Jerzy Drozd

This is one of many books in the Science Comics series. This book introduces the history and science of rockets, presented in an appealing graphic novel format. This book may appear for a young audience, with animal characters, but the historical facts and science concepts presented are complex and difficult to understand at times. Even as an adult, some concepts were confusing and the format felt a bit chaotic at times, but I was able to understand the important ideas. The authors did a great job presenting difficult to understand ideas by comparing them to familiar scenarios. For example, g-force is explained by comparing the force felt at the top and bottom when swinging.… (meer)

The Science Comics series cleverly uses Socratic dialogue to teach comics-loving kids about scientific topics. Both of these books employ (usually) animal characters with well-drawn personalities asking questions and talking (or arguing) among themselves to propel the reader through an incredible quantity of facts. I love the device of a multi-party conversation because different readers may identify with different characters -- the know-it-all, or the quiet one, or the nervous one, or the bold one -- and keep reading to see how the argument resolves. Of the two, Solar System weights story more heavily, traversing the solar system, while Rockets is more of an argument among the characters that traverses the history of rocket technology. Both are fun. (Full disclosure: I wrote the introduction to Rockets and fact-checked Solar System.)… (meer)