Extreme Scientists: Exploring Nature's Mysteries from Perilous Places (Scientists in the Field Series)

by Donna M. Jackson

Hardcover, 2009

Status

Available

Series

Scientists in the Field

Genres

Nonfiction

All Topics

Publication

HMH Books for Young Readers (2009), Edition: First, 80 pages

Description

Extreme scientists battle some of the Earth's most intense conditions, from hurricanes to caves to the crowns of towering redwoods, in order to save lives, preserve species, and help us to better understand the way our planet works.

Rating

(23 ratings; 4.2)

User reviews

LibraryThing member abbylibrarian

This addition to the Scientists in the Field series features three scientists with extreme jobs - a meteorologist who flies planes into hurricanes, a microbiologist who gathers data from caves all over the world, and a biologist who visits the tops of tall trees like redwoods to study the life

there. Stunning photos accompany each portion and each scientist is described in a narrative followed by a "quick questions" section. The book was interesting and may appeal to kids looking for books about unusual jobs, but honestly I don't see it circ'ing much. Shorter books about each individual scientist would fare better, I think.

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LibraryThing member rklantz

This book gives information about three different scientists; Paul Flaherty, Hazel Barton, and Steve Sillett. First each chapter gives background information about the specific scientist. Then, it gives tons of information about what each scientist studies (dangerous storms, microbes, and the

redwoods). At the very end of each section there is a question and answer page where the scientist has answered questions about what they study. Finally, at the end of the book, there is a list of different resources where readers could learn more and a list of terms and definitions used in the book. This book would be cool to have in the classroom, especially for those students who love biographies and non-fiction. It covers a wide range of science topics . . . all the topics are very different, but all relate to science.

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LibraryThing member Ms.Penniman

Retelling: Hurricane Tracker Paul Flaherty, Cave explorer Hazel Barton, and Giant-Tree climber Steve Sillett all work under extremely dangerous conditions requiring expert training and an unwavering attention to safety protocol. This book explains how their interest in their respective fields

developed, what their research questions are, and their methods for investigating those questions.

Thoughts and Feelings: This book reads like a discovery channel documentary. In fact, some of these scientists have been featured in nature documentaries before. Their adventures reminded me of my scuba diving adventure. You have to be very careful when exploring environments that are hostile to humans. Mistakes can be fatal.

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LibraryThing member edeidrich

"Extreme Scientists" provides an insightful view into the dangerous yet amazing lives of explorers the likes of hurricane hunters, deep cave divers, and redwood tree climbers. With vibrant pictures and tons of scientific facts, this book could inspire young readers with career aspirations and

teachers in search of a good science project topic.

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LibraryThing member apoffenroth13

This book gives biographies of several extreme scientists who use their love of science to work incredible jobs. I would love to share this book with my students to inspire them to think out of the box and see that what we are learning now can lead to great things in the future. This book might

help students see jobs that they otherwise didn't know existed!

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LibraryThing member ehwall

This could definitely be a book that I would take into my classroom to spend even just 20 minutes looking at an overview of the scientists in each chapter and showing the amazing photography as an inspiration. With Biology being a subject that is used in high-stakes EOC testing in Louisiana, it can

be difficult to find time for anything but test curriculum because we want our students to do as best as they possibly can on them. This is fine, but we also really need to spend some time showing them the kinds of things that they can actually go out and do with a biology degree.
I wish Donna Jackson had just found two more of the amazing photographs to put on the endpages. These were completely bare when the rest of the book is so well decorated. The rest of the access features are great though, with the end of chapter interviews really hitting some of points home about how passionate these researchers are. The photographs really bring all of this to life and show students that there are real people doing these amazing things and that they can too. The third person tone is very common for science writing, but the frequent interjections of dialogue help personalize it a little bit. Donna Jackson did an excellent job at pulling together the information from these amazing scientists, and her Master's in Journalism certainly adds credibility and professionalism to her interviews.

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