I received a message from a homeschool Mom who wanted to put our new book, Naked Eggs and Flying Potatoes, to the ultimate test… give it to her kids! Lori’s three children are enrolled in Colorado Virtual Academy (COVA), an online public charter school, and she’s always looking for additional support materials for her curriculum. I’ll let you take a look at her review of Naked Eggs for yourself, but my favorite part was looking at all of the photos and even videos of her kids doing the experiments. Judging from what I can see in the pictures, the kitchen didn’t burn down… and that’s a good thing.

Last night we gave away several copies of my new book,  Naked Eggs and Flying Potatoes on Facebook and Twitter. We had a lot of fun chatting with some amazing teachers, parents and science enthusiasts and asking Steve Spangler Science trivia questions. In all, we gave away over 20 copies of the book. Now here’s your chance to own the book before it becomes available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Greenleaf Book Group gave us 200 advance copies to sell before the September 13th release date. I’ll even sign the books during this special pre-sale time. If you want a book before everyone else gets it, grab one today.

BUY NAKED EGGS AND FLYING POTATOES NOW

The new book contains easy experiments for the whole family – for science night, homeschooling science activities and science fair experiment ideas.

Here’s what people are already saying about Naked Eggs and Flying Potatoes -

“Naked Eggs and Flying Potatoes totally brings life to science in a fun and very engaging way. The pictures that accompany each experiment help to provide a great step-by-step visual which entices the reader to want to want to jump right in and start experimenting. As a parent, I appreciated and valued so much about this book. I highly recommend this book.” - Lori C. on her blog Lori’s LOLz. Click the link to read the entire review.

“What is most striking about this amazing book is the number and quality of photographs that are included. Sometimes the most difficult thing about performing an experiment or demonstration is not knowing what it looks like as you do it. This book solves that problem!” – Ellen P in Virginia.

“Steve loved the photography WOW and the experiments are well written. I loved the take it further section. It really makes you think out of the box. You did miss one warning though. There should be one “Do NOT read this book while eating. May cause choking do to laughter.” We will recommend this book to everyone we know. It is a must have book for kids and adults who haven’t grown up yet (or those in their second childhood). – Steve & Carissa W. in California

Molecular gastronomy sounds more like a condition than something cool to eat. It’s a cool kind of science that is sweeping trendy restaurants across the country.

Ingredients undergo change while cooking. Molecular gastronomy studies the physical and chemical changes that food undergoes while cooking. Certain ingredients produce certain reactions and it’s the newest trend for chefs to make fake caviar from sodium alginate. Instant ice cream is also created from using liquid nitrogen.

With a title like Naked Eggs and Flying Potatoes, you know that this probably isn’t going to be your ordinary book of experiments. At the early stages of writing this book, we had to put our heads together and try to think of a way to make this book different from the thousands of science experiment books out there. It’s true… just saying the words science experiment book will spawn a contagious outbreak of uncontrollable yawns followed by hours of sleep. So, how was I going to inspire my team to help me create a book that was different? Take a look…

We started by building a list of the most popular science experiments that I’ve had the opportunity to present over the years – in the classroom, on television and on our website. The next step was to use amazing photography to capture the wow-factor of each activity. It’s no different that thumbing through the pages of a great cookbook… the photos grab your attention and entice you to read more about the recipe.

Colorado Signing at the Tattered Cover Book Store

Thursday, September 16, 2010 – 6:00 PM

Thanks to an amazingly creative editorial team, we took nearly 4,000 photographs over the course of 7 months and had to narrow down the final selection to 248 photos in a book that’s 160 pages. With all of this emphasis on photos, we hoped that the writing didn’t take a back seat. Our concern was answered when we received this review from a person who got their hands on an advance copy.

“If science books were like this when I was a kid, things might have been different for me! The first thing that grabs your attention is the photography – amazing photos that detail the entire process, and there’s no disappointment when it comes to the writing. After reading just a few pages, you can see that this guy is seriously funny.”

The end result is a book that oozes our passion for making science fun. If all goes well, that ooze is going to be contagious.

Step aside Mr. Wizard. Move over Science Guy. Take a seat Mr. Spangler. There’s a new scientist in town. It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s Science Kiddo!

My team @SpanglerScience on Twitter recently tweeted with Christian’s mom right before he performed his first online video experiment. They posted Christian as Science Kiddo making a Lava Lamp with a test tube, water, oil and food coloring. There’s nothing better than getting your hands dirty and doing science at the kitchen table. We love what you are doing science superhero, so keep up the good work.

The Prayer Vase or Genie in a Bottle is a guaranteed fun way to trick your friends using only items you can find around the house.

The science magician displays a bottle and a short length of rope. She explains that according to the ancient legends, a genie lives in the bottle. While you can?t see the genie, if you tickle him with something like a rope, it makes him mad and he hangs onto the rope. The rope is inserted into the bottle and jiggled a bit. When the bottle with the rope still inside it is turned upside down, the rope is seen to dangle unsupported from the bottle. The magician explains that the genie is even strong enough to make the bottle float. Now, the bottle and rope are turned right side up. While holding only the end of the rope, the magician lets go of the bottle and it is seen to float at the end of the rope. On command, the genie releases the rope, it is easily removed from the bottle and handed out for examination. The bottle may be examined, as well. Nothing unusual will be found. But how?