journal of science education

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Book Reviews

The Bicycle Story

K R Y Simha

The Bicycle Story

Vijay Gupta

Vigyan Prasar 2001,
pp. 39, Rs 25/-.

Vijay Gupta’s The Bicycle Story is a mix of some history (10 pages with 16 illustrations), some structural design (15 pages with 24 illustrations), and some bicycling science (11 pages with 7 graphs and 9 illustrations). The history of the bicycle begins with a 1791 French toy made of wood and ends around 1890 with Rover Safety. The basic design of the bicycle has changed little ever since. The second part dealing with bicycle structure includes wheels, tyres, bearings, chain, freewheel, brakes, gears and frames. The last part is a discussion on the forces involved during different riding situations such as air drag, braking and balancing actions (stabi-lity). Thus, this booklet is an essay on the essential bicycle facts and factors that all school children ought to learn as a part of their education.

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Address for Correspondence
K R Y Simha
Mechanical Engineering Department,
Indian Institute of Science,
Bangalore 560 012, India.

A Review – Michael Faraday and the Royal Institution

Vasant Natarajan

The book brings alive the story of Faraday’s life, his work, and his contributions both to science and to the Royal Institution. It is filled with numerous photographs, drawings, cartoons and figures, all of which present a fascinating picture that offers something for the young student and the practising scientist alike. Reading the book shows you how science is actually done with a behind-the-scenes look at the hard work and long hours involved, and shows that the history of discovery in science is not always a straight and narrow road as finally presented in textbooks. Instead, it is filled with false trails, and hard work and perseverance are necessary to overcome these difficulties.

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Michael Faraday and
the Royal Institution

John Meurig Thomas

Institute of Physics Publishing
Bristol & Philadelphia, USA
1997, p. 234.

Address for Correspondence
Vasant Natarajan
Department of Physics,
Indian Institute of Science,
Bangalore 560012, India.

The Chemical History of a Candle

H R Madhusudan

The Chemical History of a Candle

Michael Faraday

Vigyan Prasar Reprint,
Vigyan Prasar
C-24, Qutab Institutional Area
New Delhi 110 016, India
p.146, Rs. 35/-.

Michael Faraday, who had little schooling but excellent education during his tenure as assistant to the famous Humphry Davy, went on to become one of the most effective proponents of science. His masterly exposition of the subjects he spoke on and the well thought out experiments that supported them formed the nucleus around which Faraday successfully conveyed the joy of doing science to the young and the old alike – skills that would have made Desaguliers proud.

The book under review is an excellent material to study not only the chemical history of a candle but to illumine us on Faraday, the supreme observationist and an experimenter par excellence.

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Address for Correspondence
H R Madhusudan
Associate Educator,
Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium,
Bangalore 560 001, India.

Indian Academy of Sciences
C.V.Raman Avenue, Post Box No. 8005,
Sadashivanagar Post, Bangalore 560 080