Leo Grasset (trans. Barbara Mellor)
2016
Hachette, Profile Books
pp. 154
I picked up this book as part of Hachette India’s bookstagram challenge during the COVID lockdown, currently in progress. This lockdown has had many effects including giving me even lesser time for reading than I had imagined. This is disappointing but then, such is life. In the middle of this, Hachette India’s challenge has forced me to at least pick up books, and thus make an attempt at reading. Yesterday’s challenge was to pick up a book of less than 100 pages, which I couldn’t find and so I picked the slimmest one I could and well, well, well. I have no regrets.
I have studied science only till high school and this book was picked up only for its quite engaging cover, back cover, and title. I thought some curiosity questions will be answers and will be good for sharing with children at home. I am not disappointed.
The book addresses complex issues in fairly simple terms but there were science terms that I wasn’t familiar with and had to read up more on the internet to make better sense of it. Nevertheless, it was a very engaging read. There is not a single chapter that I have finished reading without gaping in awe of nature and its infinite wonderment. Some chapters cover animals that I knew nothing about, such as the Honey Badger. But even the animals I thought I was fairly familiar with, such as my favourite, the elephant, I knew nothing about the science behind their behaviour. It is interesting to see the level of intelligence, social behaviour that animals exhibit.
The photographs in the book are interesting, but more interesting is the style in which the book is written. It is an attempt at making the complexity of science evident. It is so refreshing to have such science writing in contrast to the very black and white way it is often taught to us. It is almost as if the textbooks have all the answers. I liked that the author has put forth observations, debates, arguments, answers, and unanswered questions, out in the open, and in a manner that readers are likely to read more out of curiosity, not to pass an exam. Textbook writers need to learn something from this book.