CO P Y C A T

S C I E N C E
Written and illustrated by
Mike Barfield
 CONTENTS
For science teachers everywhere, Introduction 4
especially Professor Patricia Wiltshire,
LIVING THINGS 5
a true original - M.B. Maria Sibylla Merian 6
Six Legs 7
Theophrastus 8
Up-seed-down 9
Nehemiah Grew
Consultant: Professor Charlotte Sleigh
Designer: Kevin Knight
and Stephen Hales 10
Editor: Harriet Stone Cut and Dyed 11
Charles Darwin 12
Art Director: Susi Martin
Creative Director: Malena Stojic
Group Publisher: Maxime Boucknooghe
Worm-world 13
© 2020 Quarto Publishing plc
Text and Illustration © 2020 Mike Barfield
John James Audubon 14
First published in 2020 by QED Publishing,
Feed the Birds 15
an imprint of The Quarto Group. Print a Plant 16
The Old Brewery, 6 Blundell Street,
London N7 9BH, United Kingdom.
T (0)20 7700 6700 F (0)20 7700 8066
www.QuartoKnows.com
HUMAN BIOLOGY 17
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may
Jan Evangelista Purkyně 18
be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or Print Detective 19
Hermann von Helmholtz 20
transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise, without the prior permission of the
publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form Optical Tricks 20
of binding or cover other than that in which it is
published and without a similar condition being
Brain Games 22
imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Rosalind Franklin 24
A catalogue record for this book is available DIY DNA 24
from the British Library.
A Question of Taste 26
ISBN: 978-0-7112-5180-9
eISBN: 978-0-7112-5183-0

Printed in Guangdong, China TT062020

MATERIALS 27
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Fritz Klatte 28
Slime Time! 29
Hans Christian Oersted 30
F light Test 31
Soren Sorensen 32
Chameleon Water 33
Robert Angus Smith 34
AIR 35 LIGHT 63
Otto von Guericke 36 Ibn Al-Haytham 64
Under Pressure 38 See the Light 65
Daniel Bernoulli 40 Isaac Newton 66
Go with the Flow 41 Light Fantastic! 67
The Wright Brothers 42 Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 68
Go F ly a Kite! 43 Big it Up! 69
James Clerk Maxwell 44 Albert Einstein 70
Micro-light 71
ELECTRICITY AND MAGNETISM 45 Lord Rayleigh 72
Electrifying! 46
Benjamin Franklin 47 ASTRONOMY 73
Sparks in the Dark 47 Galileo Galilei 74
William Gilbert 48 Star Struck! 75
Make a Magnet #1 49 The Apollo 11 Crew 76
Make a Compass 49 Mad on the Moon! 77
Make a Magnet #2 50 Caroline Herschel 78
Space Oddity 79
FORCES AND PHYSICS 51 Hot Stuff! 80
Hypatia of Alexandria 52
Archimedes 53 MATHS 81
Agnes Pockels 54 Katherine Johnson 82
Water Wizardry! 55 Handy Maths 83
Laura Bassi 56 Ada Lovelace 84
Isaac Newton 57 Maths Magic! 85
Bell and Edison 60 On a Roll 86
Making Waves 61
Frank Whittle 62 STANDBY FOR STEM 88
Mary Somerville 89
Picture Yourself 90
Mike Barfield 92

Glossary 94
Index 96
 INTRODUCTION
Hello, and welcome to I’m the funny-looking But, this book is
‘Copycat Science’! guy on the cover. NOT about me!

See page 70

It’s NOT about any of

these clever people either. No? Really?
Eh? Aw, shucks!
What?
It isn’t?

This book is actually First, YOU read about these people’s amazing lives...
about YOU! LIGHT INSECTS SPACE
ELECTRICITY MATHS

COMETS

Then YOU copy some ALL good scientists learn So, get reading
of their experiments. from the work of those and get copying!
before them.

Great! That’s true! Copy that!

Scientists build on the work of others.

Begin your super science journey now!

4
 LI
L IVVII N G
TH
THII N G S
Learn about plants and animals
with these living experiments.

5
 BORN:
MARIA SIBY LLA MERIAN 1647, Germany
DIED:
‘INSECT INSPECTOR’ 1717, The Netherlands

Maria Merian was a Some of the Maria’s interest in

pioneering wildlife artist. insects studied insects started early.
her closely too!
I was one of I’m only young.
the first to study Buzz
off! Me too.
insects closely.

MINI-
MARIA
Z!
BZZ Maria collected
caterpillars from
the countryside.

At the age of 13, she Trained as an artist by her stepfather,

raised silkworms at home. Maria recorded every stage in their lifecycle.
They’re
Yuk! Worms! not worms,
they’re 4. Pupa...
insects!
1. Eggs ...and cocoon

5. Adult
2. Grub moth
Silkworms are actually
the larvae (caterpillars)
of the silkworm moth. 3. Caterpillar

Maria saw that Previously, many But, as I showed, good

caterpillars scientists thought science is all about
hatched from eggs. caterpillars sprang experimenting, observing
magically from mud... and recording...
That’s And you’re never
A crazy idea
right, too young to start.
known as
we do!
‘spontaneous
generation’. True!

Maria was a brilliant insect scientist (entomologist).

Now start some insect science yourself!

6
 SIX LEGS

Amazingly, nine out of ten animals FOREWING

on the planet is an insect! They HEAD THORAX

dominate the land, and you

can find them everywhere –
including in your garden!
HIND-
Not all ‘creepy-crawlies’ are WING
MOTH
insects. Most adult insects have ABDOMEN

six legs, a hard outside skeleton My wings are

hidden away!
and a body in three parts. Many
also have wings, though they may LADYBIRD

be hidden away.

These are all types of insects. ANT APHID

FLY

SLUG SPIDER WOODLOUSE CENTIPEDE

These are not insects.

BACKYARD SAFARI 2 Place the box

under a bush
or tree and
You will need: 1 shake the
branches gently.
Line the
bottom of a
cardboard 3 Count the legs of
WHITE box with any animals that
BOX white paper.
PAPER fall into the box.
MAGNIFYING How many are
GLASS insects?

Release your specimens when you have finished.

7
 BORN:
THEOPHRASTUS about 371 bce, Greece
DIED:
‘ANCIENT GREEK LEAF GEEK’ about 287bce, Greece

Theophrastus was a Modern scientists His teacher was

Greek scientist born call him ‘the father the great thinker
over 2,000 years ago. of botany’. Aristotle, who didn’t
Looking
rate plants at all.
Hi, dad!
good for ARISTOTLE
my age!
What
a weed!

How
Botany is the
science of plants. rude!

But teachers aren’t Theophrastus, He set out to

always right! We now however, loved plants describe all the
know plants are vital – especially the different types.
for life on Earth. ones he could eat!
I think
I’m not this one’s
snacking... a creeper!
Ha! it’s research.
My bad... ST
RU
GG
LE!
CHO
MP!
Plants provide habitats, We now think there
food and the oxygen we are about 400,000
need to breathe. plant species.
Theophrastus also studied He then wrote up But sadly they
how plants reproduced. everything he knew in went missing
two amazing books. for centuries.
Some by seeds,
some by roots... Don’t worry, All that
you’re in them. work, LOST!
And some
by both, Fame! Shame!
like me!

Luckily, Theo’s works surfaced again in the

Middle Ages. Now try your own plant experiment.

8
 UP-SEED-DOWN
You will need:
Theophrastus was very BROAD
interested in how seeds BEAN
SEEDS
germinated. With this
simple experiment, you CLEAN
CARD
GLASS
can see for yourself! JAR PEN KITCHEN
PAPER

1 Line the inside 2 Roll the

of the jar card into a
with a tube tube and The card
of folded and slip it inside helps keep
rolled kitchen the kitchen the kitchen
paper, several paper tube. paper against
layers thick. the glass.

3 Now 4 Choose two

seeds and mark
5 Tuck them
down the
examine
your broad an arrow on sides of the
bean seeds. each, pointing jar – one
Look for towards the end pointing up,
this pointy with the bump. the other
little bump. pointing
down.

6 Add water 7 After a few days, the beans should

inside the jar. begin to germinate – starting with
Make sure the a simple root called a radicle, and
kitchen paper then growing a stalk upwards.
is always kept
damp.
RADICLE

8 Eventually you But what Try the experiment

will get a small happens with and find out!
bean seedling
that you can the bean
replant in soil. seed that was
planted the
other way up?

9
 NEHEMIAH GREW AND STEPHEN HALES
‘PIONEERING PLANT PEOPLE’
This is This is And both of them
Nehemiah Grew. Stephen Hales. are wearing wigs...
Why is yours so small?
Hi there! That’s me!
Why is yours
so big?

BORN: England, 1641 BORN: England, 1677

DIED: England, 1712 DIED: England, 1761

They also share a Grew looked inside plants using the

passion for plant newly invented microscope and
anatomy. drew what he saw.
No one had

ARTICHOKE CELLS
I, Grew,
PE
been as CO
keen since drew cells!
OS

Theophrastus!
CR
MI

True!

Grew saw that plants had different cell types.

While Hales did Yes, Hales here found Any questions?

experiments to see that water travels from
how water moves the roots to the leaves,
inside plants. then out into the air.

The only way

was up! It’s called Why is your wig
‘transpiration’. so big?

With or without a wig, why not investigate

transpiration in plants yourself?

10
 CUT AND DYED
You will need:
Hales and Grew increased
our understanding of what SOME STURDY
JARS OR
happens inside plants. GLASSES

FOOD DYES
People used to think that IN STRONG
COLOURS
plant sap circulated like the
blood in humans. Wrong! FRESH CELERY
STEMS (with or
without leaves)
This colourful experiment
will reveal some of the LETTUCE LEAVES

secrets of transpiration!

1 Half fill the glasses or jars 2 Ask a grown-up

with cold water and add to help cut off
some food dye the last few
to each one. CUT! centimetres of
the celery and
lettuce using a
kitchen knife.
Red and blue work well. CUT!

3 Immediately place the 4 We’re so After about

plants into the dyed pretty! half an hour
water so that the cut you should
surfaces are under see the dye
the water. spreading up
inside the
Don’t knock me over! plant tissues.

5 Dye may even travel as far 6 Cut across your

as the leaf tips! This shows specimens to reveal
that water moves upwards the bundles of
in plants, from the roots, tissues (xylem)
to the stems, to the leaves CELERY that transported
and then out into the air. the dyed water!

LETTUCE

11
 BORN:
CHARLES DARWIN 1809, England
DIED:
‘EARTHWORM EXPERT ’ 1882, England
Hello. I’m Charles Darwin, People remember me best But my very last
and I’m very old. for my Theory of Evolution book was about
(how new species develop). something different.
!
TTER Something far more
F LU
‘down to earth’...
GALAPAGOS FINCHES

Darwin in 1881

...worms! Through his research Darwin realised that

Hi! worms are wonderful creatures!
Hello!
CLITELLUM (‘SADDLE’) ANUS
SEGMENTS
Yo! MOUTH

Each segment has tiny bristles that

help worms move through the soil.
Worms are both male and female (hermaphrodite)
and can neither hear nor see, yet they turn
away from light!

OT! Most importantly, I saw how Just doing

TOOT-TO
hard they work. Their burrows our thing!
Sorry,
break up the soil and their
nothing...
poo keeps it full of nutrients.
We owe worms
a big thank you!
P!

I proved they were deaf

OM
CH

by asking my son to play

the bassoon to them.

Now watch the wonders of worms for

yourself by making an upcycled wormery!

12
 WORM-WORLD
You will need:
Darwin was wowed by
how worms turned over CLEAN
2 LITRE FIZZY
the soil by pulling down DRINKS
BOTTLE
dead plant matter,
then bringing their poo ALUMINIUM
FOIL
(wormcasts) and fresh
soil back to the surface.
SOIL COMPOST SAND

Make this recyclable

DEAD LEAVES
‘worm-world’ to watch AND VEGETABLE
A FEW
worms in action! EARTHWORMS
SCRAPS

1 Get an adult to 2 SLIT

Cut a short
cut around the slit in the SOIL
bottle just below side then fill SAND
the top. the bottle
with layers COMPOST
of soil, sand
and compost.
CUT HERE

3 Dig up three or four

worms from your
4 Add dead leaves
for food on top, plus
garden. Add them a little cold water.
to the bottle and Put the top back on
see how quickly they the bottle, then wrap
burrow out it in foil. Worms
of sight! don’t like the light!

