.com Review
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Let’s face it: From adenines to zygotes, from
cytokinesis to parthenogenesis, even the basics of genetics can
sound utterly alien. So who better than an alien to explain it
all? Enter Bloort 183, a scientist from an asexual alien race
threatened by disease, who's been charged with researching the
fundamentals of human and evolution and laying it all out in
clear, simple language so that even his slow-to-grasp-the-point
leader can get it. In the hands of the award-winning writer Mark
Schultz, Bloort's explanations give even the most science-phobic
reader a complete introduction to the history and science of
genetics.
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The Stuff of Life Revealed
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In the panels below, Bloort teaches his fellow alien about .
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Review
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"In the battle against scientific ignorance, graphic novels may
be the only thing that can save us...What's the solution to
America's crisis in science education? More comic books. In
December comes The Stuff of Life: A Graphic Guide to Genetics and
, a remarkably thorough explanation of the science of
genetics, from Mendel to Venter, with a strand of social urgency
spliced in." --Barry Harbaugh, Wired
"With the graphic novel gaining status as a form of serious
storytelling, The Stuff of Life makes a case for the graphic
novel textbook...The illustrations are simultaneously cute and
explanatory, and the text's oversimplifications and
techno-utopianism are justified for a cartoon of one of
the most complex stories in science." --Seed, Best Books of 2008
"It takes a rare breed of graphic novelist to bring genetics and
out of the laboratory and onto the funny pages, but Mark
Schultz was up to the task. Get ready to dive into cloning,
stem-cell research, and bacteria therapy with a cast of screwball
characters from eccentric spliced to bumbling bacteria to
manic, genetically modified s--('I feel tingly all over!').
You'll be so charmed that you won't even notice you've absorbed
an entire scientific field (screened for accuracy by genetics
professors) in 140 pages of wacked-out comics." --Tobin Hack,
Plenty
"The Stuff of Life is a beautifully written and lavishly
illustrated example of the power of comics to communicate the
wonders of the natural world. Mark Schultz's words combine with
Zander Cannon and Kevin Cannon's pictures in a dynamic enzymatic
reaction that gives readers a glimpse at how life works.
Ambitious, expansive, and completely successful, the story in The
Stuff of Life starts on the invisible rungs of and climbs
without a misstep across the millennia of evolution. With
the help of Bloort, an alien exploring the wonders of earthly
genetics, we get to see our evolutionary and genetic heritage in
a new light. Often funny and always engrossing, The Stuff of Life
provides an exciting point of entry for anyone interested in how
life on earth shapes and reshapes itself in the face of
ever-changing conditions. Learning genetics just got a whole lot
more fun." --Jay Hosler, Associate Professor of Biology at
Juniata College and author and illustrator of Clan Apis and The
Sandwalk Adventures
"Mark Schultz's brilliant, whacky The Stuff of Life could hardly
have arrived at a better time, with advances in genetics
transforming the biological sciences from microbiology to
medicine. This is serious fun." --Jessica Snyder Sachs, author of
Good Germs, Bad Germs: and Survival in a Bacterial World
"Drawn with panache and great good humor by Zander Cannon and
Kevin Cannon, and scripted with exceptional clarity by Schultz,
this is pretty much the best educational graphic novel in Hill
and Wang's new line of them, good enough for interested
nonscientists to keep handy for whenever they need a refresher on
its subject. It even has a happy--well, promising--ending." --Ray
Olson, Booklist
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About the Author
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Mark Schultz has written for DC Comics and Marvel Comics, and his
scripts and illustrations―most notably for his tour-de-force
series Xenozoic Tales (also known as Cadillacs and Dinosaurs) and
Superman―have garnered five Harvey Awards, two Eisners, and an
Inkpot.
Illustrators Zander Cannon and Kevin Cannon have worked for
clients ranging from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration to DC Comics, collaborating on such titles as The
Replacement God and Smax and winning two Eisners for their work
on Top 10.
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