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Dan Green

Simon Basher

Physics: Why Matter Matters! Paperback – Illustrated, April 29, 2008

by Dan Green (Author), Simon Basher (Author, Illustrator)

291 ratings

Part of: Basher Science (19 books)

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Basher Science: Physics, Why Matter Matters! created and illustrated by Simon Basher, Written by Dan Green:

Imagine physics as a community full of wacky characters--the building blocks of the universe each with a unique personality. This book throws open the doors and welcomes you into their amazing world. From gravity to the theory of relativity, this unique book provides visual interpretations of complex concepts, designed to make learning physics easier and a whole lot more fun!

Reading age

10 - 14 years
Print length

128 pages
Language

English
Grade level

5 - 9
Lexile measure

1040L
Dimensions

6.99 x 0.35 x 7.86 inches
Publisher

Kingfisher
Publication date

April 29, 2008
ISBN-10

0753462141
ISBN-13

978-0753462140
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Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4–8—This follow-up to Adrian Dingle's The Periodic Table (Kingfisher, 2007) introduces the elements of physics as anthropomorphic, cartoon-style characters. "You could say that these forceful fellows are the ones that really matter." They are grouped by associations: "Old School" (mass, weight, density, etc.), "Hot Stuff" (energy, entropy, etc.), "Wave Gang" (sound, frequency, etc.), "Light Crew" (radio wave, microwave, etc.), "Atom Family" (proton, electron, etc.), "Nuclear Heavies" (radioactivity, alpha particle, etc.), and "Electric Cuties" (static electricity, electric current, etc.). Each of the groupings begins with an introduction and each concept is given its own spread that shows the cartoon figure and describes its "personality." The information is presented in a chatty and conversational tone. For example, Blackbody Radiation is described as "a ninjalike shadow who swallows and slays the Light Crew." Along with the narrative, which is written in the first person from the concept's point of view, other key facts are presented. This book would be handy as a supplement to a physics curriculum.—Maren Ostergard, King County Library System, Issaquah, WA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Dan Green is a freelance science writer and editor who consulted on Basher's previous book for Kingfisher, The Periodic Table.

Artist and designer Simon Basher has fun playing in the world of contemporary character design. Inspired by a love of simple line work and a rich color palette, his characters fill the gap between edgy manga and the cuteness of Hello Kitty. He lives in England.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Kingfisher; First edition (April 29, 2008)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 128 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0753462141
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0753462140
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 10 - 14 years
Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 1040L
Grade level ‏ : ‎ 5 - 9
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.8 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.99 x 0.35 x 7.86 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #135,425 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #73 in Children's Physics Books (Books)
- #1,272 in Physics (Books)
- #7,330 in Children's Literature (Books)

Customer Reviews:
291 ratings

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About the authors

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Dan Green
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Dan Green is a London-based writer and editor with an amazing ability for science communication. He is the Editor of The Week Junior's brand new Science+Nature magazine. His award-winning books include Rebel Science and Basher Science, and have sold over 3 million copies worldwide.
sciencenature.theweekjunior.co.uk
www.dangreenbooks.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/dangreenauthor
Twitter: @diggedydan
See more on the author's page
Simon Basher
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For a FREE Basher Science Periodic Table wall poster please email your POSTAL address to simon@simonbasher.com (U.S only offer)
Simon Basher is a British illustrator and designer.
He is best known for creating and illustrating a series of books that make science and other topics accessible. The Basher Science series has sold over 4 million copies worldwide.
His book catalog includes The Periodic Table, Physics, Biology, Rocks and Minerals, Planet Earth, Chemistry, Physics, Math, Punctuation, and Astronomy.
Simon Basher lives and works in Brighton, U.K
New Basher books for 2020/21
STEM Science
STEM Technology
STEM Engineering
STEM Math
Basher Civics
Basher Pandemic
Basher Money
Basher Legendary Creatures
www.basherscience.com
FOLLOW SIMON BASHER:
facebook.com/SimonBasherBooks
Instagram: SimonBasherBooks
www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Basher
See more on the author's page

Customer reviews

5 star		80%
4 star		10%
3 star		5%
2 star		3%
1 star		2%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Amazing Science Book!

Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2019

Verified Purchase

I am making it my personal mission to collect all of the Basher Science books. They are absolutely wonderful; I’ve never seen books like them before. If you have a child in your life that is keen on science (or one that isn’t!), these are amazing books to spark their curiosity.
Part graphic novel, the books have cute little illustrated characters to make big, complicated, even intimidating concepts kid-friendly. Each concept is written in first person, making it relatable. The side is color-coded, so you can easily flip to the chapter on the Wave Gang or Electric Cuties.
I cannot say enough about these books. To think that my 6 year old is reading about physics and LOVING it is extraordinary.

7 people found this helpful

Helpful

Roswell Ginny

perfect silliness level to keep him engaged

Reviewed in the United States on May 22, 2017

Verified Purchase

My son is a voracious reader. We got him 7 of the Basher Science books for his 8th birthday in late March. He had finished them all by the end of April and has picked them back up again to reread. (2nd grade, reading at a U-level) He won't touch a fiction book unless forced, but if it is about science or technology he can't put it down. Just enough pictures to keep him from feeling intimidated by the text, perfect silliness level to keep him engaged, and more real science facts than he could absorb the first time through.

6 people found this helpful

Helpful

Sarah L. Wesch

Not what I expected

Reviewed in the United States on September 4, 2017

Verified Purchase

This is not what I hoped it would be. As others have noted, it's a glossary of terms. I wanted something that would help introduce this subject to my children, but presenting a bunch of terms isn't what I was aiming for. Perhaps would be better for older students who are struggling to grasp a particular concept, but isn't appropriate as an introductory text for younger learners.

11 people found this helpful

Helpful

ChaosCreatorx5

The force is strong with this one...

Reviewed in the United States on April 6, 2017

Verified Purchase

Basher Science books are engaging dictionaries of common (and some uncommon) terms in a given area of study. The Physics book is no different. I love having it to reference and introduce my elementary schoolers to the various characters that are about to make our experiments work(or not work, as the case may be).

8 people found this helpful

Helpful

Melissa T.

Cute but confusing

Reviewed in the United States on May 23, 2012

Verified Purchase

I purchased this book for a nine-year-old girl who is very interested in science and math. I'm a friend of her parents and love to help promote her interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields.

She loves the book; unfortunately I haven't been around to see what kinds of questions she has about it. I read it myself before giving it to her just to see what it was like.

The illustrations are really cute and well-done. Some of them have some subtle humor. Each page spread is about a different topic; there is an illustration on the right-hand page and a short summary on the left-hand side, plus some bullet-point facts. I liked the variety of topics included, from the basics (atoms, waves, mass, energy, protons, etc.) to some more obscure topics (as far as kids are concerned): dark matter, the higgs-boson, blackbody radiation, Schrodinger's cat, and so on. However, I am not sure if there is any meaningful way to explain the more advanced topics (like the higgs-boson) to kids who are just learning about matter, energy, and atoms. I found the explanations of the advanced topics to be more confusing than helpful, but maybe they will spark kids' interest in further study. Similarly, I don't see the point of the book's use of scientific notation to describe the sizes of things, since the numbers used are pretty darn hard to comprehend and there was no primer on scientific notation included.

Another quibble is that sometimes the book uses nomenclature that isn't explained until further along in the book or in the glossary at the end. Something like "check out page 34" or whatever would have been helpful in these situations, as not every entry is listed in the table of contents.

One reviewer noted that there is too much slang. I wouldn't call it slang so much as excessive use of colloquialisms and idioms. I definitely would not recommend the book for non-native speakers of english.

Overall, I found this to be a fun book that will spark kids' interest on a lot of topics related to physics and be a starting-point for learning about the topic. It would be a good reference for a kid to have around.