5 Give them a day or 6 Feed and water 7 Then return

so to settle in, then your worms for the worms to
peel back the a week and see your garden.
foil. You should what they do to Home sweet home!
see worms the layers.
in burrows.
Close the foil
after peeking!

13
 JOHN JAMES AUDUBON
‘HIGH-FLYING ORNITHOLOGIST*’
Hi! I’m John James
Audubon, one of the
world’s greatest wildlife
artists!
*Ornithologists study birds.
Some of the dead
birds took so long
to draw that they
turned rotten.
This stinks!
I agree.
My book ‘Birds of America’
was massive – literally!
OVER
D! 1 METRE
PROU HIGH!
Audubon had to hunt for his specimens.
Build a feeder and bring the birds to you!
BORN:
1785, Haiti
DIED:
1851, USA
In 1820, I set out to Sadly, this meant
find and paint all the shooting some of
birds of the USA! the specimens so
he could draw them.
Coo!
Behind you!
Bah!
All 435 species, lifesize
and in colour. Phew!
But in the end, he recorded all 435 – though
some he had to bend a bit to fit on the page...
FLAMINGO
SWAN HERON
Audubon also discovered 25 new species!
In 20110, a first edition Luckily you can get
of my book sold for over a modern guide for
$10 million! A world far less and begin
record for a book studying birds yourself!
about nature!
Or try a
library!
See you
Coo, again! soon!
14
 FEED THE BIRDS
You will need:
Birds are a brilliant way
to start studying nature.
Many species can be tempted
into your garden with food.

Make some simple seed CLEAN RECYCLABLE

DRINKS CONTAINERS STICKS
feeders and you can study
them close-up as they stuff SHARP
their beaks. SCISSORS
(TAKE CARE!)

STRING BIRD SEED

Yum!
1 This basic method 2
works for most
drinks bottles and
cartons. First, ask
an adult to help you
make a few small
holes in the base
using the tips of Next, ask an adult to make a hole
the scissors. just large enough to take a stick,
then repeat on the opposite side
of the container.
DRAINAGE HOLES

3 4 5 Fill the feeder

CUT HOLE with seed using
OUT a funnel or
CUT paper cone,
OUT HOLE then hang in
a safe place
outdoors, away
from cats.
Insert a stick
to make a perch, Make holes on
then cut out either side, then
feeding holes thread through Wash and recycle
on both sides. some string old feeders!
for hanging.

15
 PRINT A PLANT

Jane Colden (1724 - 1766) was a pioneering

American plant hunter. She recorded the
details of over 300 wild plants growing near
her home in New York state, 250 years ago.

Jane Colden
Jane also drew and took prints of their
leaves, giving us the only record we have
today of what native plants once grew there.
Have a go at making leaf prints yourself.

HOW TO MAKE A LEAF PRINT

You will need: 1

Hold a leaf by
its stalk and
LEAVES
PAPER carefully paint
it all over on
POSTER BRUSH one side.
PAINT NEWSPAPER

2 P lace the
leaf paint
PAINT SIDE DOWN
3 PRESS
!

side down
onto a sheet Cover with
of paper on a sheet of
top of a firm newspaper
flat surface and press
like a table. down.

4 Gently peel off

the sheet of
5 Label with
newspaper and the name
then the leaf, to of the plant
reveal the print. and the
Allow to dry! date – just
like Jane
Colden did!

16
 H U MAN
BI
B IO L O G Y
Experiment on the most amazing
subject there is - YOU!

17
 BORN:
JAN EVANGELISTA PURKYNĚ 1787, Czech Republic
DIED:
‘HANDS-ON SCIENTIST ’ 1869, Czech Republic

Hi! I’m Jan Purkyně Probably not... but that’s
(pur-ki-ner). okay. I was once so
Heard of me? famous that people
sent me letters simply
addressed like this...
And those letters still
reached me! Hooray!
More fan mail!

Purkyně,
Europe

Anyway, I trained as a doctor I also discovered However, here’s

and I have lots of things sweat glands... a ‘handy’ clue to
named after me. What’s causing my most famous
this stink? achievement.

BLOOD
CELLS IN VESSELS
FIBRES IN THE BRAIN IN THE EYE
THE HEART
WHIFF!
....to name just a few!
Today, fingerprints Think of Jan
I was the first person are important in when you unlock
to define the nine crime solving and a device with
types of fingerprints! cyber-security. your fingerprint!

Thanks,
Jan!

Jan Purkyně was one of a kind. Now

check out your own unique fingerprints!

18
 PRINT DETECTIVE
Here are some of
The study of fingerprints Jan’s fingerprint
is called ‘dactyloscopy’. patterns.

The ridges on our fingers

actually help us to grip
things more securely.
No two people have the same WHORL ARCH TENTED
ARCH
fingerprints – not even
identical twins!
Learn how to take
fingerprints with this LEFT LOOP RIGHT
LOOP
DOUBLE
LOOP
unique activity.
You will need: 1 Use the pencil
STICKY to create a
TAPE dark patch on
the paper.
SOFT LEAD PENCIL
- 2B OR SOFTER WHITE PAPER

2 Roll a fingertip 3 Press the fingertip

over the dark onto the sticky
patch. surface of a
strip of tape.

4 Stick the print 5 Label the different

onto another fingers and use a
sheet of paper magnifying glass to
and repeat for compare them to the
all your fingers. patterns shown above!

Fingerprint your family and friends. Do some

patterns seem more common than others?

19
 HERMANN VON HELMHOLTZ
BORN:
1821, Germany
‘VISIONARY SCIENTIST ’ DIED:
1894, Germany

Hello! My name is As a scientist, I But I also looked

Hermann von Helmholtz. investigated lots of into human eyes.
things – sound,
energy, forces...

ZAP!
THE EYE

In fact, I invented a I used it to find ...some of which you

special tool for doing out new things can see for yourself
just that! about vision... in these simple
experiments!

THE OPHTHALMOSCOPE

OPTICAL TRICKS
1 Every eye has a ‘blind spot’ where images are not
registered. Here’s how to find yours.

Close your right eye and focus on the cross above with your left.
Slowly bring the book closer to your face from arm’s length. At
some point the eyeball will ‘vanish’ when it hits your ‘blind spot’.
2 Because eyes have ‘blind spots’, the brain
compensates by filling in the gaps.

Repeat the viewing method above and this time you

should find the gap in the bar suddenly disappears.
Your brain is making things up!

20
 Using my new ophthalmoscope,
I discovered special cells in our
eyes called ‘cones’ that register
the colours red, blue and green.

These cones get tired if

stimulated for too long
and produce ghostly
‘after-images’ in
false colours.

3
Stare at the dot in the top f lag for 20 seconds, then look at the
dot in the white box below. A very different looking flag appears.

4 Each of your eyes sends a 5 Having two eyes, each

separate image to your brain.
viewing the world from a
Your brain then combines
slightly different position,
them into a single picture –
helps us to judge distances
as below!
more easily – as this
experiment will show you!
Roll a sheet
of paper into a
tube and hold it
up to your right
eye. Then hold
your left hand
in front of you,
touching the tube.
Look straight
ahead with both Close one eye, then try to touch
eyes open and the tip of your right index finger
your hand will and the tip of your left little finger.
seem to have a With one eye closed, it’s not easy.
hole in it! With both open, it’s simple!

21
 BRAIN GAMES

Optical illusions are proof that

serious science can also be
great fun. Many are created
by scientists investigating how
our brains work and are often
named after them.
For example, the crazy shape
Could you actually shown here is called a ‘Penrose
construct this thing? triangle’ after its inventor,
Roger Penrose (born UK, 1931).

Try these classic optical illusions yourself, then

test your family and friends. Answers are
given upside down at the end, but no cheating!

1 GOING BANANAS 2 TIP-TOP TABLE TOPS

Which banana is W hich table

biggest, A or B? is the longest?

B
A
A B

22
3 ON A PLATE 4 THE TRICKY TREE
A
B
C

W hich spear has hit

the ground, A, B or C?

Here is a lovely checked 5 SUN RISE

tablecloth, but which plate
is biggest, top or bottom? W hen all three suns come up,
which will be the biggest?

6 MAD HATTER
A

C
r?
de
r wi WHAT’S GOING ON?
o
l ler Scientists don’t really know
ta how most optical illusions work.
t
ha Maybe one day YOU will come
is
th up with the answers!
Is
Is the dot in the
triangle over halfway up? This part of
the brain
7 GOING DOTTY
handles vision

ANSWERS
In illusion 7, the dot is exactly halfway up.
believe it, grab a ruler! In illusion 4, spear B has hit the ground.
In illusions 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6, each choice is of equal size. If you don’t

23
 ROSALIND FRANKLIN
BORN:
1920, England
DIED:
‘DNA DETECTIVE’ 1958, England

Rosalind Franklin was a skilled

chemist whose work helped reveal
the structure of DNA, the chemical
blueprint for all living things,
including you!

DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) is a

long molecule found in cells that
Rosalind
carries the code for how an organism Franklin
is constructed.
Rosalind X-rayed strands of DNA and her
photographs showed the molecule was shaped like
a long twisted ladder (a ‘double-helix’).

Rosalind’s work was historic but sadly she died

before she could be properly honoured for it.

DIY DNA
The next page shows you how to
extract DNA at home from the
FRANKLIN’S X-RAY
OF DNA cells of strawberries!
‘DOUBLE
HELIX’ Get a grown-up to help. Work on
a sheet of old newspaper in case
of spills and keep the alcohol
away from your eyes or any
THE SHAPE naked flames.
OF A STRAND
OF DNA

24
You will need: SEALABLE
PLASTIC
BAGS

TEASPOON

SMALL BOTTLE
OF RUBBING
SMALL SALT WASHING-UP FRESH ALCOHOL/
CLEAN LIQUID STRAWBERRIES SURGICAL SPIRIT
GLASS JAR SMALL
PAPERCLIP SIEVE (FROM CHEMISTS)

1 Begin by placing 2 Half-fill the jar

the bottle of with cold water. Add
alcohol in the a teaspoon of salt,
freezer for 30 two teaspoons of
minutes. (It works washing-up liquid,
best when cold.) and stir to dissolve.

3 4 Squish all the

strawberries so
Pop two or three they become a
strawberries into pink mush. (Do
the bag and add the this on top of
mixture from the jar. some newspaper.)
Seal the bag so it
will not leak. SQUISH
!

5 6
Pour the contents Press the pulp
of the bag into with a spoon then
the jar through remove the sieve
the small sieve. and add two
teaspoons of cold
alcohol to the jar.

7 A thin layer 8
of white You can hook out
WHITE strands should the DNA with an
STRANDS form on top of opened paperclip
the pink liquid. and dry it on some
This is DNA! tissue to examine it!
PINK
LIQUID

Pour the contents of the jar down the sink

afterwards, then rinse the jar and recycle it.

25
 A QUESTION OF TASTE
This is wrong!
For almost a century, people were
told that specific areas of the
1
tongue each detected just one
of the five tastes shown in this 2 2
‘tongue map’ on the right. 5
3 3
We now know this is wrong!
Tastebuds – tiny taste receptors
4
– can detect all of the tastes all
over your tongue – and you can 1. Bitter 2. Sour 3. Salty
prove this at home! 4. Sweet 5. Umami (savoury)

TEST YOUR TASTEBUDS

You will need: 1 Three tastes are very 2 Stick out
easy to test. Pour a your tongue
3 BOWLS little water into each in front of
of the bowls, then add a mirror!
SUGAR salt to one, sugar to
another and vinegar
COTTON BUDS to the third. These are
SALT (NON-PLASTIC) your ‘salty’, ‘sweet’ and
‘sour’ testing solutions.

