!

'Backwards Science' mixes world changing scientific discoveries and history beautifully! I loved the neat illustrations and fascinating educational content. This is perfect for older elementary school aged children.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC.

Backward science is a fun and engaging book that explores the many inventions that we encounter in our everyday life. I like how this book brings the history behind these inventions, giving the reader a background history of her the invention came about and evolved overtime. Showing how individuals added to concepts to make improvements that made a lasting impact on the invention. Also loved the use of the illustrations in this book, they helped in not only engaging the readers attention but also furthering the understanding of the inventions that were explored in the book. The introductions and explanations about the science behind these inventions is short but that gives opportunity for the reader to further explore an invention on their own and learn even more.

"Backward Science" is a non-fiction book that leads readers through the development of some modern technologies and inventions that we sometimes take for granted. The developments covered in this book include refrigeration, wheels, phones, television, toilets, airplanes, paper, and many others. A two-page spread for each topic includes color art work that depicts times past, found at the top of the pages. The bottom half of each page details information that takes the reader through the development itself, including inventor biographies, science explanations, and historical details. Smaller color illustrations accompany the text in these sections. A glossary, index, and timeline for all the products and processes completes the book.

Children and their families will enjoy reading this book together, although it would also find a happy home in school or classroom libraries. Readers will be amazed at the interesting details that underlie the development of many of the inventions we use today.

I received this book from the publisher and from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

This is such a great perspective on how science has advanced through the years and a good way to explain to kids what it was like when their parents or grandparents were kids. I am going to convince the library director in charge of purchasing that this book is a must buy for the kids section!

This is an interesting take on learning about inventions and change. It looks and what the world was like before the invention, who invented whatever it was, how the world has changed since that time. It covers a variety of things from the wheel to the computer, smartphone, and beyond. There are lots of illustrations, and a few paragraphs for each item discussed. I'm not sure what the target audience age range is, but I thought it was interesting, and I can see my 8-year-old grandson enjoying it as well.