NSTA Recommends



Quantoons: Metaphysical Illustrations


by Thomas Bunk

Price at time of review: $26.95
243 pp.
NSTA Press
Arlington, VA
2006
ISBN: 9780873552653


Grade Level: 9-12

Reviewed by Deb McNabney
Science Educator - retired


Quantoons is a collection of reprints from NSTA's Quantum magazine with different components that will interest advanced students and adults. It combines wonderfully fanciful physics-based art by Tomas Bunk with challenging problems and solutions.

The first feature that grabs many readers' interest is the large, full-page Mad Magazine cartoon style used to illustrate many physics concepts. The content of these drawings is far from "pure physics"---the artist imagines light as a superhero flying at superspeed or sound crossing the (somewhat dated) Berlin wall. But the style will fascinate students who might brainstorm preconceptions from projected images. A short explanation from the artist accompanies each illustration.

Accompanying each illustration is a classic problem for advanced physics students from Quantum magazine, along with a solution. A physics teacher who reviewed the book felt "the level was well beyond what would typically be encountered in a high school." That's because the columns were always intended for the most advanced students in both the United States and the (former) Soviet Union, where the magazine was co-published.

Whether a teacher uses the illustrations for motivation or to stimulate communication, the problems (at the AP or college level), or the explanations (as a background for the teacher), he or she will find that this collection serves a number of niches.



Review posted on 11/21/2005

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