VINEGAR

FRESH WATER

3 P lace one cotton 4 Try each solution Many people still

bud in one solution, in turn all over believe the false
then touch it to your tongue. Can ‘tongue map’ is
your tongue. you taste salty, correct. Ask your
sweet and sour parents and
in every spot? teachers, then let
? them in on the
tasty truth!
?
? ?
? ?
Be gentle!

26
M A TE RI AL S
From strong metals to gooey slime,
and everything in between.

27
 FRITZ KLATTE BORN:
1880, Germany
‘POLYMER PIONEER’ DIED:
1934, Germany

Hello. My name is In 1912 I discovered an This molecule is

Fritz Klatte and I’m amazing molecule – one called vinyl acetate.
a cunning that you use today in glues!*
chemist!

SIMPLE MODEL

Hydrogen atom
* Glues such as white
glue, wood glue, school Carbon atom
glue and ‘Elmer’s glue’. Oxygen atom

The amazing thing about vinyl acetate is Molecules that form

that it can link up with other vinyl acetate into long chains are
molecules to form long chains – like me called ‘polymers’.
holding hands with lots of copies of me! I knew that!
That’s right Yes! True!

These polymers are Amazingly, as PVA glue But, best of all, you
used in white glues, dries, those long chains can use PVA glue to
often called ‘PVA’. of molecules form a make slime... Hooray!
type of plastic. Oops!

K!
STUC

‘PVA’ stands for

‘PolyVinyl Acetate’.

Fritz pioneered the science of polymers.

Now use PVA to make slime!

28
 SLIME TIME!
You will need:
Here’s a simple and
safe way to make
slime at home!
Adding a special
ingredient (here, laundry SMALL
BOWL
starch) links all the long FOOD
chains of PVA molecules DYE LAUNDRY
into a fun, squishy lump! STARCH
TABLESPOON PVA GLUE

1 Half-fill a small 2 Add at least five

bowl with clean, tablespoons of
cold water. It’s laundry starch and
time to make slime! stir so the mixture
looks like watery milk.

3 Add a few drops of 4 Work the

food dye (just for mixture with
colour), then add your hands until
PVA glue to the a big, squidgy
bowl. Use plenty! lump forms.

5 Take out the squidgy 6 Slime is strange stuff! It seems

lump and pour away solid when you squeeze it, but it
the excess liquid. is actually
Congratulations – still a
you’ve made slime! liquid and
E!
will spread
SLIM on a plate!

ZE!
SQUEE Your slime will keep for weeks
SQUIS in a container in the fridge!
H!

29
 BORN:
HANS CHRISTIAN OERSTED 1777, Denmark
DIED:
‘METAL DETECTOR’ 1851, Denmark

Hans Christian As a child, Hans was The adult Hans

Oersted was a Danish chemistry-mad and was interested
super-scientist. wanted to be a scientist in all sorts of
when he grew up. experimenting.
Hi! GREAT DANE YOUNG
HANS I was particularly
Woof! If I can survive attracted to
ALSO A that long... magnets!
GREAT CHOKE!
DANE

Don’t try this at home!

Still keen on chemistry, Hans also made Yes! In 1825, Hans

Hans made many new
discoveries, including the
chemical (piperine) that
makes pepper hot!
An achievement
not to be sneezed
at. AH-CHOO!
Hans only made a
tiny amount...
But it was
rarer than gold!
Woof!*
history when he went and discovered
isolated another aluminium!
kitchen essential...
Need a clue? Al
No one had seen
the actual metal
before. It doesn’t
exist in nature!
Nowadays, this strong but
ZO
light metal plays a massive OM
!
role in our lives.
Including
up there!

PHONES LAPTOPS PACKAGING

In fact, you could say

* Translation: Wow! aluminium is everywhere.
Modern jet planes are up to 80 per cent aluminium!
Now make and fly your own aluminium aircraft!

30
 FLIGHT TEST
Aluminium is amazing! Light You will need:
and strong, it doesn’t rust or
generate sparks, making it an
ideal material for aircraft and
spacecraft.
SHEETS OF
PRINTER
But is aluminium better than PAPER ALUMINIUM
simple paper for making darts FOIL

to fly at home? SCISSORS

Follow these instructions to fold a dart from a

sheet of paper and another from a sheet of foil
cut to the same size. Then try flying them!
1 Fold in 2 Open 3 Fold top corners to
half out the middle crease
and again. on both sides.
crease.

4 Fold point 5 Fold top 6 Fold up middle point.

downwards. corners to
middle crease
again on
both sides.
7 Fold 8 Fold to 9 Repeat 10
plane form a with
in half wing. other
behind. side.
Done!

W hich plane f lies furthest?

W hich is easiest to adjust?
W hich plane is more easily damaged?
W hich plane uses cheaper materials?

Recycle your planes when you have finished!

31
 BORN:
SOREN SORENSEN 1868, Denmark
DIED:
‘COLOURFUL CHEMIST ’ 1939, Denmark
Hello! I’m Soren In 1909, I was running Helping me in my
Sorensen and, like probably the finest work was my wife
Hans Oersted (page 30), laboratory in the world Margrethe...
I’m also – one inside a brewery Who are you
a chemist, making beer. Cheers! talking to, Soren?
and another
great Dane!

Making good beer is So, I needed an Sour things like lemon

all about taste, of
course (see page 26).
Have you gone
mad, darling?
accurate, scientific way juice are acids, while
to indicate just how sour many bitter tastes
or bitter something was. are due to alkalis.*
Perhaps it’s
the beer
fumes?
LEMON = SOUR
BROCCOLI = BITTER

* These are also

known as ‘bases’.

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
To help chemists, I invented a Pure water is not acidic or alkaline.
coloured scale* that ran from ‘0’ It’s neutral and has a pH of 7.
(very acidic) to ‘14’ (very alkaline).
Yes, well, I’d stick
Seriously, who are to water for now,
you talking to? if I were you...

* called the ‘pH scale’.

Now make your own acid/alkali indicator

and test lots of fluids at home!

32
 CHAMELEON WATER
You will need:
Red cabbage contains
a pigment that changes
across a range of colours
when put in contact with
acids and alkalis, similar RED CABBAGE SAUCEPAN

to a pH scale. LEAVES

Here’s how to make
your own colour-changing
‘chameleon water’ indicator!
1 Cut several red 2 Place the pieces into
cabbage leaves
into small pieces
using the scissors.
3 W hen the water
has cooled, strain
the purple cabbage
water through a
sieve into a bowl.
SIEVE
CLEAN JARS
BOWL
SCISSORS
SPOON
a saucepan and get
a grown-up to add
enough hot water to
Take just cover them.
care!
4 You’ve made chameleon water!
Now you can use it to test
many substances at home.
Acids turn it red/pink.
Alkalis turn it blue,
green and yellow.

5 Mix water with different household substances

in the jars. Spoon in some of the chameleon
water and see what colours you get!

LEMON WHITE TONIC TAP

JUICE TOOTHPASTE LAUNDRY WASHING
VINEGAR WATER WATER LIQUID POWDER

ACIDIC (low pH) NEUTRAL ALKALINE (high pH)

33
 BORN:
ROBERT ANGUS SMITH 1817, Scotland
DIED:
‘RAIN MAN’ 1884, Wales

Hello. I am the ...and this is Using this egg, I will

renowned Scottish an egg! demonstrate the damaging
chemist effects of a type of
Robert pollution that
Angus I named...
Smith... Hi ACID RAIN!

The rain becomes an acid

Acid rain forms when that can dissolve objects
Eek! pollutants produced made of chalk – like the
by burning fuels such shell of this egg.
as coal and oil react
with water in the Uh-oh...
atmosphere.
Smith named
it in 1872.
You can copy this You will need: 1 Place the egg
experiment yourself gently into the
at home! glass and cover
AN EGG it with vinegar.

Please GLASS
don’t!
WHITE Goodbye!
VINEGAR (SOB!)

2 Immediately 3 The bubbles are carbon BEFORE AFTER

the acid in dioxide gas (CO2 ).
the vinegar Eventually all the
reacts with the shell dissolves leaving
chalky egg shell the egg floating in its
making membrane. Weird!
lots of
bubbles! Acid rain does the
Not fair! same to buildings
BUBBLES Bah! and statues!

34
 AIR
Recreate some pretty magical
experiments with air.

35
 OTTO VON GUERICKE BORN:
1602, Germany
‘SUCKER FOR A VACUUM’ DIED:
1686, Germany

Otto von Guericke (ger-ik-er) Otto was very At the time

was a German scientist interested in many people still
famous today for an amazing vacuums. believed what
air experiment. Aristotle had
said ages ago.
Ja! And it
involved horses. Not this sort Nothing, by
This sort definition,
Neigh? cannot exist.
So there!

OTTO
NOT-OTTO A totally empty space
To prove Aristotle wrong,
Otto invented the first
ever vacuum pump!
Aristotle’s idea
sucks. This pump
does too, but in
a good way!
But he was wrong!
Using his vacuum pump, Otto
began sucking the air out of
all sorts of containers.
Do you believe in vacuums?
Nah! I think
there’s nothing
in them…

L!
(ABOUT PUL SU
CK!
1650)

Interestingly, Otto Otto then hit upon his most famous

discovered that an alarm experiment, known as the ‘Magdeburg
clock inside a vacuum hemispheres’*.
couldn’t be heard chiming.
That’s striking!
S Or is it?
IL
ENCE

Otto made two hollow halves of a heavy

brass sphere, 50 centimetres across.
Read about sound on page 60. * named after the town where he lived

36
The two halves were placed Excuse me, but I In the summer
together and the air inside thought there were of 1657, I roped my
them was pumped out, horses in this story. sphere between
two teams of eight
‘sticking’ them together! horses who tried
Yes, yes! I‘m to pull it apart!
No glues. No screws. coming to that.

TAP! Cool!
Nothing!
TAP!

From an old engraving: CRACK! I wish she’d

WHIP stop doing that.
 !

They couldn’t do it! Remember, there was nothing inside the

sphere, just a vacuum, so whatever force was keeping the two
halves together was acting from outside!

And what was Air pressure is a force Air pushes on us in all

the name of this generated by the directions! At sea level,
incredible force? weight of air pressing the force feels like a
Horse on an object. push as heavy as one
power? kilo bag of sugar on
PUSH
PUSH every square centimetre
PUSH
of our body!
AIR PRESSURE!
PULL PULL
Wow! Heavy going!
PUSH PUSH
SUGAR

Yum!

Otto proved the power of air pressure.

Now show it in action yourself!

37
 UNDER PRESSURE

You can carry out your own mini PUSH!

version of Otto’s experiment

using two toy arrows with safety
suckers on their tips. Squash
them together, then try to pull
them apart. It’s not easy!

PULL!

Air pressure is the weight (mass) of the atmosphere

pressing down on the surface of a thing.

Even though you can’t see, taste or touch air,

here’s one simple way to prove it has mass.

You will need:

TWO IDENTICAL BALLOONS

THIN STRIP OF WOOD OR STIFF 30 CM OF THIN

CARD, ABOUT 30 CM LONG STRING STICKY TAPE

1 2

Tape an uninf lated balloon Tie the string in the centre

to each end of your wood. so it balances and hangs level.

3
Carefully remove one
balloon. Blow it up, knot
it, and then tape it back The blown-up balloon
in place on the wood. tips the balance
downwards, proving
air has mass!

38
 Here’s another experiment to demonstrate air pressure.

You will need:

SHEET OF NEWSPAPER THIN STRIP OF WOOD TABLE OR OTHER

ABOUT 60 CM X 40 CM OR STIFF CARD FLAT SURFACE

1 P lace the 2 Cover the

wood so that wood with
it overhangs the sheet of
the table edge. newspaper
and smooth
it down flat.

3 Strike the
overhanging
What happens? The paper stays put,
but the strip bends or breaks. The air
end of the pressing down on the sheet of paper
wood with is roughly equal to the weight of a
your hand rhinoceros! This keeps it in place.
(take care!).

This next air pressure experiment is amazing.

You could say it is a ‘glass act’! Dare you do it?
You will need:

HALF-FULL GLASS SQUARE OF STIFF CARD COURAGE (OPTIONAL)

OF COLD WATER (BIG ENOUGH TO COVER THE GLASS)

1 P lace the 2 Holding the

card in place,
card over
the top of turn the
the glass. whole lot
upside down.

