The Story of Science: Newton at the Center: Newton at the Center

This is a science book written by Joy Hakim that contains numerous charts, maps, diagrams, and loads of illustrations. Hakim is an excellent author for young readers that invites the student to meet the forefathers of science in a very interesting way. She goes far beyond bland scientific data, and is quite relevant to curious minds of all ages. Highly recommended.

I notice that one negative review has been repeated on multiple Joy Hakim books verbatim. I LIKE the sidebars and pictures. There is a ton of ART history and beautiful graphic design work in the books. Perhaps it is because my husband, son and I are all artists, but we particularly enjoyed the layout of the books. I felt a fusion of science with art in the presentation. The history is sound, well presented, and detailed enough in scope to touch on mathmatical concepts supporting the science. I'd reccomend this book for lovers of science history and for older homeschoolers. It is a bit too serious for younger homeschoolers. To me, this is more a book for a older preteen or teen audience.

My daughter is homeschooled, and after reading the entire History of US Series, I knew this science series would be a must. Honestly, I learned so much about US history than I ever learned in all my years of schooling through Ms. Hakim's books. Same with the "Story of Science" Series. Some may find the sidebars distracting, but we kind of made them into a separate lesson and learned a great deal of little-known facts. And it isn't only history or science - the author weaves a little bit of everything into these books in these sidebars. I really can't recommend her books enough. So far, they have been THE favorite resource in our four years of homeschooling!

Although I agree that the sidebars are distracting, the book is a delight--and not at all condescending or arrogant. My homeschool daughter and I tried skipping the sidebars and returning to them after we had finished the text proper. It didn't work because the sidebars give anecdotal information that works best when read with the text proper. I'm guessing Ms. Hakim went through the same thought process before deciding on the layout. I do question that the text is meant for middle school. Although Ms. Hakim does write "to" that age level, the subject matter may be more appropriate for high school and thus benefit from a less familiar (although still conversational) style. I hope that Ms. Hakim will provide workbooks to accompany the books eventually. And, we are all waiting for the world history via Hakim!

This is a beautiful and well-written book about the history of science. It not only discusses science, however, but the whole culture of the times being covered and how science was an outgrowth of the times, and how science contributed to new thought. I can't recommend this book highly enough.