If Stones Could Speak

If Stones Could Speak: Unlocking the Secrets of Stonehenge by Marc Aronson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What happens when one person's insight leads an archaeologist to see an ancient place like Stonehenge in a brand new way?

Spurred by the insights of an archaeologist named Ramilisonina from Madagascar, British archaeologist Mike Parker Pearson began searching the area around Stonehenge. This book is short and full of full-color photographs that show the ways in which the Riverside Project Team have excavated new sites that give insight into the ancient mysteries of Stonehenge.

The book reminded me of the many DK Eyewitness books I devoured as a kid (here's a list of the topics they cover), and I think it will do what author Marc Aronson intended: inspire the next generation of curious minds to look at old things in new ways and get excited about the potential of science and exploration.

"This is a book about questioning what others believe to be true, not accepting ideas just because famous people say they are right. I think knowledge is more like a wave than a switch. Only very rarely do we go from being totally wrong to totally right - as a light turns off and on. Instead, what we learned before allows us to move on to what we can see next. We can surf ahead, but there will always be another challenge, another crest, another next step." - p. 8

Marc Aronson has written many nonfiction books for young adult readers, including Ain't Nothing but a Man: My Quest to Find the Real John Henry (with Scott Reynolds Nelson) and Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom, and Science (with Maria Budhos).