3 Let go of 4 Dare you do
the card. It this? Really?
should stay in Go on then!
place due to
air pressure!
AIR PRESSURE

39
 BORN:
DANIEL BERNOULLI 1700, Netherlands
DIED:
‘MAN OF PRINCIPLE’ 1782, Switzerland

Hello. My name is For example, my However, he was so

Daniel Bernoulli – Dad* was also a jealous of my talents
and I was just one of mathematician and as a child that he tried
many clever a scientist. to stop me studying
members . science!
of my
family.
Stop it!
No!
* JOHANN BERNOULLI
(1667 - 1748)
Well, it didn’t work, This principle I shall With the hairdryer
and today it’s ME that now show in action on a cold setting, I
has a famous scientific using a hairdryer and put the ball in the
principle* named a ping-pong ball. stream of air, and....
after them!
GRR! TABLE
DRYER TENNIS
BALL
WH
IRR
R!

* Bernoulli’s principle
...hey presto! GRAVITY The still air ‘pushes’
the ball to keep it
STILL AIR STILL AIR
WH

VER! always in place above

HO
IRR

MOVING AIR
the dryer. What do you
think, Dad?
R!

W hy? Well, Bernoulli’s principle Stop it!

says the moving air under the
The ball hovers ball exerts a lower pressure than
above the dryer, the still air either side of it (see
even if you move page 37).
it around!

You can demonstrate Bernoulli’s principle

easily at home. Try these fun tricks!

40
 GO WITH THE FLOW
Bernoulli’s principle states 1 BALLOON-ACY
that moving air exerts a
lower pressure than still,
non-moving air.
Blow
here
Each of these experiments
shows Dan’s principle in Inflate two balloons, tie them
on strings, and then hang
action – with the answers them slightly apart. Blow
given upside down at the between them. What happens?
bottom. No peeking!

2 WHAT A BLOW! 3 NARROW SQUEAK

FOLD DOWN BLOW!

Fold a paper strip into a simple Cut out a

bridge. P lace it on a f lat V-shaped
notch Blow hard in here!
surface and blow steadily under
the bridge. W hat happens?
Fold another paper strip and cut out a
notch to make this squeaker, as shown.
P lace it between two fingers and blow
4 KEEP IT UP hard. What happens?
HO
T ! V ER
OA !
FL
ANSWERS

MARBLE just like the ping-pong ball on page 40.

P lace a marble
principle! 4. The balloon and marble work
COLD
inside a balloon,
an awful noise, all thanks to Bernoulli’s
AIR
inf late it and
pressure above it. 3. The squeaker makes
knot the end.
The bridge is flattened by the greater air
W hat happens?
greater air pressure on the outer sides. 2.
1. The balloons are pushed together by the

41
 THE WRIGHT BROTHERS
‘FLIGHT BROTHERS’

Hello. I’m American flying
legend Wilbur Wright...
...and this is my baby
brother, Orville – also
a legend, of course.
Hi
Orv and I built bicycles
before we got interested
in flying machines.
True!

BORN: USA, 1867 BORN: USA, 1871

DIED: USA, 1912 DIED: USA, 1948

That all started when a It took us seven years, but Orv and I
great German aviation eventually built and flew the world’s
pioneer* crashed his first powered aeroplane! Orv piloted our
glider and died. ‘Wright Flyer’ at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina,
USA, on 17th December 1903.
Oh dear!
Moving on...
WRIGHT FLYER WILBUR

OTTO
ORVILLE
* OTTO LILIENTHAL (1848 - 1896)

Along the way we made The kite helped us work My turn now.
many model gliders and out how to steer the I wanna go!
a really massive kite. Wright Flyer. Come on!
No! Let go!
1.5m But there
was just one
problem...

(1899)

Air makes flight possible for birds, bees – and

brothers! Build a kite and see for yourself!

42
 GO FLY A KITE!
You will need:
Kites are some of the oldest
known man-made flying objects, SKEWER
dating back over 2,500 years!
(TAKE CARE!)

The angle at
which a kite hits
LIFT

A4 CARD/
the wind is what STAPLER
LIFT

PAPER
pushes it up into
WIND the air – a force
STRONG
we call ‘lift’. SMALL BIT OF
STICKY TAPE
THREAD OR
WIND NYLON LINE

1
Fold the sheet
This simple kite is made from of paper or
card in half
just a single sheet of paper. and crease it.
Give it a go!
2 Curl the 3 Staple the corner so
corner down that it stays in place,
to the point then do the same
that is here thing with the corner
marked ‘X’. on the other side.

4 Next fold a small 5 Get a grown-up

bit of sticky tape to help pierce a
over the keel at the hole through the
point shown here. tape using
a skewer.

6 Tie your kite 7 Fly in a light breeze.

Simple!
to the strong
thread or WIND
nylon line.
WIND
It needs no tail!

43
 BORN:
JAMES CLERK MAXWELL 1831, Scotland
DIED:
‘THE GREAT MAXO’ 1879, England

Hello. I’m the usually ‘The Great Maxo!’ I’m about to show
serious scientist James you a simple trick.
Clerk Maxwell, but It demonstrates an
today you can call me... important scientific
theory that I
helped develop!

Namely, I shall submerge First, I take Next, I press a

this paper tissue under out from tissue firmly up
water without it inside my into the bottom
becoming wet! beard... of the glass.

TISSUE

...a glass!
VOILA!

Impossible, surely? PUSH!

Now, I simply push the This happens because Scientists

glass upside down into air is a mix of gas call this
this tank of cold water... molecules that resist the Kinetic
being squashed together! Theory
of Gases....
AIR
AIR MOLECULES

WATER
But we
WATER
MOLECULES call it
magic!
Trapped air keeps
the tissue dry! They push back!

Grab a glass and give this a go yourself.

You can even do it while having a bath!

44
 ELECTR ICIT Y
ELECTRICIT
AN D MAG N ET
A ND E TIS M
Learn some pretty hair-raising
science with these experiments.

45
 ELECTRIFYING!

Around 585bce, an ancient Greek scholar

called Thales of Miletus found that rubbing
fur onto a lump of amber (fossilised tree
resin) left the amber with the ability
to attract hair and feathers. Why?

Copy these simple experiments and

Thales
see this strange effect for yourself!
Answers are upside down below.

1 Rub an inf lated 2 Rub the balloon on your clothes

balloon many
times in the same
direction on your
clothes, then hold
it against a wall.
W hat happens?
again, then hold it over some
tiny scraps of paper and a
mixture of ground pepper and
salt. What happens?

PAPER SCRAPS PEPPER AND SALT

3 Once again, rub 4 Charge up the balloon again,

the balloon on your then bring it close to an empty
clothes. Now bring aluminium drinks can on a flat
it close to a gentle, surface. Can you control the can?
thin stream of
water. What do you
see this time?

ANSWERS water. 4. Yes, you can!

paper and the pepper. 3. The balloon bends the stream of
1. The balloon clings to the wall. 2. The balloon attracts the

Thales had discovered ‘static electricity’.

Rubbing the amber (like the balloon) left it
with an electric charge like a lightning bolt!

46
 BORN:
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 1706, USA
DIED:
‘HIGH-FLYING GUY’ 1790, USA

Hello! My name is Benjamin Legend has it that

Franklin, and I was an
American scientist and
inventor!
I flew a kite in a
storm to show that
lightning was a form
of static electricity*.
WET
STRING

METAL KEY

* Franklin called it ‘electric fire’.

Well, if I did do that, it Never fly a kite in a Instead, stay
was incredibly dangerous. storm is my advice. indoors and
Other people who tried the make your own
same thing were sadly mini-lightning!
electrocuted and died.
ACK!
KER-

SPARKS IN THE DARK

You will need: 1 In a dark room,
stroke the balloon
BALLOON many times
against your hair
DARK so it builds up
METAL
SPOON
ROOM lots of static.

2 Now slowly bring

the charged balloon
The spark is a mini
lightning bolt of static
close to the spoon electricity. The crack
– a spark should you hear is a tiny
jump across! thunderclap!

47
 BORN:
WILLIAM GILBERT 1544, England
DIED:
‘MAGNETIC PERSONALITY MAN’ 1603, England

Hello. I’m William Gilbert, I was one of the first

Elizabethan scientist and scientists to insist on
doctor, and I have proving theories
something amazing by experiments.
under my hat...
Me!

And it was me that But for me, the

invented the word big attraction
‘electricity’*! was magnets and
magnetism.
BRIGHT
SPARK

GR I saw that the needles

IP! in the compasses used
TUG!
by sailors are actually
* From the Greek word
‘elektra’, meaning amber small magnets.
(page 46). CLUNK!

And I realised that they worked because I also worked out how to use one
the Earth itself is a giant magnet! magnet to make many more!
NORTH MAGNETIC POLE

The secret is on the

next page, but try to
keep it under
your hat!
SOUTH MAGNETIC POLE

Attracted to the idea of making your own magnets?

Come and give it a go!

48
 MAKE A MAGNET #1

You will need:

Magnetism is an invisible
force caused by how atoms
are lined up inside certain A MAGNET
AN IRON OR
magnetic materials. (YOU CAN USE
A FRIDGE STEEL BOLT
MAGNET) OR OPENED
Only a few common metals PAPERCLIP

are magnetic: iron (steel),

cobalt and nickel. EXTRA PAPERCLIPS

All magnets have two ‘poles’: 1 2

north (N) and south (S). x100

S N S N S N N S

‘ATTRACT ’ ‘REPEL’ Stroke the Now test if

paperclip or it will pick
bolt 100 times, up other
Opposite poles attract, while always in the paperclips!
identical poles ‘repel’ – same direction. Try both
ends!
pushing each other away.

MAKE A COMPASS
You will need: 1 Gently float
the piece of
2 Lay the newly
magnetised
card paperclip
BOWL OF on top on top of
COLD WATER of the the card.
water.
SMALL PIECE
OF CARD
3 The paperclip will 4 Check it with
an actual
MAGNETISED turn so that it
PAPERCLIP lines up in compass.
a north/
‘PROPER’ south
COMPASS direction.
(OPTIONAL) WOW!

49
 MAKE A MAGNET #2

Michael Faraday (1791 - 1867) was

a great British scientist whose
discoveries paved the way for lots
of modern technology.

In 1824, Faraday invented

Michael Faraday the rubber party balloon!

Amongst his many experiments, Faraday showed how

passing electricity through a wire creates a magnetic
effect, which can be used to make an ‘electromagnet’.
Here’s how!
You will need:
ABOUT 60 CM OF INSULATED WIRE WITH THE
TAKE
LAST 1 CM OF EACH END STRIPPED BARE
CARE!

THIN STEEL RUBBER

BOLT OR 1.5 VOLT BAND
IRON NAIL BATTERY STICKY TAPE PAPERCLIPS

1 Start by seeing if 2 No? Then 3

your chosen nail begin to
or bolt will pick up wind wire
metal paperclips. around the
nail/bolt in
tight coils. Use tape
to hold the
coil if needed.

4 Use the rubber 5 Now try The magnet can

band to attach picking up get warm and
the bare ends paperclips. use lots of power,
of wire to Does it so don’t leave it
the battery work? attached to the
terminals to battery!
make a circuit.

50
 FO R C ES
AN
ANDD PHYS
PH YSI C S
Study pushes, pulls and the laws
of physics with these experiments.

51
 BORN:
HYPATIA OF ALEXANDRIA about 370BC, Egypt
DIED:
‘THE OPPOSITE OF DENSE’ 415BC, Egypt

Hello! I’m ....a very popular I invented a clever

Hypatia – teacher! device called a
a brilliant Hi, ‘hydrometer’.
mathematician, Hi, Hy!
philosopher Hy!
and...
SCALE
WEIGHTED END

Still used today!