7 people found this helpful

Helpful

bravenewcraig

Great resource for kids (and dads who have trouble with science)

Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2019

Verified Purchase

My son kept re-checking this out from the library. I enjoyed the simple explanations so much I thought it was worth getting a copy for the house. I wish I had this when I was my sons age; I think I would have probably done better in science because of it ;).

Helpful

guitar geek

Really mixed feelings, but strongly recommended anyway.

Reviewed in the United States on December 18, 2013

Verified Purchase

This review applies to MOST of the Basher books as they all seem to share the same mix of excellence and failure.

First, these books are GREAT in that they present some of the terminology/jargon of the subject matter in a way that seems to interest small children! (in my experience, ages 4-7 seems about right) This is actually a BIG DEAL, as the books reliably deal in wonderfully important subjects. For this, I highly recommend them and thank the authors and publishers for their effort!

However... there are two ways in which I find these books to be terribly disappointing:

1) The attempts to make each entry clever and fun raise the effective reading level high above the target audience. Clever puns and delightfully descriptive diatribes do not go over so well with young children just beginning to read. My six year old is completely ready for the subject matter, but struggles to the point of giving up (!!) trying to manage the prose.

2) IMHO, the attempts at fun language and clever characterizations often work to obscure the simplicity of the subject matter at hand. As a scientist who understands many of the concepts under discussion, I often find myself marveling at how these descriptions express an opaque and incomprehensible version of what are fundamentally simple ideas.

*sigh*

Basher Guys... I LOVE what you are trying to do. IMHO, if you can find a way to simplify the prose, and not let "characterizations" get in the way of "simple explanations", then you will be changing the WORLD!!

So despite my reservations... BUY THESE BOOKS!... I think that as long as they use it to try to do better, these guys have TOTALLY earned our income!!

12 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

CobWeb 🕸️

'Why matter matters!'

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 23, 2020

Verified Purchase

This is a neat little book that measures just under 13 cm square.
The colourful card cover opens to 128 quality, shiny finish pages, over colour-coded CHAPTERS, namely:

1. OLD SCHOOL
2. HOT STUFF
3. WAVE GANG
4. LIGHT CREW
5. ATOM FAMILY
6. NUCLEAR HEAVIES
7. ELECTRIC CUTIES

…sandwiched between a short INTRODUCTION to PHYSICS, ‘E(instein) = mc²’, at the front, with an alphabetical INDEX and a handy 3-page GLOSSARY at the back.

Presented in double page spreads, there is a page of simple but informative text on the left-hand side and a colourful, full-page ‘character’ on the right.

From the back cover:

📝 'Imagine physics as a community full of cool characters who control the Universe.
This book throws open the doors and welcomes you into their amazing world.'

One person found this helpful

RR Waller

This makes Physics physical!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 10, 2011

Verified Purchase

I bought this as a stocking filler for my grandson (three years old) and to help fill his bookshelves with interesting, enjoyable and educational books which convey information in a simple way. Socrates said education is not about filling a vessel but fanning a flame, and he knew how to inspire the youth. Basher and Green have good ideas too.

This is a simple framework - a small size (half a normal paperback) with a physics concept on one page (simply explained) and a drawing/cartoon on the other helping to explain it.

I bought this and other presents to engender not only a continued interest in books but science and mathematics books. As an Arts graduate who has always had an interest in books, arts, science and the rest, I know how important it is to fan the flame early and keep it glowing. Science is a way of thinking, a way of looking at the world and this "fun-sized" book is ideal for beginning the process; small enough to put in a pocket but large enough to fill the mind. This is a great little series I hope my grandson will grow into; it certainly will not be for the want of Socratean fanning.

Recommended

KTM

My genius of a god daughter said that there were ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 25, 2015

Verified Purchase

My genius of a god daughter said that there were a few mistakes in there. Will ask her to define errors.

mousiemcp

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 16, 2014

Verified Purchase

we love the basher series

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 25, 2015

Verified Purchase

Good

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