Reviews for Biological Science Ecology, Evolution, And Genetics

The average rating for Biological Science Ecology, Evolution, And Genetics based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2021-05-18 00:00:00 James Gribble Halfway through this book I didn't know if I could even finish it, but I finally did. Krull is incorporating a LOT of her own ideas about why Newton did something or what he did/didn't really do. Even though she usually prefaces this by saying "he probably...", it still has this tone like but only an idiot would disagree with me. Given that this is written for middle school and upper elementary ages, what do you think they are going to do when bullied by an author? Yes, take that author's word as solid truth. And if you can't separate opinions from facts, how do you know what to trust? My second major issue with this book is that all of the sources she cites were written within the last 20 years. She's writing about a guy who lived almost 400 years ago, and the oldest book she consulted was from 1993? I would think a publishing biographer would need to include some sources a little bit closer to the time the subject actually lived. Not good research modelling for the target age group. Another thing I really don't like is that though Krull acknowledges Newton himself said he was a Christian, she writes everything about his Biblical studies and the Church of England like it was some sort of torture he was forced to go through and he couldn't have possibly chosen to do those things of his own accord. Lastly, since it is aimed a group of students who are in the formative years of becoming good writers and are usually just beginning to learn about doing serious papers on non-fiction issues, I do not like the writing style Krull models. She is VERY relaxed. She would write great, captivating fiction for this age group (as evidenced by the parts in this she speculates on and makes up). I feel like I'm reading a novel written like it is the journal of a young teenager. She includes sentence fragments (for example, p. 8 "For eight years."), some run-ons, and inserts her own opinions all over the place. This book would have been much better if Krull had turned it into a fiction novel based on Newton's life. It wouldn't have taken that much re-writing to do. She does incorporate some interesting facts and does a good job of explaining the science, but overall not a good biography.

Review # 2 was written on 2016-05-18 00:00:00 Cyrus Hekmat I'd suggest any parent to read this prior to your child, but I'm not rating it since I simply scanned it and discarded it. I picked it up at the library and scanned it because it looked well, fluffy, and there was a part that I'm pretty sure the author bias was coming through in regards to how terrible church going must have been for him and then flipping through I saw the word "homosexual" and I thought, what has this got to do with a scientist biography for middle schoolers? And it was solely speculation that he might have been gay. Does this have anything to do with the man's scientific achievements? Perhaps if he were definitely gay and it kept him from presenting a paper in front of someone of importance or something, it might have been considered worthy to be included, but speculating on someone's sexuality without extensive looking into the matter when there is little proof should be reserved for an in depth study in an adult non-fiction book. A simple scan tells me that Krull's books will not make it onto my schooling list, unfortunately. Thankfully there was a book entitled Isaac Newton and Gravity by Steve Parker right next to it. More than just cartoon illustrations and must more appropriate for the "gathering facts" stage that is elementary school. And the only comment talking about his bachelorhood is he "was often awkward in social situations. He was a strong Protestant, he never married, and he avoided women."