A hilarious nonfiction picture book from the New York Times bestselling author and creator of Awkward Yeti. Oh hey, guess what? The Sun never stops working to keep things on Earth running smoothly. (That's why it's been Employee of the Month for 4.5 billion years.) So why does the Sun get to be the center of attention? Because it's our solar system's very own star! This funny and factual picture book from Awkward Yeti creator Nick Seluk explains every part of the Sun's big job: keeping our solar system together, giving Earth day and night, keeping us warm, and more. In fact, the Sun does so much for us that we wouldn't be alive without it. That's kind of a big deal. Each spread features bite-sized text and comic-style art with sidebars sprinkled throughout. Anthropomorphized planets (and Pluto) chime in with commentary as readers learn about the Sun. For instance, Mars found someone's rover. Earth wants the Sun to do more stuff for it. And Jupiter just wants the Sun's autograph. Funny, smart, and accessible, The Sun Is Kind of a Big Deal is a must-have!
Bold color photos and easy-to-read text introduce readers to solar power. Five informative chapters highlight what solar power is, how it works, and why it is a good source of energy. Zoom in even deeper with key stats and bolded glossary terms that make learning fun. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Abdo Zoom is a division of ABDO.
With an emphasis on how important light is to our planet, this beautifully-illustrated book explains how light affects photosynthesis, how light travels, and light's different properties. Whether it's ultraviolet light that helps bees pollinate flowers or solar panels that use sunlight to heat our homes, students learn about the various ways that both animals and people depend on light.
The Sun, which is our own star at the center of the Solar System, gives rise to all life on Earth and is the driver of photosynthesis in plants and the source of all food and energy for living things. As seen with the naked eye, the Sun appears as a static and quiet yellow disk in the sky. However, it is a stormy and ever-changing star that contributes much more than light and heat. For example, it is the source of the beautiful northern lights and can affect our technology-based society in many ways. Our Explosive Sun: A Visual Feast of our Source of Light and Life is a great introduction to the Sun for general readers as well as scientists who are not solar physicists. The book presents the basic properties of the Sun, describes how it has fascinated humans throughout history, and shows how it influences our current technologies. The book includes a large number of illustrations and video materials for SpringerExtras, along with a PowerPoint presentation that provides a useful resource for teachers and lectures.
"Being of the Sun is the sequel to Alicia Bay Laurel's classic, best-selling guide to bohemian country folkways, Living on the Earth. Co-written with author, avant-garde composer and solar yogi Ramon Sender, Being of the Sun opens as a guide to creating one's own religion, and then offers a compendium of spiritual practices the authors found valuable. Like Living On The Earth, Being of the Sun is entirely handwritten in Alicia's flowing cursive script and illustrated on every page with her line drawings, a shining example of her immensely influential original book design. However, unlike the simple brown lines and cover of Alicia's first book, Being of the Sun's design features purple ink throughout, a colorful cover, plus a dozen full color illustrations within. Ramon created sheet music of original spiritual songs he and Alicia wrote for the book. Featured in the Sonoma County Museum's spring 2002 exhibit, Utopia Then and Now, Being of the Sun is a window on hippie life in the early 70's, and a cult classic among nature-worshippers to this day."--Amazon.com.
Which fungus is as sensitive to light as the human eye? What are the myths and facts about the ozone hole, tanning, skin cancer, and sunscreens? What is the effect of light on butterfly copulation? This entertaining collection of essays explores how various organisms -- including archaebacteria, slime molds, fungi, plants, insects, and humans -- sense and respond to sunlight. The essays in Peter A. Ensminger's book cover vision, photosynthesis, and phototropism, as well as such unusual topics as the reason why light causes beer to develop a "skunky" odor. He introducec us to the kinds of eyes that have evolved in different animals, including those in a species of shrimp that is ostensibly eyeless; gives us a better appreciation of color vision; explains how plowing fields at night may be used to control weeds; and tells about variegate porphyria, a metabolic disease that makes people very sensitive to sunlight and may have afflicted King George III of England. These engaging essays present a complicated yet fascinating subject in an accessible way. The book will be treasured by anyone interested in the wonders of biology.
"A powerful, revealing story of hope, love, justice, and the power of reading by a man who spent thirty years on death row for a crime he didn't commit"--
The Sun is so powerful, so much bigger than us, that it is a terrifying subject. Yet though we depend on it, we take it for granted. Amazingly the first book of its kind, CHASING THE SUNis a cultural and scientific history of our relationship with the star that gives us life. Richard Cohen, applying the same mix of wide-ranging reference and intimate detail that won outstanding reviews for By the Sword, travels from the ancient Greek astronomers to modern-day solar scientists, from Stonehenge to Antarctica (site of the solar eclipse of 2003, when penguins were said to sing), Mexico's Aztecs to the Norwegian city of Tromso, where for two months of the year there is no Sun at all. He introduces us to the crucial 'sunspot cycle' in modern economics, the religious dances of Indian tribesmen, the histories of sundials and calendars, the plight of migrating birds, the latest theories of global warming, and Galileo recording his discoveries in code, for fear of persecution. And throughout, there is the rich Sun literature -- from the writings of Homer through Dante and Nietzsche to Keats, Shelley and beyond. Blindingly impressive and hugely readable, this is a tour de force of narrative non-fiction.