Science is beautiful

February 1, 2013 9:21 AM

Looking for beautiful books of microbiology for my 5 year old.

He has ALWAYS been interested in germs and bacteria. We have this terrific book that has amazing pictures of everything from fish to mammals and plants, but he wants to look at the few pages that are things you'd find under a microscope.

I'm looking for books with lot of great pictures of things you'd find under a microscope. Bacteria, diatoms, viruses, blood cells? We don't want too in depth but he does want me to name them and describe what they do. He's especially interested in germs that cause disease.

I've seen some good looking options on Amazon but most of them dont have the options to "look inside" so I was hoping for recommendations.

posted by beccaj to science & nature (8 answers total)

I can't be of much help with books but he might enjoy the galleries of the Nikon Small World microscopic photography competition.
posted by The Elusive Architeuthis at 9:53 AM on February 1

I encourage you to have a look at "The Way We Work."
posted by MonkeyToes at 9:59 AM on February 1

I know my microbiology text book in college had a ton of images in it; have you thought about just getting a used out of print microbiology textbook? They'd be very cheap because the publishers like to make them go out of print as often as possible to force students to buy shiny new expensive editions--you could get this one for $5 with the shipping for instance. The text might be too heavy for a kid, obviously, but on the plus side he could totally cut pictures out and make collages. (I'm also compelled to point out Giant Microbes; not a book, but each one comes with a little placard with an image of the microbe and a description.)
posted by foxfirefey at 10:28 AM on February 1 [1 favorite]

If you've got a halfway decent public library, I'd start there. The reference librarians love questions like this, and have a buildingfull of books to browse through. You can try several, for free, and see which click with your son.
posted by Capri at 10:31 AM on February 1

Let's Read And Find Out Science might have some titles for you, such as Germs Make Me Sick. He might also like the Magic School Bus series such as Inside The Human Body.
posted by Dansaman at 10:34 AM on February 1

Heaven and Earth is a beautiful book, and IIRC contains some cellular stuff along with lots of other awesomeness!
posted by Joh at 10:54 AM on February 1

My uncle got me Under the Microscope: A Hidden World Revealed when I was a couple years older than your son, and it thoroughly blew my mind. Fits the bill perfectly - big, beautiful photos with captions describing the images.

The review on Amazon says that it's out of print, but I'd definitely recommend picking up a copy.
posted by hot soup at 11:08 AM on February 1

The original Micrographia by Hooke is available on Project Gutenberg, if electronic versions are of any use to you.
posted by Jakey at 6:09 AM on February 2