South Pacific Press directors Neale Pitches and Meryl-Lynn Pluck and Pacific Learning (USA) president Jim Connelly announced today that their companies are giving 4,000 copies of an innovative new graphic science book, The Great Earth Magnet by physicist Gillian Turner, to Christchurch schools.
The gift is in memory of Brian Taylor, former director of Kings Language School and long-time director of Science Alive in Christchurch, who died in the February 22 earthquake.
“Brian was a passionate educator, with a special love of science,” Pitches said. “He understood that science literacy needs to start at an early age, and there is no better time than now to get students thinking about Earth and the powerful forces that churn beneath our feet.
Gillian Turner adapted the text from her book North Pole, South Pole: The Epic Quest to Solve the Great Mystery of Earth’s Magnetism, which has been a success both in New Zealand and the US. Published by Wellington’s Awa Press, the book was shortlisted for the 2011 Royal Society of New Zealand Science Book Prize. An American edition sold out and is into a second printing.The Great Earth Magnet explains, in easy-to-understand format, the forces impacting on Earth and their effects. “We have young students playing with magnets and musing, as Einstein did, about the forces involved. This book explains a great mystery – why our planet has a magnetic field – in a way that will enthrall and educate anyone from a young child to a grandparent,” Pitches said.
Peter Baker Transport, in a generous show of support, will deliver the 4000 books to Christchurch free of charge.
South Pacific Press has also collaborated with Awa Press to offer a special low-price package of The Great Earth Magnet – print and ebook editions – with North Pole, South Pole for schools and families across New Zealand . “It’s vital for New Zealand’s ‘new economy’ that New Zealanders are science-literate,” Awa Press publisher Mary Varnham said, “and Gillian Turner has an astonishing talent for making complex scientific material easy for anyone to understand and enjoy.”
1 comment:
It simultaneously breaks my heart and gladdens it to read this: Seems strange to say this - but this is like an unsung hero story. Why hasn't this man been celebrated in his lifetime and left in obscurity so long since his death?
Every time I visited Christchurch - annually/twice annually I took my school aged son to Science Alive while he was a primary and intermediate student. He was delighted every time and I was delighted to see him so because he didn't get this kind of education at school. He said the best day he ever had at primary school was when the science advisor came and they got to do experiments. Our primary teachers admit they aren't that great at teaching science and they don't devote much time to it either [and the NEMP reports show this too ]- so places which present an exciting science learning opportunity in another venue are very valuable.
I hope those nearest and dearest to Brian Taylor can take heart and consolation from this recognition and the rest of us can learn from his dedication. Puts the RWC zeal into its deserved perspective.
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