It’s Alive! is the story of how things got alive on earth, written for children, comic style. But most adults could probably stand to read it — and would enjoy it — just as much as any kid.
A 2009 survey conducted by the California Academy of Sciences found that most adults flunked the most basic science tests. A few gems from the results:
Only 53% of adults know how long it takes for the Earth to revolve around the Sun.
Only 59% of adults know that the earliest humans and dinosaurs did not live at the same time.
Only 47% of adults can roughly approximate the percent of the Earth’s surface that is covered with water.*
Only 21% of adults answered all three questions correctly.
The researchers noted that while the US spends billions on short term economic fixes, a long-term solution has to include smarter denizens who get science, which happens to be a “major driver of innovation and industry”.
Lucky for us, James Lu Dunbar, the dude who wrote It’s Alive! will give you (or your kid) the digital version for free right here. And it’s under a creative commons licence so you can share and distribute is as you please. Dunbar also wrote Bang! The Universe in Verse. Both are also available in old-timey paperback for $US15 and $US13, respectively. So swallow your pride and do your country a favour and get some education. At least this way it rhymes.