Author Description

An accessible new reference for students, The Young Oxford Library of Science is an 11-volume set that offers easy-to-find information on the physical, chemical, and biological sciences. Each volume explains its subject in language that is easy to understand and is written by its own expert author. Together, these volumes form a comprehensive library of basic knowledge on all aspects of science and how it applies to our daily lives.Volume 1: Mind and Body There's much more to the human being than meets the eye. Under our skin and hair are elaborate systems for everything we think, feel, and do. Mind and Body explains these systems, and how to take care of them, in 24 articles on topics that include: * Bones and muscles * The brain and nerves * Digesting food * Heart and blood * Human reproduction * Lungs and breathingVolume 2: Plants and Animals Life comes in countless shapes and sizes, but all living things have building blocks, called cells, and blueprints, called genes. Plants and Animals explores how living things came to be and how they work in 28 articles, including: * The animal kingdom * Bacteria and viruses * Cells * Classification * Evolution * The plant kingdomVolume 3: Land, Sea, and Air Earth is four and a half billion years old, holds a quintillion tons of water, and can withstand the shock of hundreds of millions of volts. Even more striking than these statistics is how the world works, which Land, Sea and Air introduces in 29 articles that include: * Atmosphere * Climate * Continents and plates * Earth * Geology * SeasonsVolume 4: Atoms and Elements When certain atomic particles or elements meet, chemistry goes into action. Atoms and Elements contains 29 articles on nature's tiniest particles and the building blocks of all matter. This book covers all the basics, including: * Atoms and molecules * Elements and compounds * Gases * Liquids * Matter * The periodic tableVolume 5: Materials Earth's riches have provided human ingenuity plenty of opportunities; from wood, we make paper, from clay we make pottery, from oil we make energy. This volume explains how we extract and refine raw materials, as well as our responsibility to give back to the planet what we take. Its 28 articles include: * Chemical changes * Oil products * Plastics * Recycling * Resources * Working with metalsVolume 6: Light and Sound Without an understanding of light and sound, wed have no cameras or compact discs. Light and Sound explains what brings rainbows to our eyes and music to our ears. Such events are described in 23 articles, including: * Electromagnetic spectrum * Fiber optics * Mirrors and lenses * Sound recording * Sound * UltrasoundVolume 7: Electricity and Electronics Without electricity and electronics, we would have no communications, computers, or cars. Electricity and Electronics contains 24 articles that explain everything from making electricity to microchip magic. Learn all about: * Electricity * Electronics * Magnetism and electromagnetism * Robots and artificial intelligence * Video equipment * Virtual realityVolume 8: Energy and Forces What do refrigerators, watches, and wheelbarrows all have in common? Inventors developed them using the principles of physics, which is the study of energy and forces. The topics of this books 26 articles include: * Energy * Engines and turbines * Forces * Gravity * Motion * TemperatureVolume 9: Science in Action By understanding scientific principles, we can use them to make tools and technology that make our lives easier and more interesting. Science in Action shows how physics, chemistry, biology, and botany have revolutionized human endeavors from farming to space exploration. The 24 articles include: * Aircraft * Bikes and motorcycles * Buildings * Printing words and pictures * Satellites * TechnologyVolume 10: Stars and Planets Stars and Planets takes us on a tour of outer space, from Earth's closest neighbor the moon to galaxies 14-billion light-years away. But un