Another of the kids' textbooks, "Exploring Planet Earth" is a survey of scientific investigation over the years, showing how Western civilization slowly discovered the world around it. It's an interesting read, though it is limited to the people of Western culture and tends to focus on individual explorers. It also has an annoying habit of emphasizing the religion of those explorers/thinkers who happen to be Christian. I mean, it's great that some brothers of times past were great thinkers or adventurers, but unless their faith directly influenced their scientific pursuits, why emphasize it? Anyway, this one is good waiting room material.
--J. ( )