The Nobel Book of Answers: The Dalai Lama, Mikhail Gorbachev, Shimon Peres, and Other Nobel Prize Winners Answer Some of Life's Most Intriguing Questions for Young People

From School Library Journal Grade 5-8-Twenty-two prizewinners contributed to this collection, which has an introduction by Jimmy Carter and an essay about Alfred Nobel and the prize by Mikhail Gorbachev. Each individual tackles a particular question. Desmond Tutu's entry, "Why Is There War?" includes a reference to the recent conflict in Iraq, and George Vithoulkas, winner of the Alternative Nobel Prize, addresses "Why Do I Get Sick?" Biologist Christiane Nsslein-Volhard, the one woman represented, explains why there are boys and girls. Richard J. Roberts, a geneticist, uses an analogy to LEGO building blocks to explain metabolism. Most essays incorporate aspects of children's experience to relate difficult concepts, although "Why Does 1 + 1 = 2?" by Enrico Bombieri, winner of the Fields Medal for Mathematics, is more difficult to access. The essays are conversational and friendly in tone. A paragraph at the end of each entry provides biographical information about the contributor. Overall, the book makes for interesting reading.