Re: Children's Book: Suggestions Solicited

[Matt Fraser <mattf+@xxxxxxxx>]

On Thu, 22 May 1997, Stephen Schellenberg wrote:

> One comment on the title: I would shy away from the "climb from slime" 
> phrase. Although witty and catchy, it smacks of a "scalae naturae" 
> paradigm. How about: "Molecular to macroevolutionary hierarchical
> diversification from a primordial inorganic Lego set". <-- Just kidding.

Although I agree with the "scalae naturae" argument, there is something to
be said for "salesmanship" of the material. Upper grade elementary school
kids would LOVE that title, and it would make them more likely to read
it. You could always point out the "scalae naturae" problem in the text of
the book. In fact, that might be a good chapter.  But you would definitely
want them to think it's a "Cool" book from the start.

I'd save the other title, the one with the "primordial inorganic Lego set"
for the high school version.  :)

Matt

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