A hydrometer indicates Density depends on For example, you can

the density of liquids how much matter make water denser by
by how far down it a liquid contains. adding salt – as this
floats in them. fun trick
will show!
DENSER
LESS
DENSE

You will need: 1 Gently place 2 The egg should

the egg in the sink to the
GLASS OF glass of water. bottom because
WARM WATER it is denser than
pure water.
SPOON
Who are
Hello, again! you calling
Don’t dense?
SALT crack me!
EGG

3 Now start adding 4 Eventually, the 5 ...the egg will

salt to the water, salty water’s just hang in the
stirring gently to density equals middle of the
dissolve it. that of the glass! Wow!
egg and...
This egg-
(It will speriment is
Yuk! Salty! take several fun (for once)!
spoonfuls.)

52
 ARCHIMEDES
BORN:
about 287bce, Greece
‘MAN OF THE MOMENT ’ DIED:
about 212bce, Greece
Hello! My name is Often my best Including my famous
Archimedes. I was yet ideas came to ‘Eureka’ moment... EUREKA!
another me in the bath....
ancient
Greek
thinker. Must get
a bigger
bathtub!

‘Eureka’ is Greek for

‘I have found it!’
I had been asked I was stumped until The water rose by
by a king to find I realised the bath the same volume
the volume of an water rose when as the part of
odd-shaped crown. I sat in it! me in the bath!

Supposedly solid gold! W ithout me With me

Well, after shouting True or not, here’s You will need:

‘Eureka!’, the story how to use the same
goes that I method to work out WAX CRAYON
ran around your own volume!
starkers! MEASURING
JUG

BATH

1 Run a bath. Before 2 Now get in. 3 After your bath,

you get in, mark the Lie low in the volume of your
starting water level the bath and body is equal to the
with the wax crayon. mark the number of litres of
(Wax wipes off!) new level water it takes to
of the water. raise the bath level
between the
two marks.
Measure them!

53
 AGNES POCKELS BORN:
1862, Italy
‘KITCHEN CHEMISTRY QUEEN’ DIED:
1935, Germany

Hello! I’m German And this is my big We were both

chemist Agnes Pockels. brother Friedrich. super-keen on science
as young people.
Hello! KEEN KEEN

YOUNG YOUNG
AGNES FRIEDRICH

But only one of us was I had to stay at So, I taught myself

allowed to study science
at college. Guess who...
Sorry, Agnes!
home while Friedrich science, but I also had
went to college. to do a lot of housework,
But he kindly lent like washing-up!
me all his books.
Here
you go!

Friedrich became
a professor!
However, through doing I carried out some So, the lesson here is
the washing-up I serious science in ‘never ever give up!’
became an expert on my kitchen and
And help
water, soaps and oils. my work became with the
world-renowned. dishes!

Agnes investigated
how they interacted.

Agnes pioneered the scientific study of

the surfaces of liquids. Now it’s your turn!

54
 WATER WIZARDRY!

Agnes was very interested in FILL HER UP!

the ‘surface tension’ of water. 1 Fill a glass of water
to the very top.
Could it possibly
‘Surface tension’ is where hold any more?
water molecules link together
to form a sort of ‘skin’ on 2 Yes! Carefully slip
coins into the
the surface of water. water, one by one.

Try these fun experiments 3 Look from the side.

and you can see ‘surface The water bulges above
tension’ in action for yourself! the rim: ‘surface
tension’ in action!

SUPPORTING ROLE EVERYBODY SCATTER!

Surface tension Soaps and
is strong enough washing-up liquids
to support a pin work by weakening the
SHARP! or a paperclip. links between water
TAKE CARE! molecules. Here’s how
to see this in action!
1 Fill a shallow saucer
with cold water. 1 Sprinkle some pepper
over a saucerful of
clean water.
2 P lace a small
piece of tissue
paper onto the
water then lay
the pin/paperclip
2 Dip the tip of your
finger into some soap or
gently on top. washing up liquid, then
into the surface of the
3 The tissue soaks
water. What happens?
up water and falls ANSWER
away to leave
the pin/paperclip
in surface tension!
f loating on the
the saucer due to the differences
‘skin’. Wow!
The pepper is pulled to the edges of

55
 LAURA BASSI BORN:
1711, Italy
‘FIRST LADY OF PHYSICS’ DIED:
1778, Italy

This is Italian physicist Laura loved science Luckily, I had a

Laura Bassi. from a young age. cunning plan!
YOUNG LAURA
ADULT TEENAGE
LAURA But there was a LAURA
Hi! teensy-weensy
problem...

Girls weren’t allowed to Laura studied science

study science at school! at home instead!

At just 21 years old, The public went crazy However, because she
Laura was made a and poems were was a woman, the
professor of anatomy written about her! university wouldn’t let
at Bologna university. Laura teach students!
O, Laura Bassi,
Loved the POET
You are so So, I
award, less very classy! set up my
so the hat! own school
Oof! at home,
(of course)!

Laura taught students This annoyed some But, Laura won them
the new theories of university colleagues over and in 1776
English physicist Isaac who didn’t agree became the world’s
Newton (see next page). with Newton’s ideas. first female professor
ISAAC of physics.
WRONG
What And I now
What have a school
a hero! a zero! named
after me!

Laura loved Isaac Newton’s new ideas about

how things moved. Now find out more!

56
 ISAAC NEWTON
BORN:
1642, England
DIED:
‘FIRST CELEBRITY SCIENTIST ’ 1727, England

Isaac Newton was a great scientist

who investigated many things, including
light, forces (pushes and pulls) and
objects in motion.

These experiments are based on

Isaac’s ideas and are just like those
Isaac Newton Laura Bassi would have shared with
her students!

STAY OR GO?

Stationary objects 1 You will need:

need a push or PLAYING

CARD
pull to get them going.
Moving objects need FINGER COIN
a push or pull to get
them to stop or change Balance a playing card on the tip of your
direction. Obvious, yes? finger as shown. Place a coin on top then
swiftly flick away the card horizontally.
W hat happens to the coin? Try it!
This resistance to
change is called 2 You will need:
inertia (in-er-shah). A RAW
A COLD
HARD- UNCOOKED
Inertia is why we BOILED EGG EGG

wear seatbelts
in case our car stops
suddenly. You can also
use inertia to amaze
your friends with these
fab tricks!
Lay both eggs on their sides
and spin them with your fingers.
Now stop each egg in turn with
a fingertip. The raw egg
will start moving again
as inertia means its
insides are still spinning!

57
3 You will need:
RULER
DRAUGHTS/CHECKERS
PLAYING PIECES
NERVES OF STEEL!
Pile the playing pieces as
shown here. Next bring
the ruler close and swiftly
strike out the piece
one up from the base. SNATCH!
Dare you try?
W hat happens?
FEEL THE FORCE!
Newton said that every
action (push or pull force)
had an equal and opposite
reaction. Give it a go!
1 W hile standing on a
skateboard or sitting
in an office chair with
wheels, push against a
solid wall. W hat moves,
and in what direction?
TOUCHING
2 the middle coin, flick
Here’s how to defy gravity
– the force that
makes thing fall.
Go outside and
rapidly swing a
half-full bucket
of water in a
vertical circle.
The water stays in!
58
4 You will need:
ARM
COINS
Do this outside!
Place a small stack
of coins near your
elbow. Swiftly bring
down your hand
and try to catch
them. Can you do it?
Inertia says, ‘YES!’
PASS IT ON!
Moving objects possess
an energy that they can
pass on to other objects if
they collide with them. Called
‘momentum’, here are some
great ways to see it in action!
1 Place three coins as
COINS shown on a smooth,
flat surface.
Pressing firmly on
the right-hand
coin to hit it.
You should see
the left-hand coin
go flying off!
Experiment with
your own
combinations
of extra coins!
2 Marbles are magic
for demonstrating
momentum! Give this
experiment a try!
You will need:
3 W hile the game itself is
great fun, this is probably
the most exciting thing you
can do with a box
of dominoes.
Give it a go!

TWO GLASS
RULERS MARBLES Stand all 28 dominoes in
a line, a few centimetres
‘VALLEY’ apart, then push the
P lace the rulers
side by side to end one.
form a ‘valley’.
PUSH!
Line up several
marbles so that As they topple over, each
they are just domino transfers its
touching, with momentum to its neighbour.
one marble sat
on its own.
The world record for
domino-toppling stands
F lick the solo at over 76,000 dominoes!
marble so it
hits the group.
W hat happens? ROUGH STUFF!
Newton noted that rough
surfaces slowed down
Experiment with lots of moving objects – a force
different combinations we call ‘friction’.
of marbles – pushing
two or more at the
group. Momentum is Try this clever friction trick!
marvellous! P lace your hands under a
long ruler or cardboard
These marbles are a simple tube. Bring them slowly
version of a together and, thanks
scientific toy called to friction, they
‘Newton’s Cradle’, always meet in
named after Isaac. the middle.

59
 BELL AND EDISON
‘THE BOYS OF NOISE’
Hello! I’m Alexander Graham And I’m Thomas ...and the
Bell – and I Alva Edison – phonograph, and
invented the and I invented the light bulb, and
telephone! the microphone... the movie camera...

SIGH!

BORN: 1847, Scotland BORN: 1847, USA

DIED: 1922, Canada DIED: 1931, USA

...and sound is a Air transmits

Both Edison and myself
were ‘big noises’ in the form of energy - sound energy to
science of sound... isn’t that right, Tom? our ears in the
form of sound
Sorry, I waves.
MOUTHPIECE ‘PHONOGRAPH’ wasn’t
listening... DING!

DI
NG
BELL’S FIRST EDISON’S SOUND !
TELEPHONE RECORDER

If you stop those waves Sounds will also I love sounds!

entering your ears, you travel through other What do you say, Tom?
can’t hear properly. substances such as
I should have
a table top. Try it!
invented
earplugs!
What?
Ooh! Weird! DR
UM!
TAP!
TAP
!

Bell and Edison revolutionised modern

communications. Now make some noise yourself!

60
 MAKING WAVES

Alexander Graham Bell You will need:

invented his electric A PAIR OF CLEAN
telephone in 1876. YOGHURT POTS OR
PLASTIC/PAPER CUPS

You can send your own THIN STRING

OR NYLON LINE
sound waves many metres
using just a pair of yoghurt SHARP SKEWER
pots and some string - no (TAKE CARE!)
batteries required!
1 W ith a grown-up’s 2 Insert the string
through the hole in
help, pierce a hole in
the bottom of each one pot and tie a
pot using the skewer. big knot that won’t
pull through.

IN THE CENTRE

3 Unravel 5 - 10 metres of 4 Have a friend hold one pot to their

string and repeat step 2 ear while you speak into the other.
with the other pot.

Always keep the string tight!

5 At the far end, the pot acts 6 Take turns to speak or listen
- saying ‘over’ when you stop
as a loudspeaker,
reproducing talking.
your voice! Over!

7 W ind the string around a

post to talk round corners.
The sound energy in your voice
vibrates the pot, sending the
sound waves along the string.

Keep it
tight!

61
 BORN:
FRANK WHITTLE 1907, England
DIED:
‘JET-SET GO-GETTER’ 1996, USA

Hello. I’m Frank In 1930, I worked with Jet engines work by

Whittle - a small guy a team to invent the taking in air at the front
who had a big idea. jet engine! and using it to burn fuel.
FIRST PATENT
BURNER

ZO
OO
M!
AIR HOT GASES

AN EARLY WHITTLE Put simply, the gases go backwards,

JET PLANE
and the plane goes forwards - a
OOM! form of propulsion you can copy at
ZOOO home with a balloon!
The hot exhaust
gases expand
and this creates
the thrust that
pushes a jet
plane forwards!

You will need: 1 Slip the line through the

straw and tie it to a firm
object. Cut the line and tie
the other end to a second
BALLOON (LONG firm object like a table.
WORKS BEST) STRONG THREAD
OR NYLON LINE
CLEAN STRAW
DRINKING
STRAW STRIPS OF
STICKY TAPE KEEP THE LINE TIGHT!

2 Blow up the balloon, 3 Now, let go. ZOOOOOM!

hold it closed and use
the sticky tape to attach
it under the straw. Repeat lots
of times.

The energy stored in the stretched balloon

skin pushes the air inside it backwards so
the balloon jets forwards!

