Clever Hans
The True Story of the Counting, Adding, and Time-Telling Horse
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- USD 5.99
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- USD 5.99
Descripción editorial
This true story of the incredible horse whose smarts stumped all of Berlin and changed science reads like a fabulous STEM mystery.
Clever Hans was a horse who could do math problems, tell time, read, spell, and more . . . or could he?
Even after seeing Hans answer questions correctly, some people thought it must be a hoax. Scientists began to investigate. Eventually, one scientist had a groundbreaking "aha!" moment and realized Hans was clever in a way no one had even imagined.
Turns out Hans was so smart, he changed science!
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Clever Hans was a horse who astounded early-20th-century audiences in Berlin with his cognitive talents he could purportedly tell time and tap out coin values with his hooves and who turned out to be clever in a different way than originally thought. Hans was also an inadvertent hero, revolutionizing experimental design by showing, as the book's afterword explains, "how scientists can accidently change the way that animals, and even people, react when they are being studied." It all plays out as a rollicking science mystery, with observations resulting in twists and turns, and Kokias (Snow Sisters!) and Lowery (Knot Cannot) are more than up for the task. The text takes an unhurried, reportorial tone ("Scientists, scholars, and religious and military leaders from around the world jumped at the chance to see Clever Hans"), while the thoughtful cartooning portrays Hans himself as downright adorable. Comics-style framing breaks the story into easy-to-grasp chunks, with diagrams, dialogue balloons, and handwritten asides ("Maybe this meant that Clever Hans was a PSYCHIC MIND READER!") that punctuate, nudge, and tickle until the case is cracked leaving readers feeling a little savvier about the world around them. Ages 4 8.
