I’ve got one for the science buffs today with General Relativity for Babies by Chris Ferrie. I requested this one from Netgalley for review on the logic that I, as an intelligent, adult gargoyle, should be able to understand a concept – even one as advanced as general relativity – when it is explained at a baby’s cognitive level. Here’s the blurb from Goodreads:
A brand-new board book series with simple explanations of complex ideas for your future genius!
It only takes a small spark to ignite a child’s mind! Written by an expert, General Relativity for Babies is a colorfully simple introduction to Einstein’s most famous theory. Babies (and grownups!) will learn all about black holes, gravitational waves, and more. With a tongue-in-cheek approach that adults will love, this installment of the Baby University board book series is the perfect way to introduce basic concepts to even the youngest scientists. After all, it’s never too early to become a quantum physicist!
So, was my reasoning spurious?
Long story short: yes.
Yes it was.
I was unable to grasp complex scientific principles delivered at the cognitive level of a baby. The first few pages were okay. I was pretty confident with my grasp of things having more or less mass, and the ability of mass to warp space.
But when we got on to particles not being able to go where they please, I was lost. It was all over. Nevertheless, I persisted to the end of the book, picked up some basic information about black holes and subsequently consigned all that talk about particles taking the shortcut through warped mass to the black hole of my memory.
As far as baby-appeal goes however, this book is on the right track. The illustrations are bright and consist of large shapes in contrasting colours. The text is short. The images are stark and perfect for babies at an early stage of development who like big shapes and simple images against solid background colours. Science fans will get a kick out of reading this to their mini-lab-assistants-in-training.
Overall, this is a super fun idea for a series of board books and are a great way for parents to engage their mini-fleshlings in topics that set their scientific hearts aflutter.
Until next time,
Bruce
The Bookshelf Gargoyle 
Reblogged this on zackred1's Blog.
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