(Photo : The new version of the Mr. Know All)

The new version of the Mr. Know All, also known as Hundred Thousands Why came out yesterday. The chief editor who is responsible for the new version sighs, and says the children are going for the finance and management major. Fewer and fewer children want to be a scientist.

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In the old days, children would ask: which comes first, the egg or the chicken? Why are the bottoms of the trees pained in white? Today, they would ask: Is Beijing going to be covered by the deserts? Why do we feed the piggy the lean mean powder (clendbuterol hydrochloride)?

The revision of the Mr. Know All takes more than three years and the work from more than a hundred scientists and academicians. Three volumes and eighteen chapters are introduced. In the Introduction volume, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Astronomy, Earth, Life are included. In the Special Topic volume, it contains these chapters: Animals, Plants, Extinct Plants & Animals, Medicine, Architecture & Transportation, and Electron & Information. In the Hot Topic volume, it includes these chapters: The Brain & Knowledge, Ocean, Source & Environment, Aviation & Space Flight, Weapons & National Defense, and Disaster & Prevention. The entire book has more than four thousand questions.

The vise editor of the China Youth & Children Publisher says they have invited about 110 academicians in both the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the Chinese Academy of Science to compose the revision together. Besides, dozens of top scientists and academic writers have contributed a lot to the revision, totally up to 768 authors.

The main editors of a few chapters shared their thoughts in the symposium.

Professor Liu, 83 year-old, he said he was very concerned about the work, and found it difficult and important to him and the children. "I decided not to write books when I was about 80. But this time is different, and I think I am responsible for telling the young generations the knowledge I know. Of course it is not easy to make the science understood and acceptable for the children, even tougher than writing the thesis."

Professor Wang, the academician of the Chinese Academy of Science and the Tongji University, "The Ocean was not planned, only a few explanations there in the original version. We asked for this chapter because we think the children should know something about it. The ocean is interesting and funny, and important for the following development of our society and the earth. The old questions, like the test or exam, not like the questions the children may ask the scientists. We write this book to make the children like it, to find what they want to learn, what their passions are. They can decide what to be when they grow up, not just following the parent-design pathways."

In the revision of the book, about tenth of the questions' answers are not given. It is the fact and the truth that many problems are not solved, and waiting to be worked on continuously. "We know that they can find out some certain answers online, very convenient and easily accessible. However, it is not the purpose to teach them the science. The logic and way of thinking in science is more important than just giving an answer.