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It was intended for children, and of course much of the science is
hopelessly out of date, but this ambitious, even audacious attempt
to offer an overview of the entirety of human history remains a
breathtaking work today. A 1921 bestseller, The Story of Mankind
won the first Newbery Medal in 1922, and it is no wonder: the
book-which begins with the origin of life itself on our planet and
the arrival of the earliest protohumans on the scene and ends with
"The Last Fifty Years, Including Several Explanations and an
Apology"-is abundant with an offbeat charm and packed with the
author's own beautiful illustrations and maps that are alive with a
fresh, delectable humor. As a document of early modern science
writing, it is invaluable. As a delightfully entertaining read, it
is not to be missed. Dutch-American author and educator HENDRIK
WILLEM VAN LOON (1882-1944) sold more than six million books during
his lifetime, including The Story of the Bible (1923), Tolerance
(1925), and America (1927).
This book describes the discovery of the stratosphere itself and of
various unexpected phenomena in the stratosphere: e.g., a manned
balloon flight in 1901 as high as 11 km; an expedition to Lake
Victoria in Africa in 1908 which found inexplicable west winds in
the stratosphere above the equator; and the discovery of the ozone
layer in the 1930s, the Berlin Phenomenon in 1952, the
Quasi-Biennial Oscillation in 1960, the influence of volcanic
eruptions in 1970, the ozone hole in 1984, and the influence of the
11-year solar cycle in 1987. The book also describes how these
phenomena are connected with each other and how they create
variability in the climate system, in addition to man-made changes,
such as the decrease in ozone. We use the stratosphere as one
example of Nature's complexity and of how often discoveries are
ignored because they do not fit prevalent concepts.
Winner of the first John Newberry Medal, Hendrik Willem van Loon s
The Story of Mankind, originally written for the author s
grandchildren, has charmed generations with its warmth and wisdom.
Beginning with the origins of human life and sweeping forward to
illuminate all of history, van Loon s incomparable prose and
illustrations presented a lively rendering of the people and events
that have shaped world history. This new edition, updated by
best-selling historian Robert Sullivan, continues van Loon s
personable style and incorporates the most important developments
of the early twenty-first century, including the war on terrorism,
global warming, and the explosion of social media. The result
remains extremely valid in broad outline if not detail and, as
ever, a grand and thought-provoking read (Kirkus Reviews)."
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