62
 LLII GH
GHTT
See light in a new way with
these bright experiments.

63
 BORN:
IBN AL-HAYTHAM about 965CE, Basra, Iraq
DIED:
‘ARABIAN VISIONARY’ about 1040CE, Cairo, Egypt

Hello. My name is Ibn Whatever people choose That’s because I

al-Haytham, though to call me, everyone was crazy about
some also know me agrees I was a ‘man light and sight!
as ‘Alhazen’. of vision’!
Lookin’ good!

Al-Haytham was very

interested in reflections.

I also examined eyes Some people claimed But I realised it was

to try to find out how we could see because because light actually
they work. our eyes beamed out enters our eyes - when
light rays... scary! we let it... Cool, huh?!
NERVES

Help!
EYE

From one of Alhazen’s

drawings.

My many experiments
also proved that light
travels in straight lines.
Which is why we can’t
see around
corners,
sadly...
All this amazing new knowledge Don’t let the title
I then wrote up into a huge fool you - it’s not
seven-volume book. ‘light’ reading!
PROU Puff!
D!

Called the ‘Book of Optics’.

Al-Haytham was a very enthusiastic experimenter.

Now make your own optical apparatus!

64
 SEE THE
LIGHT

Al-Haytham studied the You will need:

‘camera obscura’ - a small SHOEBOX-SIZED
CARDBOARD BOX
room with a hole in its wall
that allowed an image of SMALL PIECE OF
KITCHEN FOIL
outside to be viewed as an
upside-down projection indoors.
GLUE
TRACING PAPER/
You can make a smaller BAKING PARCHMENT

version called a ‘pinhole SCISSORS

PIN
camera’ easily at home! (TAKE CARE!)

1 Cut out a 2 Glue a 3 Make a

small hole in piece of hole in
the centre of kitchen the foil
one end of the foil over with a pin.
box and cut the small
out a rectangle hole.
from the TAKE
opposite end. CARE!
FRONT BACK
FOIL

4 Glue a piece of 5 In a darkened room, point your

tracing paper or pinhole at a brightly lit bulb.
baking parchment
over the opposite
end to form a
viewing screen. You should see
an upside-down
image of the bulb
KEEP IT SMOOTH! on your screen.

6 The image is upside down because 7 Try using your pinhole

light travels in straight lines. camera outside on
a sunny day with a
cover over your head.

Just be careful not

to bump into things!
SCREEN
REAL VIEW PINHOLE VIEW

65
 BORN:
ISAAC NEWTON 1642, England
DIED:
‘RAINBOW WONDERER’ 1727, England

Hello. I’m super-scientist Dark in here, isn’t A glass

Isaac Newton. Welcome it? But I am prism!
to my laboratory. about to throw
light on something
amazing...

HOLE IN
SHUTTERS
BEAM OF
SUNLIGHT

I love this experiment! It passes through the glass These are the
The beam of light falls and is bent and split into same colours
at an angle onto the bands of colours known as you see in
prism... a ‘spectrum’. a rainbow.

WHITE
SCREEN

The prism is a glass In a rainbow, raindrops

lens with a special act like tiny prisms.
three-sided shape.

Before me, people I was the first person to And this simple
had some different show that objects look white disc helped me
ideas about colours... because they reflect all the to prove it!
colours in the spectrum.

I think colours are

all blends of
black and
white.
MISTAKEN
PHILOSOPHER

What is the disc? Want to make your own

rainbows? Just follow these instructions!
66
 LIGHT FANTASTIC!

Newton was right about white light being

a mix of all the colours of visible light.

Here’s how to make a mini-rainbow - and how

to blend the spectrum back together again!

MAKE A RAINBOW! REVERSE A RAINBOW!

You will need: The disc Isaac was holding

SHALLOW DISH FULL is known as a ‘Newton’s
OF CLEAN WATER W heel’. Make and spin your
own to see what it shows!
SMALL MIRROR

TORCH THAT GIVES A You will need:

BRIGHT WHITE LIGHT
CARD CIRCLE ABOUT
10 CM IN DIAMETER,
SHEET OF WHITE DIVIDED INTO SEVEN
CARD OR PAPER EQUAL SEGMENTS

SHORT POINTED PENCIL AND SOME

1 In a darkened room, rest
COLOURED PENS OR PENCILS

the mirror at angle on

SMALL PIECE OF STICKY TACK
the dish, with half of it
under the water.
1
Colour the sections red,
orange, yellow, green,
2 blue, indigo and violet.

Shine the torch

onto the submerged 2 With the sticky
tack below,
3 Spin it and
see what
part of the mirror
so it reflects light push the pencil happens!
up onto the card. through the
What can you see? centre to make
a top.
a ‘dirty’ white.
should be visible. blend to give
Bands of rainbow colours TAKE The colours
CARE!

67
 BORN:
ANTONIE VAN LEEUWENHOEK 1632, The Netherlands
“UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL” DIED:
1723, The Netherlands
I’m Antonie van Leeuwenhoek Round about 1670, I It was very
(lee-oo-ven-huk) and invented the microscope, simple.
I'm itching to tell but it wasn’t like the LENS
you my story! Here we go ones you use today. S
again… (SIGH)

N
ME
VERY

CI
PE
MRS V.L. BRIGHT

RS
ALSO

NEEDLE FO
BRIGHT METAL
ANT
BODY
S CRATCH!
ADJUSTABLE
FLEA ITCH! HANDLE

Hi! But it worked!

The lens was a I made over 500 microscopes and with them
tiny glass ball that 3 MM
saw things no human had ever seen before!
magnified to 200 ACTUAL
SIZE
times. It was made
in a way that I kept
secret from everyone!
FISH SCALES
That’s TINY
ANIMALS BACTERIA
what he SAND GRAINS
thinks!

REPRODUCTIVE CELLS BLOOD CELLS

Based on actual drawings by Antonie.

I also discovered My drawings of these tiny In fact, I had

bacteria living in things made me famous! invented the science
my own mouth! of microbiology!
Want a look? Now, please
can someone
invent the
Yuk! Me too! toothbrush?
That’s me,
(FLEA, 1695) folks!

Microbiologists study things too small to see with

the naked eye. Now, make your own magnifier!

68
 BIG IT UP!
EYEPIECE LENS
Modern optical microscopes OBJECTIVE LENS
have two or more lenses STAGE
to make images look larger. MIRROR
Van Leeuwenhoek's model
MODERN MICROSCOPE
had only one lens, meaning
it was really just a small, but
very powerful, magnifying glass!
THEN NOW

You can make your own very simple

version of a magnifying glass at home.

You will need:

SMALL PIECES OF FLAT, CLEAR

PLASTIC CUT FROM A JUICE BRIGHT LIGHT
BOTTLE OR FOOD PACKAGING COLD TAP WATER
OR SUNLIGHT

1 2

In a good light, hold the drop

Place one small drop of cold over what you wish to magnify.
water on a clear plastic strip. The water droplet acts as a tiny lens.

3 Bring one eye 4 With practice, you can

very close to see the ridges on your
the drop, so that RIDGES
fingerprints, the dots
the image comes that make up printing,
PRINT and lots more!
into focus. DOTS

Amazingly, you can also see things closer up if you peer at

them through a pinhole made in a piece of thin card. Try it!

69
 BORN:
ALBERT EINSTEIN 1879, Germany
DIED:
‘THE WIZARD OF PHYSICS’ 1955, USA

Hello. I am the great People called me However, I did do

theoretical physicist a ‘genius’ - but, some clever things...
Albert Einstein. honestly, with
THIS hair?

Like predicting the

existence of black holes!

I also came up I reckoned that Even at that speed,

with the world’s nothing could ever sunlight still takes
most famous travel faster than over 8 minutes to
scientific equation... the speed of light.* reach us!

E = mc2 Hurry up!

E = energy; m = mass;
c = the speed of light * 300,000 km per second

Amazingly, if you could But surely that’s Hello. I am the great

go faster than light, impossible... isn’t it? theoretical physicist
then you would travel Albert Einstein.
backwards in time!

Scientists took centuries to calculate the speed

of light. You can do it at home in minutes!

70
 MICRO-LIGHT

Microwaves - like the You will need:

light waves we get from MICROWAVE
the sun - are a form OVEN

of energy that travels in

OVEN GLOVES
invisible waves (see page
80) at the speed of light. SHALLOW MICROWAVEABLE
DISH (NON-METAL)

BAG OF MINI-
With the help of a MARSHMALLOWS
grown-up, you can
calculate that speed RULER IN
at home yourself! CENTIMETRES CALCULATOR

1 First, find the label on 2 Write down the

the oven that says the frequency on a
frequency it operates piece of paper.
at - most are 2450 MHz You’re on your way!
(megahertz).

3 Take out the plate and 4 Cover the dish with 5 Place it inside the
turntable from the oven a single layer of oven and shut
and put them mini-marshmallows. the door.
in a safe
place.

6 Begin to cook 7 Remove the dish using oven

gloves and measure the
8 Write down
on the highest this distance.
distance in centimetres from (It will be
setting for thirty the middle of one
seconds - some about 6
melted area to the centimetres.)
of them will melt! middle of the next.

9 Now use the calculator to solve this sum: How close to

the actual figure
SPEED OF = x x20 kilometres of 300,000
LIGHT (‘c’) per second kilometres per
FREQUENCY DISTANCE second did
(MEGAHERTZ) (CM) you get?

71
 BORN:
LORD RAY LEIGH 1842, England
DIED:
‘MR. BLUE SKY’ 1919, England

Hello. My name is John Look at this blue In fact, I have,

Strutt. I was made ‘Lord sky - I could sit and now there’s a
Rayleigh’ due out here all day. lovely red sunset!
to my work
in science!

Rayleigh discovered the

element argon.
Daytime skies look
blue because the blue
light in sunlight hits
air molecules and
gets deflected.
Blue gets deflected
more than red or
yellow light because
of its shorter
wavelength.
BLUE
At sunset, sunlight has
to travel further. By the
time it reaches our eyes,
almost all of the blue has
been deflected, leaving
only red light.
Pretty though!

RED

This effect is called You will need: 1 Add the milk to

‘Rayleigh scattering’, after the water and stir
me - and you can show it well.
a similar effect at home!
SPOONFUL
OF MILK
(It creates tiny
LARGE ‘milk particles’.)
GLASS
OF WATER Experiment with how
BRIGHT TORCH much milk works best.

2 Shine the torch 3 Now place the torch Tastes

horrid
onto the glass. under the glass. Viewed
V iewed from the from the top it should though!
side, the milky look yellowy as
water should look almost all of
pale blue due to the blue light
some blue light has been
being scattered. deflected
away from
your eyes.

72
ASTR O N O M Y
Study the Universe with these
out-of-this world experiments.

73
 BORN:
GALILEO GALILEI 1564, Italy
DIED:
‘STARGAZING SUPERSTAR’ 1642, Italy

Hello! I am the great Inside my robes I ...a telescope!

Italian scientist and have one of the most
thinker Galileo! dangerous devices
invented by science...

OVER 1.2
METRES
LONG!

Galileo made his own!

This is one of my actual handmade telescopes.
EYEPIECE

FRONT LENS

(Now on display in an Italian museum!)

I didn’t invent the

telescope, but I was one
of the first to use it to
study the night sky.

With it I made And I found new

drawings of craters moons orbiting the
FROM 1609 on our Moon. planet Jupiter!
By studying space, I This was considered a Hmm... I should
suspected that Earth dangerous idea, so I have seen that
might not be the centre was made a prisoner in coming... Oh well!
of the Universe. my own
home.
MERCURY
VENUS
SUN

EARTH
MARS JUPITER

Galileo was a great astronomer.

Now start stargazing yourself!

74
 STAR STRUCK!

Astronomy is a great hobby You will need:

- just make sure you tell a BINOCULARS ARE
grown-up if you are going BETTER THAN A CHEAP
TELESCOPE. ‘8 X 40’ IS A
star-gazing outside in the GOOD STARTING SIZE.

dark, and choose a safe

place like your garden. BUY OR BORROW A
STAR GUIDE AND
TAKE A TORCH TO
You don’t need much to READ IT!
get started (see opposite).
However, you could also WEAR SOMETHING
make a simpler version of WARM. IT CAN GET COLD
OUTSIDE AT NIGHT!
a telescope - like Galileo’s!

