School Library Journal Review

Gr 4-6-Complementing a similarly organized, multimedia online resource, these stand-alone print volumes discuss a limited number of technological milestones. Topics include the development of the plow and hybrid crops in Agriculture and arches and solar heating in Architecture. The books feature spacious margins, a generous assortment of sharp color photos, maps, diagrams, reproductions, and other illustrations. The chapter spreads are divided into easily digested blocks of text, but the level of detail is superficial at best. In Astronomy, for instance, Aristotle misleadingly precedes other scientists in theorizing that the Earth isn't flat, and Warfare doesn't describe nuclear power beyond its use as a weapon. However appealing younger or less-able readers might find these volumes, their value over older sets such as Linda Schmittroth's Eureka! (Gale, 1995) or Jessica Snyder Sachs's The Encyclopedia of Inventions (Watts, 2001) is limited.-John Peters, New York Public Library (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.