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A cool tool can be any book, gadget, software, video, map, hardware, material, or website that is tried and true. All reviews on this site are written by readers who have actually used the tool and others like it. Items can be either old or new as long as they are wonderful. We post things we like and ignore the rest. Suggestions for tools much better than what is recommended here are always wanted.
Step outside, look in any direction, and you’re sure to spot some exquisite designs in nature: the vivid jewel-like symmetry found on the wings of a butterfly, the fractal branching of trees, the pointillist patterns sported by a snake, or the hexagonal nest of a wasp, just to name a few. And science writer Philip Ball has captured some of this beauty with over 300 stunning photographs that he includes in his latest book, Patterns in Nature.
Categorized in chapters such as Symmetry, Fractals, Spirals, Cracks, and Flow and Chaos, Ball explains with both images and an accessible narrative how the most magnificent designs on the planet come from math, physics and chemistry, not human beings. He describes the various mathematics that create various patterns, and also points out parallels between similar patterns with seemingly unrelated sources. For example, the spots on a butterfly mimic the face of an owl. The “spots” on a giraffe look similar to cracked mud. Ball turns complex science into a fascinating read, and his gorgeous coffee table book is perfect for both the science and art minded alike. – Carla Sinclair
SECRET HERO SOCIETY IS BATMAN FOR THE DIARY OF A WIMPY KID CROWD
Secret Hero Society: Study Hall of Justice by Derek Fridolfs (author) and Dustin Nguyen (illustrator) Scholastic Inc. 2016, 176 pages, 5.7 x 8.5 x 0.7 inches
Secret Hero Society: Study Hall of Justice is Batman for the Diary of a Wimpy Kid crowd. Ostensibly a graphic novel, Study Hall of Justice adds to the format with pages drawn like diary entries, or web chats between the heroes. Some pages are flyers for school events and some are progress reports or official school documents that Bruce annotates. Most of the plot is in traditional comic panels, but the real clues of the central mystery unfold in these unique pages.
The story is about a young Bruce Wayne enrolling in a Gotham prep school called Ducard. Immediately he feels something is off about the school, as everyone there seems more interested in misbehaving than studying, and the faculty appears supportive of this misconduct. Sharp readers will notice many Batman villains both as staff and students, and you’ll quickly figure out what is going on behind the scenes. Bruce makes it his mission to get to the bottom of it and expose whoever is at the top running this nefarious school. Helping him are a young Clark Kent and Diana Prince, which sets up a cool origin for the future crime team. Humor in the story comes from Bruce’s repeated attempts to be a good detective, training for his later moniker as “world’s greatest detective.”
While the story is fun and enjoyable and kids should get a lot out of it, my major gripe with the book is that you probably can’t introduce Batman this way because of the ending. This book is definitely meant for someone already familiar with at least the top villains in Batman’s Rogues Gallery. Most of the references won’t interrupt your reading, but the plot hinges on a couple of references that I’m not sure would have the same impact on someone newer to the character. To keep it vague, some character identities are revealed that feel inconsequential in context, but are meaningful if you understand their place in Batman’s larger story.
But that’s a small problem overall, and I wouldn’t want to discourage anyone from sharing the book with the young Batman fan in their life. Kids will surely eat this up, and adults could knock it out in an hour or less. There’s a lot to like here, both in terms of story and even the design of it. Pages are in black and white and the art style feels like a sketchbook, with an almost unfinished look that can be somewhat off putting at first, but quickly finds its place. It fits the tone of the world, as if Bruce himself had gotten bored in class and sketched a comic story about his own heroism. Study Hall of Justice is likely the first book in a series, and I for one am interested to see the continuing adventures of a young Bruce Wayne. – Alex Strine
Books That Belong On Paper first appeared on the web as Wink Books and was edited by Carla Sinclair.Sign up here to get the issues a week early in your inbox.
06/27/11
