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From muddy waders and ragged work
gloves to spacesuits and full-body panda suits, scientists in the field show
off their wardrobes.
Starting with Mae Jemison on the
cover, Rose puts an unusually diverse gallery of researchers on the figurative
runway, full-color photos actually showing them at work studying sea turtles and
volcanoes, an eclipse, whale sharks, glaciers, and honeybees…not to mention
donning a spacesuit, maneuvering out of a wheelchair to gather tardigrades from a
forest canopy, carrying a rescued bald eagle (previously met in the author’s Beauty
and the Beak, 2017),
and doing brain surgery. So where are the white lab coats, you ask? Meet
neuroanatomist Marian Diamond, posing in one with a preserved human brain and
the elegant hatbox in which she carries it when visiting classes. The
narrative, printed in two fonts, with the smaller offering further detail for
older readers, is paired to several color photos, often on gatefolds, that mix full-body
views with inset close-ups of specimens or gear. Aside from a few group shots
the men and women here are introduced by name, and though everyone is
generically dubbed a “scientist” in the primary narrative, each specialty is
identified at the end. There the author also places review questions and
examples of citizen-scientist projects open to young volunteers.
An eye-opening catalog of STEM wear.
(Nonfiction. 6-8)
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