JUVENILE · NONFICTION
Natalie M. Rosinsky
Also known as: Natalie Rosinsky, Natalie M Rosinsky
Our world is surrounded by water.
— from Water, 2001
Most acclaimed
Ancient China
A history of ancient China, from prehistoric times to the 1840's when contact with the West led to the Treaty of Nanking which opened Chinese ports and residence for the Western world.
Light
1968
[Comment from Jon Courtenay Grimwood]: > Light is the kind of novel other writers read and think: "Why don't I just give up and go home?" That was certainly my first reaction on reading its mix of coldly perfect prose and attractively twisted insanity. It's also the only book to bring me unpleasantly close to sympathising with a serial killer. But this is M John Harrison: so antihero Michael Kearney is a mathematically brilliant, dice-throwing, reality-changing hyper-intelligent serial killer haunted by a horse-skulled personal demon. > Harrison's genius is to tie Kearney's narrative thread to those of Seria Mau – a far-future girl existing in harmony with White Cat, her spaceship, surfing a part of the galaxy known as the Kefahuchi Tract – and Chinese Ed, a sleazy if likeable cyberpunky chancer with a passion for virtual sex. > This is not a kind book, or even a particularly likeable book. But then I suspected it was never intended to be, and the author wouldn't want the kind of people who want to like characters as his readers anyway. What it is is stunningly written, meticulously plotted, hallucinogenically realised and brutally honest. No one who reads it could doubt that Harrison might win the Booker if he could be bothered. > Light is also the book that novelist and critic Adam Roberts was so sure would win the Arthur C Clarke award, he offered to change his name to Adam Van Hoogenroberts if it didn't. We're still waiting . . .
Water
2001
520 An informative and entertaining, non-technical examination of the nature, properties, and importance of water. The text is divided into four principal parts--what is water?; water and life; water in motion; and water and humans, including the problem of pollution--and is thoroughly illustrated with photographs and specially commissioned artwork. Planet Earth is unique in the known solar system because of the presence of liquid water--a substance which covers almost three-quarters of the total surface area of the globe. In straightforward, non-technical language, this book examines this extraordinary substance--which we all take for granted.