Questions That Inspire

Why are there no seeds in a banana？ Why don’t woodpeckers get brain damage from pecking at tree trunks at such high speeds？ Why are there no animals with three legs？

The latest edition of 100，000 Whys， the most popular set of science books for Chinese children， has all the answers. Many Chinese people grew up reading this series and more than 100 million sets have been sold since 1961， when the first edition came out.

The newest set of the children’s encyclopedia contains 18 volumes covering astronomy， geography， biology， zoology， botany， paleontology， brain cognition， marine environment and space programs. More than 700 hardcover copies were sold at the Shanghai Book Fair in the first two days after it hit the market on August 14， despite the hefty price of 980 yuan （$158）. Printed in full color for the first time， the new edition contains more than 7，000 photos to intrigue young readers.

Seeds of science

When editors at the Juvenile & Children’s Publishing House in Shanghai started their preparations for beginning the soon-to-be famous 100，000 Whys in 1959， the concept of popularizing science was almost unheard of in China. However， Chinese scientists and publishers agreed that science would be key to the nation’s development and making science attractive to children in books was seen as a way to nurture the next generation of scientists. The book was named after a Russian popular science book for children published in 1929 and its translated Chinese edition was such a hit that it had been reprinted for the ninth time by 1949.

The first edition of China’s 100，000 Whys answered about 1，500 questions on subjects including agriculture， animals， astronomy， meteorology， chemistry， engineering， geography， geology， mathematics and physics.

Certainly， there were never 100，000 questions in any of the six editions and each of the first five editions answered only 2，000 to 3，000 questions. The latest edition compiled 4，500 questions， selected from more than 30，000 candidates from online and offline surveys starting in 2008. More than 80 percent are brandnew， while the classical ones， like why is the sky blue， why are clouds colored and why don’t the sun and moon fall down， also give new answers.

A new approach adopted by the sixth edition includes a variety of possible answers to some questions. For example， the answer to why dinosaurs disappeared contained the most common asteroid theory as well as other possible causes such as an increase in volcanic activity and a cooler climate. According to the publisher， this approach was adopted to inspire young readers’ curiosity and allow them to think about and judge the theories independently.

No small questions

It has been a tradition for the publisher of 100，000 Whys to have noted scientists as consultants， who often suggested new topics and reviewed the submissions.

Top-level Chinese scientists， including Li Siguang （1889-1971）， known as father of geomechanics in China， mathematician Hua Luogeng （1910-85）， famous for his work on number theory， and Mao Yisheng （1896-1989）， a renowned structural engineer and expert on bridge construction， were all invited to write or edit answers to questions for the second edition， which was printed in 1964 and 1965.

Around 110 top scientists from the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the Chinese Academy of Sciences （CAS） participated in the compilation of the sixth edition， more than 40 of whom personally wrote answers for some questions.

Answering children’s science questions turned out to be no easy task for these topnotch scientists. They were asked to explain even the most complicated theory with the most up-to-date information and in language simple enough for a child to understand. Their mini-essays were re65f37490fa1fc571a262eaf8ccac505487fc9df5f8ebd6e4d61c9eaf43ffaed5quired to be no more than two pages.

For example， Professor Huang Huan at the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California， Los Angeles， wrote an essay of 600 characters summarizing three of the most up-to-date theories on the origin of water on Earth. He said that he spent a whole week writing the essay after reading dozens of papers in prestigious Chinese and foreign academic journals.

Renowned mathematician Li Daqian admitted that writing the answers proved to be challenging sometimes.

“With limit on length， I was still asked to explain a certain issue thoroughly and inspire readers to think by themselves，” Li said. He added that to ensure that the language is appealing to children and teenagers， he reviewed his first draft many times and revised all parts that may have been difficult to understand.

Despite the difficulty involved， the children’s encyclopedia managed to invite the most qualified people to answer the questions. China’s first astronaut in orbit， Yang Liwei， wrote a number of the pages on aerospace and space exploration. Scientists on manned deep-sea research submersible the Jiaolong， which dived to a depth of over 7，000 meters last year and has the greatest depth range of any manned research vehicle， became the authors of the entries on deep-sea exploration.

The newest edition has expanded its contents to include the latest scientific discoveries.

Wang Pinxian， an academician with the CAS and editor of the installment on the oceans， said that since the last edition came out in 1999， a lot of changes have occurred in the field of marine studies. While the ocean volume in the 1999 edition mainly covered maritime transportation and fishing， questions about deep-sea oil and gas exploration appear in the latest edition， which shows new research focuses in the field.

Keeping with the times

When the fifth edition of 100，000 Whys was released on September 18， 1999， the line of buyers outside the Shanghai Book Town ex- tended for more than a kilometer.

“That was the peak of 100，000 Whys and the last prime era for pop-science books， when they still had the largest market share in children’s books，” Hong Xingfan， Deputy Editor in Chief of the Juvenile & Children’s Publishing House， told Shanghai Daily.

The market share and popularity of pop-science books aimed at children dropped rapidly after 2000， yielding to children’s literature and comics such as the Harry Potter series.

Among the 600，000 sets of the fifth edition sold， about half of those were sold in the first two years after its release. The publisher expects the sixth edition to circulate a total of 80，000 copies， including 50，000 hardcover sets and 30，000 paperback sets.

Compilers said that although all the questions in the latest edition can be found on the Internet， answers of the same quality cannot be found there， as scientists tend to provide the most thought-provoking answers and often explore more than one possible cause in their responses.

According to Hong， the sixth edition of 100，000 Whys has been seeking out resources from the Internet ever since the preparation stage， when questions were solicited on the Internet. Moreover， the official website and the 100，000 Whys account on Sina Weibo， a micro-blogging service， have gone online well in advance of its release. Netizens can raise their questions through the official website or leave a message at the Weibo account， which will be answered by experts hired by the publisher.

He said he expected that the official website， which was launched in April 2012， could be seen as an extension of the printed edition as some equally interesting and meaningful questions could be discussed there.

The Juvenile & Children’s Publishing House is also cooperating with the CAS to produce a series of video clips to better illustrate some of the questions in 100，000 Whys. The publishing house also has a plan to design products such as a magazine， comics and video games.

“The production of a digital edition of 100，000 Whys has started and the publishing house plans to develop more than 100 varied products related to the series over the next few years，” Hong said.