Science in Ancient Mesopotamia (Science of the Past) [Library Binding]

Carol Moss (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 9 and up | Series: Science of the Past

Describes the enormous accomplishments of the Sumerians and Babylonians of ancient Mesopotamia in every scientific area, a heritage which affects our own everyday lives.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-6-These volumes, remakes of titles from the "First Books" series (Watts), expand greatly on their earlier counterparts. Ancient Greece covers the ideas and achievements of astronomers, mathematicians, geographers, and medical scientists. In Mesopotamia, readers learn that the Babylonians created a symbol for zero and that the Mesopotamians were the first to use a number system to weigh and measure. A final chapter in each of these clearly written books does a good job summarizing the influences of these ancient contributions on modern science. Black-and-white and full-color photographs and reproductions, a few of which are duplicated from the earlier editions, are well captioned. Maps on the versos of the title pages are less detailed but more inviting than in the originals. Italicized words in the text are defined in an appended glossary. The lists of resources offer Internet sites as well as books for further study. These titles are useful for reports, and there's also much to interest science students.
Anne Chapman Callaghan, Racine Public Library, WI
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Library Binding: 63 pages
• Publisher: Franklin Watts; Revised edition (September 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0531203646
• ISBN-13: 978-0531203644
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,728,411 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, June 30, 2003

By A Customer

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This review is from: Science in Ancient Mesopotamia (Paperback)

The editorial review of this series from School Library Journal is wrong. The new editions of these books do not "expand greatly" on the original 1988 editions; they greatly contract. The 1988 edition of the books on Ancient Egypt and Ancient Mesopotamia had eight chapters and 92 pages. This new edition gives them only only six chapters and 64 pages, and the word count per page is reduced. Indeed color pictures and illustrations were added and the glossary expanded, but the text is reduced to about two thirds of the original. Students are better off reading the original editions in the Watts "First Book" series.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Pretty pictures, but not much text, January 22, 2001

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Science in Ancient Mesopotamia (Science of the Past) (Library Binding)

This book is part of the Science of the Past series. This book examines the Mesopotamians' knowledge of medicine, mathematics, astronomy and metallurgy. It concludes with a glossary, and a list of Internet sites.

This book is very short indeed, the main body being a mere 40 pages long, including some pages that are mostly taken up by pictures, but excluding the glossary and so forth. The pictures are excellent, and the information seems to be correct. However, this book is rather too short to provide much information. Overall, I do not recommend this book.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I find it still helpful, March 22, 2005

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HomeschoolingMom8 (CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Science in Ancient Mesopotamia (Paperback)

Because there is so little covering Mesopotamia, I still find this book helpful even if it is not as good as the others in this series. It would be nice if more resources were written on the ancient Mesopotamian culture, especially considering what is happening today. Meanwhile, we will use what we can, including this book, in our homeschooling. We use all the books of this series, the 'Gilgamesh' series by Ludmila Zeman, "Ancient Egyptians and their Neighbors-An Activity Guide (including Hittites, Nubians, Mesopotamians and Egyptians), and "Our Young Folks' Josephus" (primary history spine covering Israel and its relationship with the surrounding cultures of that time) in our homeschool. It works well for us.