Human Body: Information Graphics by Peter Grundy
Infographics: Human Body by data journalist Simon Rogers and graphic artist Peter Grundy is the second book in a great new series from the fantastic folks at Big Picture Press. Infographics: Animal Kingdom came out earlier this year and is seeing a lot of action in my school library. Rogers has a way with collecting information that is out of the ordinary while covering familiar ground at the same time and Grundy's graphics are as eye-catching as they are easy to read.
The senses, reproduction, the heart, the brain, digestion, the skeleton, and the "human factory," are the focus of the seven chapters in the book, each of which begin with an overview of the subject. Once inside the chapters, facts detailing the functions and form of featured body parts are presented alongside interesting tidbits like the average number of babies born in America on each day of the week and a two-page spread called "the human hotel" in which various parasites are shown on or in the places on the body where they live.
The chapter on reproduction does not specifically explain how babies are made, mentioning only that, "when male sperm enter the female womb, an egg, or ovum, can be fertilized and begin to grow," in the introduction. However, the male and female reproductive parts are presented, infographic style, and their functions detailed. A two page spread on conception shows how long sperm can live once inside the female in various animals, the average number of sperm per ejaculation for pigs, humans and rats, and the average speed of ejaculated sperm for humans and how it compares with other travel speeds. The chapter also covers what the different cries babies make mean, how much sleep babies need by age and how long to parts of the body take to finish growing. All very interesting information to be shared at the right time.
Other books in the series:
Infographics: Animal Kingdom and, coming soon, Space!
Source: Review Copy
