Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

First the company logo for the word SPECTRUM is intriguing...Why do the colors of the "SPECTRUM" on the cover of the book differ from the spectrum that actually happens when light goes through a prism? In general, this book is a second edition. The previous edition, 2008, advertises that it meets NSTA and all state standards. Major differences are that this second edition has thinner paper and paler illustrations, costs 20% more and does not advertise that it meets NSTA standards. The #1 critical review of 2008 book on Amazon shows it errs in definition of a scientific law. Page 6 still says, "Theories that last for many, many years--and are never proven wrong--become scientific laws." And the following errors are uncorrected. Page 18 defines volume as "the amount of space something takes up, measured in cubes". Compare with any dictionary! Page 28 says, "In fact, it's hard to swim in the Dead Sea because the buoyancy force is so high." In fact, because the buoyancy is high you need not kick so hard to keep your feet up. More of your body is in air which presents less friction than the water provides. So most swimming is easier in salt water than in fresh. (It is more difficult to dive beneath the surface because of buoyancy, but the great majority of swimming is at the surface.) Page 29: true/false statement #2 "If an object weighs 9 pounds, it will displace 9 pounds of water." Answer on page 127 is "true". Better answer is PERHAPS. A large maple oar can weigh 9 pounds and will float displacing 9 pounds of water. A steel crowbar weighing 9 pounds will sink and will displace an amount of water equivalent to the crowbar's lesser volume. Page 30 tells students that, "Natural gas doesn't have soot because it isn't a solid." Read up about soot from natural gas on fireplace logs at multiple Internet sites. Page 58 says stalactites and stalagmites are made of calcium deposits. Page 58 also says stalactites and stalagmites are made of calcium carbonate. These definitions are mutually exclusive. In a limestone cave, calcium carbonate is correct. Page 32 tries to use a standard hydraulic analogy to describe electricity's flow, but fails by stating that, "Amps measure how fast the water flows." Amps (in this analogy) actually measure how much water (current) flows. Also, "Ohms measure how wide the pipe is." fails totally. Ohms are the measure of resistance to current flow. Decreasing the cross section of the pipe INCREASES the resistance. Page 80 is a labored explanation of how more efficient light bulbs save combustion of coal which keeps the environment cleaner. This 2015 book fails factually when it says of light bulbs with filaments, "The United States completed its phaseout in 2014.” (That is a change from 2008!) I bought 4 bulbs with filaments at Lowes last week!. And, (like 2008) of more efficient compact fluorescent lights it says, "If everyone in the United States used just one CFL, it would mean 30 billion fewer tons of coal would be burned each year." The U. S Energy Information Administration shows that the U. S. produced less than 900 million short tons in 2015. 30 billion is bogus. The discussion totally ignores LEDs which are yet more efficient. My favorite reason no-one should buy this book is the account of Archimedes and the gold crown in the sidebar of page 104. Spectrum says Archimedes “could place the crown in some water and see how much it overflowed. If it equaled the amount of water that overflowed when a chunk of pure gold of the same weight was placed in the water, then the crown was truly all gold.” Try to duplicate the experiment. OR Do a search under "Archimedes Gold Crown NYU" for a clear discussion of why Archimedes did not do this, but did something else to determine if the crown was pure gold. The authors are never named anywhere in the book. The ISBN of the book on my desk is 978-1-4838-1168-0 Publisher is CARSON-DELLOSA Publishing Group, P.O. Box 35665, Greensboro, NC 27425.