5 out of 5 stars
144 Pages, Young Adult
Time, 2009
Every once in awhile I get a request to review a book that doesn’t comply with The Boogle’s stated goal and I’ll agree to take a look, simply because the book is so cool and is something I simply can’t resist. This brings me to a great new addition to my collection of awesome adventure books, TIME Great Discoveries: Explorations that Changed History. This is more than your ultimate coffee table fodder. Filled with stunning photographs that capture the most amazing discoveries of our world – spanning the wonders of geography, paleontology, astronomy and archaeology – and combined with wonderful, classic tales of exploration, this is the perfect book for an armchair adventurer like me.
The book is filled with page after page of stunning, high-resolution, color photographs of the most amazing scenery of this world and beyond. Overhead shots of Machu Picchu, Stonehenge and Mayan pyramids are simply mind-boggling in scope and detail. The collections of ancient coins and weapons, unearthed after being lost for hundreds of years, and the fascinating bog bodies provide dazzling links to the past and remind us that our ancestors were not much different than we are. With an informative and educational narrative accompanying each discovery, the book is perfect for young adults and seasoned travelers alike.
From the depth of the diamond mine in Kimberly, South Africa to the frozen North and South Poles, to the far reaches of our solar system, TIME takes you on an adventure through time and space, visiting Shackleton’s crew in 1915 and journeying beyond the Milky Way, looking back through billions of years of supernovas and galaxy clusters. Dinosaurs and cavemen, the aurora borealis, an elk herd crossing the mountains of Montana, robots exploring the surface of Mars (if you like this kind of stuff then you’ll love Great Discoveries). And that’s just the tip of the iceberg – which also makes a cameo in the cool section about the Titanic.
My daughter is 4 and just becoming interested in the wonders of the world. This is the perfect book to leave on display for her to discover and page through at her leisure, or one for me to read carefully as I sit back with a glass of wine and some light music on a lazy autumn night. Stunning, engaging and delightfully well-crafted, this is the type of book that will inspire the mind and encourage you to travel the world and enjoy the wonders it has to offer!
TIME Great Discoveries: Explorations that Changed History will be available October 13th, everywhere books are sold.
Reviewed by Mark McGinty, September 2009
No comments:
Post a Comment