SEEING STARS WHAT TO SPOT

You will need: A COUPLE OF The night sky varies
MAGNIFYING
GLASSES
with the time of year
and your location.
Here are some famous
1 Hold one
‘constellations’ - shapes
formed by groups of stars.
magnifying glass
up close to an
eye and hold
the other out
in front of you.

2 Look at an object
URSA MAJOR
(GREAT BEAR) CASSIOPEIA
through both
glasses, moving the 1 Northern hemisphere
second magnifier
back and forth CORNUS
to get a focused
image. What is odd CRUX
(SOUTHERN
about it? CROSS) (THE RAVEN)
W hat you see is upside down!
2 Southern hemisphere

75
 THE APOLLO 11 CREW
‘LUNAR LEGENDS’
Hello. I’m the ...and this is my fellow What did I do, Buzz?
American astronaut astronaut, Edwin
Neil Armstrong... ‘Buzz’ Aldrin. You went
first! First on
the Moon, and
Neil, you did
first to speak
it again!
to the reader!

BORN: 1930, USA

DIED: 2012, USA BORN: 1930, USA

Are you annoyed that I
was the first person to
set foot on the Moon?
I also spoke those Look, all I’m saying
historic words, ‘one small is that it’s not much
step for a man, one fun being second all
giant leap for mankind’. the time.
That was me too!

Well...
GRRR!

On July 20th 1969

Well, I don’t know I never walked on Can’t we just be happy
what you’re complaining the Moon at all. I just knowing all three of us
about, Buzz! orbited in the Apollo 11 are lunar legends?
command module.
Hey! It’s I second
Michael that!
Collins!
Bah!

BORN: 1930, Italy

You don’t have to go to the Moon to study it.

‘Moon-walk’ this way!

76
 MAD ON THE MOON!

The Moon is Earth’s

largest natural satellite.
NEW WAXING FIRST
It takes 27 days to MOON CRESCENT QUARTER
orbit Earth once and
has a cycle of phases
from ‘new’ to ‘full’ and
WAXING FULL WANING
‘new’ again, due to the GIBBOUS MOON GIBBOUS
angle at which we see
it lit up by the Sun.
LAST WANING NEW
QUARTER CRESCENT MOON

You can demonstrate the phases by shining a torch

onto an orange from different angles.

LAST QUARTER FULL NEW WANING CRESCENT

You can see lots of features on the

Moon with the naked eye, though
4 binoculars help. Here are six to spot:

5 CRATERS caused by things hitting

3 the surface; often named after
6 astronomers.
2
1 Tycho, 2 Kepler, 3 Copernicus
LUNAR SEAS (mares) dark areas
of old volcanic activity.
4 Sea of Serenity
1 5 Sea of Tranquility
6 Apollo 11 landing site

77
 BORN:
CAROLINE HERSCHEL 1750, Germany
DIED:
‘COMET-HUNTER’ 1848, Germany

Hello! I’m the

tiny* German- 97 But that’s not
My big brother, William,
was an astronomer for
British astronomer TODA my only amazing King George III.
Caroline Herschel Y achievement... WILLIAM
Oops!
97
- and I’m 97! HERSCHEL

MARCH Let me TO
1847
fly! DA
Y URA
NUS

* Caroline stood just Free at William discovered the

1.3 metres tall! last! planet Uranus in 1781.

In 1782, William made me I was so good at it that All of which I

a telescope so I could help I went on to find eight recorded and drew
him ‘sweep the skies’. new comets! in my notebooks.

STAR
=
YOUNGER COMET
CAROLINE
One is named after me! =

The king also helped us ...and he paid me fifty I was the first
pounds a year to help woman to get
build what was then the a salary as a
world’s largest telescope... run it!
scientist!

(FROM £50 0
£5

AN OLD
PRINT)
In my lifetime, I helped But then I
discover over 2,000 stars did have a I’m
with William, and won very long life! back!
many honours.

TOD
97
AY

Caroline was a comet-hunting hero! Now find

out more about these speedy space-travellers!

78
 SPACE ODDITY
Comets are rather odd COMA
ION TAIL
objects. They are actually
frozen lumps of ice and dust
and have been nicknamed NUCLEUS DUST TAIL
‘dirty snowballs’!
PARTS OF A COMET
Though some come close TAIL
to Earth, comets travel on
huge elliptical orbits across THE SUN OUTER
the solar system and back SOLAR
SYSTEM
around the Sun.
A TYPICAL COMET ORBIT
A comet’s tail is a
You will need:
plume of dust and SHEET OF
ions (charged particles) PAPER PENCIL

that flares out behind BIT OF

STICKY TAPE
it as it gets closer to
the Sun. 1 Lay the pencil
halfway across the
paper and fold the
sheet in half.
Radiation from the
Sun hitting the comet 2 Loosely roll the
means the tail always paper round the
pencil a few times.
points directly away
from the Sun itself.
3 Fix it in place with
tape and draw
a comet on both
sides of your flag.
Follow these simple steps
to make your own model 4 Blow hard at your W!
paper comet, complete comet – the tail BLO
always turns
with turning tail! away from you.

79
 HOT STUFF!
CREST
As well as discovering comets WAVE-
LENGTH
and stars with his sister,
Caroline, William Herschel
also discovered a new type
TROUGH
of invisible energy within WAVELENGTH

sunlight that made things hot. Infrared radiation, like visible

light, travels as a wave at the
Today we call this energy speed of light. The distance
infrared radiation or ‘IR’ between two crests or two
for short. troughs is a ‘wavelength’.
RADIO MICRO INFRARED VISIBLE ULTRAVIOLET X-RAYS GAMMA
WAVES WAVES LIGHT RAYS

LESS ENERGY MORE ENERGY

Infrared is part of a range of waves of energy known as the

electromagnetic spectrum. Some of this radiation is helpful,
but some can be very harmful.

FEEL THE HEAT TAKE CONTROL

All warm objects - including TV remote controls emit bursts

humans - emit infrared. The
warmth we feel from a radiator or
fire is actually sensors in our skin
detecting infrared radiation!
of infrared to tell your set
what to do. Like all radiation,
IR travels in straight lines
and you can reflect it off
walls and onto your set.

ON!
CLICK!

80
 MA
ATTHS
Learn about numbers and how they work.

81
 KATHERINE JOHNSON
BORN:
1918, USA
‘HUMAN COMPUTER’ DIED:
2020, USA

Hello! I’m African American Congratulations! Anyway, as a child

maths legend Katherine You beat me! I was mad about
Johnson - and I lived to be maths.
101 years old! Er, YOUNG
thanks... KATHERINE
One, two,
three...
Who was that?

Katherine counted
everything - including
See page 78! plates!
At school, I got moved And at college, they had As an adult, I worked
up several years because to invent new maths for the space agency
I was so smart. lessons just for me! NASA* as a ‘human
computer’!
Awkward! It’s some HUMAN
tough stuff! NON-HUMAN

Great!

TEENAGE * National Aeronautics

KATHERINE and Space Administration

And in 1969, I helped Lots of astronauts May I be the first to

create the flight plans for were grateful to thank you, Ms Johnson?
the first Moon landing. me for my clever
descent
calculations -
orbit
including the
Apollo 11 crew.
undocking
Neil, you did
it again! Sorry,
landing Buzz.
separation
Earth

From a NASA report. See page 76.

Lots of astronauts all counted on Katherine.

Now you can try counting on yourself!

82
 HANDY MATHS
Most people need an occasional hand with their maths.
Besides counting on your fingers, why not try these
‘handy’ maths tricks?

NINE IN A ROW TOP TIPS

This gives you the nine This is known as Russian
times table up to ninety! peasant multiplication.

1 Lay your hands out flat on 1 Imagine your digits are numbered
a table in front of you and like this (write it on if it helps).
1 2 3 4 imagine your
789 6 6
10 digits are 7 7
5 6 numbered 8 8
from 1 to 10. 9 9
10 10
2 Now, to multiply, say 8 x 9, touch
2 To find the answer for 3 x 9, together those fingertips.
for example, fold under digit
number three.
3 Count all these fingers
for the ‘tens’.
Now comes a bit
of ‘maths magic’! 7x10=70

2x1=2

3 The number of fingers to the Multiply these

left of any folded finger gives fingers for the ‘units’.
you the number of ‘tens’ in
the answer. The fingers to For any sum, the ‘tens’ are given
the right give
2 you the ‘units’. by counting the two touching
fingers 7 fingers fingers and those above them.
The answer here:
(10 x 2) + 7 = 27! Here it is ‘7’. The ‘units’ are given
by multiplying the lower fingers.

( 7 x1 0 ) + ( 2 x1 ) = 7 2 Correct!

Try some more ‘nine times’ sums. Try other combinations!

83
 BORN:
ADA LOVELACE 1815, England
DIED:
‘THE COMPUTING COUNTESS’ 1852, England

Hello! My name is I was a computing BASE 10 BASE 2

Ada, and I was a real pioneer, and I’m 1 1
English countess, as going to show you 2 10
well as how to use the next 3 311
mad keen page to read minds! 100
4
on maths!
Like modern
computers, this trick
uses Base 2 (binary)
rather than the
Base 10 we count in.

A fun thing to do with Next, ask them to point For every one they
Base 2 is ‘reading minds’. only to those shapes point to, secretly add
Get a friend to pick a on the next page that up the first numbers
number from 1 to 60. contain their number. in each shape.

Don’t miss any! 1 + 4 +...

Don’t tell me it!

Err...
These numbers will
be 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 and
Make them check! 32 only.

Now pretend to Then announce the total It always works - unless

concentrate as you have secretly added they have missed a shape
if you are reading up in your head. They will or you added up wrongly.
their mind. be amazed (hopefully). Try it! You’ll look like a
math-magician!
It’s coming
to me... Your number
was 37!

Wow!

Hide this page under a sheet of paper and start

‘reading minds’ with maths!

84
 MATHS MAGIC!

01 0 02
03 05 07 11 14 3 06 0
26 15 7
09 11 13 15 17 27 3 18 19 2 10
19 21 23 25 27
39 42 4 0 31 34 2 23
3
29 31 33 35 37 54 5 45 47 35 38
5 58 50 5
39 41 43 45 47 59 1
49 51 53 55 57
59

08 09 10 11 12
04 06 13 14 15 24 25
05 12 13 21 0 26 27 28 29 30
07 20 29 3 9 31 40 41 42 43
15 3 44 45 46 47 56
14 28 38 52
3
2 37 47 57 58 59 60
22 1 36 46 5 60
3 45 4 5
44 3 5
5

16 32 5
17 18 19 43
21 22 20 33 3 8 39 40
3
26 27 23 24 25 36 37 43 44 45
2
48 49 8 29 30 31 41 42 48 49 50
5
53 54 0 51 52 46 47 53 54 55
57 58 55 56 51 52 7 58 59
59 60 56 5 0
6

85
 ON A ROLL

Here’s some hands-on maths that could make you

a world record holder one day!
Many people believe it is impossible to fold a piece
of paper repeatedly in half more than seven times.
But, is that really true? Well, here’s one way to find out!

1 Begin with a
2 On a flat surface,
fold the paper in half.
big sheet of
thin paper,
such as a
sheet of
newspaper.
The thinner
and bigger Crease the fold,
the better! then fold it
in half again.

3 Your paper doubles in thickness each time

you fold it over. Can you manage seven folds?

START 1 FOLD 2 FOLDS 3 FOLDS

(1X2) ( 2X2) ( 2X2X2)

1 SHEET THICK 2 SHEETS THICK 4 SHEETS THICK 8 SHEETS THICK

4 FOLDS 5 FOLDS 6 FOLDS 7 FOLDS

(2X2 X 2 X 2 ) (2X2X2X2X2) ( 2 X2X2X2X2X2) ( 2X2X2X2X2X2X2)

Not easy! Getting harder! Difficult! Can you do it?

16 SHEETS THICK 32 SHEETS THICK 64 SHEETS THICK 128 SHEETS THICK

86
Did you get beyond seven folds? If so, well done! But how
many sheets thick is a wad of paper folded eight times?
(ANSWER BELOW)

Amazingly, in 2002, an
American high school
student called Britney
Gallivan folded a long,
thin strip of paper in half
TWELVE times – setting
a new world record!

