Simply Science Blog
"In the Olympic stadium, three athletes stand on the medal podium. They wear medals around their necks, a bronze medal for the athlete who finished third, silver for second, and gold for the Olympic champion. The athletes have proved they are the best in the world." Winning a medal at the Olympics takes skill, dedication, and hard work. But without technology, Olympic athletes are at a distinct disadvantage. High-Tech Olympics identifies the variety of technology used to improve the performance of athletes in their sports through health, clothing, and tools used in their individual sports. Divided into different sports, the book tells of the uses technology has provided in that sport. Individual sidebars give additional information about sports and technology in brightly colored boxes, including some para-Olympic information. Also mentioned is how technology has helped limit the tools when they grew too helpful to be safe. Large photos with captions support the thorough text and later chapters include cheating, the future of technology, drug testing, and the limits of technology. Back matter has an Olympic record spread for different sports and how technology has changes, and index, and a glossary. As a long time Olympics lover, this book was a fascinating and fun read. Want to include more technology information in your class, home, or library? This book is a wonderful way to do so and is timely with the 2012 Olympics taking place this summer in London. Wish you could be there? Read this book! <i>Simply Science Blog</i> 1/11/2012
January 11, 2012School Library Journal - Blair Christolon
This set is similar to Moira Butterfield’s "The Olympic" series (Sea-to-Sea, 2011) for the same age range, but the integration of information about the Paralympic Games is laudable. "High-Tech" offers something different by covering topics from new equipment such as fiberglass poles for vaulting to special shoes or uniforms and advances in training technology. "London" will become dated quickly. "World of Olympics" is organized by geographic areas and contains facts about the symbols of the Olympics. "Olympic Moments" delivers basic history, provides a map of all the cities that have hosted the games, and highlights interesting tidbits such as the story of the swimmer from Equitorial Guinea who was not used to swimming more than 50 meters in his homeland yet won his race by default after his competitors were disqualified for false starts. "Greatest Olympians" contains single-spread biographical overviews of famous stars as well as some lesser-known athletes, such as Steve Redgrave (rowing), Usain Bolt (track), and Chris Hoy (cycling). Each book has attractive color and archival photographs. If purchasing only one title to augment a collection, "High-Tech" is the one to select. – Blair Christolon, Prince William Public Library System, Manassas, VA <i> School Library Journal </i> January 2012 Issue
February 9, 2012
