Sciku: The Wonder of Science – In Haiku! By Students of The Camden School For Girls.
Published 20 November 2014, this book was an instant hit at Frost because it is a science book written by girls. Women, and girls, are underrepresented in science and many a sexist thinks that us girls just aren’t smart enough to handle big subjects like maths and science. So, read this book and shove your thoughts!
Humourous and fun: the book fuses poetry with scientific knowledge. As entertaining as it is fun, I really loved this book. It is a great idea that is well-executed.
Gravity:
An attractive force
Between all objects with mass
Just like you and me
Physics, Chemistry and Biology are things of magic and wonder. They reveal complex patterns – and often thrilling chaos – at the heart of nature; the strange alchemy of reactions between invisible atoms; the bewildering origins of our universe in the furthest reaches of time and the connections in our brains that create love, fear, joy – and poetry.
Sciku brings together more than 400 revealing, poignant, witty haiku on scientific subjects. Written by students at Camden School for Girls – with all royalties from the sale of this book donated to the campaign to modernize their school science laboratory – these poems show that science may have given us the atom bomb, the laptop and the artificial heart but that it remains elegiac, enigmatic and often mind-bogglingly beautiful.
Photosynthesis:
Carbon dioxide
And water combine to form
Glucose thanks to light
Camden School for Girls is a comprehensive secondary school for girls, with a co-educational sixth form, in the London Borough of Camden in North London. The girls who contributed to this book range from the ages of 11 to 18.
Sciku is edited by Karen Scott, a teacher of English at the school and Simon Flynn, a teacher of Science at the school. Simon is the author of the Science Magpie (‘a cornucopia of curious facts, anecdotes and quotations … sure to entertain and surprise’ New Scientist) and is a teacher of science at Camden School for Girls.
Sciku: The Wonder of Science – In Haiku! is available here.