Britney Gallivan (b. 1985)

and her loo roll.

Britney set her record using a roll of very thin

toilet paper that was 1.2 kilometres in length!
This is about 60 times longer than a standard
loo roll at home (about 20 metres)!

Why not ask a grown-up for a spare loo roll, find a big open
space and see if you can beat your own personal record?

384,000 km
Maths whizz Britney also came
up with a clever formula for
calculating how thick paper can
get when you keep folding it.
Just 23 folds gives you a wad
over 1 kilometre thick! And with just 42 folds you could
reach the Moon!
8 folds makes a thickness of 258 sheets (2 x 128)

87
S TAND
STA NDBY
BY
FOR
F O R S T EM
Science, Technology, Engineering
and Maths - which is your favourite?

88
 BORN:
MARY SOMERVILLE 1780, Scotland
DIED:
‘QUEEN OF SCIENCE’ 1872, Italy

Mary Somerville was As a child, Mary loved But Mary was

the daughter of a reading about science made to learn
stern admiral in and nature. needlework instead.
the British Navy. I’d love
I have my to study W hat a
eye on you, them! stitch-up.
young lady. Bah!

Bah! Ha!

Bah! DAD

When she grew up, Mary was a natural at She was also a
Mary bought a whole advanced maths – as clever astronomer.
library of books and well as biology, physics,
chemistry and geology. What a star!
taught herself maths
and science! She became known as What
the ‘Queen of science’! a star!
ADULT MARY

I needed good We are not

maths just to amused. We are
count them all! delighted! Mary predicted the
existence of the
planet Neptune.

She wrote several Not bad going...

best-selling science for a girl!
books, winning her
prizes and praise. ‘SOMERVILLE CRATER’
Naah!
Unlike my needlework!

ASTRONOMY Today Mary even has her

GEOGRAPHY
own crater on the Moon.
PHYSICS

Mary was a ‘polymath’: a person good at lots of things.

Now see what sort of scientist you might be!

89
 PICTURE YOURSELF
Mary Somerville explored many areas of science and
maths. Today we call these ‘STEM’ subjects: Science,
Technology, Engineering and Maths.

This fun test shows a series of science careers.

Pick a subject, then follow your favourite path to
a possible future STEM career!

PHYSICS COMPUTER ENGINEER

Designing and building
circuits

ARTIFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE
AND ROBOTICS
Developing machines
to ‘think’ and act for
humans

ENVIRONMENTAL
ENGINEER
Improving the natural
environment

ASTROPHYSICIST
Studying stars, planets
and the Universe

CLIMATE
MATERIALS SCIENTIST
SCIENTIST Monitoring and
Developing and predicting changes to
testing new the planet’s weather
substances and climate

90
 MEDICAL
SCIENTIST
Helps to heal and
cure humans

BIOLOGY PSYCHOLOGIST
Studies the
human mind

GENETICIST
ZOOLOGIST Studies the
Studies animals hidden codes
of cells

MICROBIOLOGIST
Studies microscopic living
organisms

ECOLOGIST CHEMISTRY
Helps keep nature
balanced

CHEMICAL ENGINEER
Creating new substances
for home and industry

PHARMACOLOGIST
Designs and develops new
drugs and medicines FORENSIC
SCIENTIST
Using science to
solve crimes
MATHS CODING AND
PROGRAMMING
Writing the language
of computers

CYBERSECURITY
Using maths to
fight crimes What did you
choose?

91
 MIKE BARFIELD BORN:
1962, Leicester,
‘SCIENTIFIC SCRIBBLER’ England

Hello! My name is It’s been great fun ...comics!

Mike, and I wrote as this book is a
and drew this book! combination of two of
my favourite things...

... and fun

science!

There’s a better
model on page 40!

ME I can still remember my first ever day at

school at around the same age. Another
‘HAMMY’
child showed me how to make a simple
paper plane to cheer me up.

VERY BASIC
This is me at home when PAPER DART!
I was about five years old.
See page 31

I’m still making them
over fifty years later.
However, what really got They pushed a
me excited was a fellow handkerchief in a
pupil who demonstrated glass into a tank
some simple science magic. of water and it
stayed dry!

...and they still cheer me up! Find out why

on page 44!

92
From that moment, Over the next years, I copied all the experiments
I was hooked on in junior science books we had at home.
science for life!

GROWING A NEWTON COLOUR STATIC

BEAN SEED WHEEL ELECTRICITY

Just like those in this book!

I drew them all Eventually I went and

the time! spent three years at
university studying biology,
but - remember all those
comics? - I also wanted
to write and draw jokes.

By the age of twelve, I

was crazy about wildlife,
especially birds. One of my actual
drawings.

So, that’s what I do And it’s all thanks to copying

nowadays! I make these people from the past!
funny science books
for children - best of BYE!
both worlds!

Thanks for reading ‘Copycat Science’. Now get experimenting yourself!

93
 GLOSSARY
ATOM
A building block of matter.
Atoms are very small and
fit together with other
atoms to make everything
in the Universe. They
have a central nucleus
containing particles called
protons and neutrons,
surrounded by electrons.
BLACK HOLE
An area of space where
super-dense matter has
such a strong gravitational
pull that nothing can
escape from it - not even
light.
CELL
The smallest functioning
unit of a living thing. Cells
come in many different
types according to what job
they do. P lant cells have
rigid walls to support them.
ELECTROMAGNET
A coil of wire wound
around a central iron core.
When an electric current
flows through the coil, it
produces a magnetic effect.
EVOLUTION
The natural process by
which new species arise
from earlier ones by
changes over time.
GERMINATION
The start of growth of a
new plant from a seed or
a spore.
94
GLAND
An organ in an animal
that produces and secretes
substances for use in the
body.
LARVA
A young form of an animal
such as an insect, often
looking quite different
to the adult. For example,
caterpillars are the larvae
(plural) of butterflies and
moths.
LIFECYCLE
The stages a living thing
may pass through before
it reproduces and dies. For
example, an adult silk moth
starts as an egg, before
becoming a caterpillar, then
spinning a cocoon from
which it finally emerges.
MOLECULE
A group of atoms bonded
together. The atoms can
be identical, such as the
oxygen molecules in air
(O2 ), or different, forming
a chemical compound.
NATIVE
A word used for living
things that are normally
found in a certain
ecosystem. For example,
a lion is native to the
African savannah, but
a polar bear is not.
NUTRIENTS
The substances that living
things need to survive, grow
and reproduce. They include
not just food, but also
minerals and vitamins.
ORBIT
The regular curved
path that a planet, moon,
comet or manmade
satellite takes around
another body such as
the Sun.
ORGANISM
A living thing. On Earth,
organisms range in
size from microscopic
single-celled lifeforms
such as bacteria, to giant
multi-celled animals such
as the blue whale.
PIONEERING
The first person to attempt
or achieve something new
is said to be a pioneer.
POLLUTANTS
Substances introduced
into an environment
or ecosystem that have
a harmful effect. Many
pollutants are manmade.
PROPULSION
The act of pushing or
driving an object forwards.
It requires a force acting
in the opposite direction.
95
RADIATION
Energy emitted in the form
of electromagnetic waves -
such as radio waves, visible
light or infrared.
REPRODUCE
When living things make
copies of themselves to
ensure the survival of their
species over time.
SATELLITE (NATURAL)
An orbiting object such as
Earth’s moon. Earth is also
orbited by many artificial
(manmade) satellites
such as the International
Space Station.
SPECIMEN
An individual organism
collected for scientific
study.
VOLUME
The amount of space that
a substance or object takes
up. Scientists measure it
in cubic metres (m3).
 INDEX
A E L Pockels, Agnes 54
acid rain 34 Edison, Thomas Alva leaf prints 16 polymers 28
acids 32, 33 60 Leeuwenhoek, Antonie prism 66
air pressure 37–41 Einstein, Albert 70 van 68 Purkyně , Jan
Alhazen (Ibn al- electricity 46–47, 48 lenses 68, 69 Evangelista 18
Haytham) 64 electromagnetic lift 43 PVA glue 28, 29
alkalis 32, 33 spectrum 80 light 63–72 R
aluminium 30–31 F lightning 47 rainbow 66, 67
Apollo 11 astronauts Faraday, Michael 50 Lilienthal, Otto 42 Rayleigh, Lord 72
76, 82 fingerprints 18–19 Lovelace, Ada 84 Rayleigh scattering 72
Archimedes 53 forces 57, 58 M
Aristotle 8, 36 S
Franklin, Benjamin 47 Magdeburg hemispheres seeds 9
astronomy 73–80, 89 Franklin, Rosalind 24 36–37
Audubon, John James silkworms 6
friction 59 magnets and slime 28, 29
14–15 magnetism
G Smith, Robert Angus
B Galileo Galilei 74 30, 48–50 34
backyard safari 7 Gallivan, Britney 87 magnifying glasses Somerville, Mary 89
Barfield, Mike 92–93 germination 9 69, 75 Sorensen, Soren 32
Bassi, Laura 56 Gilbert, William 48 mass 38 sound energy 60–61
Bell, Alexander glues 28, 29 maths 81–87, 89 spectrum 66, 67
Graham 60, 61 Grew, Nehemiah 10–11 Maxwell, James Clerk speed of light 70, 71
Bernouilli, Daniel 40 Guericke, Otto von 44 spontaneous generation
Bernouilli’s principle 36–37 Merian, Maria 6–7 6
40–41 microbiology 68 stargazing 74–75
bird feeder 15 H microscopes 10, 68–69
Hales, Stephen 10–11 static electricity 46, 47
birds 14–15 microwaves 71 STEM careers 90–91
Helmholz, Hermann von
black holes 70 momentum 58–59 surface tension 55
20–21
blind spots 20 Moon 74, 76–77, 82, 89
botany 8–11, 16 hermaphrodites 12 moths 6 T
Herschel, Caroline and tastebuds 26
brain 20, 21, 22, 23 N
W illiam 78, 80 telephones 60, 61
C hydrometers 52 Newton, Isaac 56, 57, telescopes 74, 75, 78
camera obscura 65 Hypatia of Alexandria 58, 59, 66–67 Thales of Miletus 46
caterpillars 6 52 Newton’s Cradle 59 Theophrastus 8–9
chameleon water 33 O ‘tongue map’ 26
Colden, Jane 16 I
inertia 57–58 Oersted, Hans transpiration 10, 11
comets 78, 79 Christian 30
compasses 48, 49 infrared radiation 80 V
insects 6–7 ophthalmoscopes 20, 21 vacuums 36–37
computers 84 optical illusions 22–23
constellations 75 J vinyl acetate 28
jet engines 62 P vision 20–23, 64
D paper folding 86–87 volume 53
Johnson, Katherine 82
Darwin, Charles 12–13 Penrose triangle 22
density 52 K W
pH scale 32, 33 W hittle, Frank 62
DNA 24, 25 kinetic theory of gases pinhole camera 65 wormery 13
44 piperine 30 worms 12–13
kites 42, 43, 47 planes 30, 31, 42, 62, Wright, Orville and
Klatte, Fritz 28 92 W ilbur 42
plants 8–11, 16

PICTURE CREDITS
centre (c), bottom (b), top (t), left (l), right (r)
10cr N. Grew, The anatomy of plants; Wellcome Collection. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0);
24cl Raymond Gosling/King’s College London; 42cr Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division;
62 Reproduction of drawings illustrating British Patent No. 347,206, filed 16th January 1930; 64lc Copy of the
Kitab al-Manazir (MS Fatih 3212, vol. 1, fol. 81b, Süleimaniye Mosque Library, Istanbul); 68bc Wellcome Collection
gallery (2018-04-03): https://wellcomecollection.org/works/r8h48ctw; 74c http://moro.imss.fi.it/lettura/
LetturaWEB.DLL?AZIONE=IMG&TESTO=E_Y&PARAM=03-66.j; 76tr National Aeronautics and
Space Administration; 76tl NASA; 78bl Leisure Hour, Nov 2,1867, page 729; 82 NASA

96