The Riddle of the Stones and Other Unsolved Mysteries

by Daniel Cohen

Book

Genres: Nonfiction

64 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Daniel Edward Cohen was born on March 12, 1936, in Chicago, Illinois. His parents divorced when he was very young and his mother, Sue Greenberg, married Milton Cohen, a veteran of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. Daniel Cohen attended Chicago public schools and was a "hanger-on" in the bohemian community around the University of Chicago while in high school in the early 1950s. He attended the University of Illinois at Chicago where he abandoned an interest in biology for journalism. He graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a degree in journalism in 1958. Cohen married Susan Handler, a writer, on February 2, 1958. He briefly worked as a proofreader for Time, Inc. in Chicago; but, demoralized by the paternalistic organizational culture, he took a job as assistant editor of Science Digest magazine in 1959. He was transferred to New York City shortly after being hired.

In addition to his editorial work, Cohen wrote articles for Science Digest and for other publications. Encouraged by praise of his articles on paranormal subjects, Cohen published his first book, Myths of the Space Age, a collection of skeptical essays on paranormal creatures and phenomena, in 1967. The Cohens moved to a farmhouse in Forestburgh, New York, in 1969 so Daniel could write full time. He originally planned to write popular science books, but the demands of the market led him to concentrate on books about ghosts, monsters, UFOs, and psychic phenomena. Since then, Daniel Cohen has written on an astonishing variety of subjects beyond just the paranormal: historical and current biographies; advice for teenagers; world history; science and technology; animals and nature; urban legends; and popular television, music, film, and sports personalities. He has noted that he writes mass-market paperbacks for children who are reluctant to read and not especially gifted. Thus, he chooses subjects of interest to such readers.

Susan Cohen was born on March 27, 1938, in Chicago, Illinois, to Martin and Ida (Goldman) Handler. She earned a B.A. degree from the New School for Social Research in 1960 and an M.S.W. degree from Adelphi University in Garden City, New York, in 1962. She worked as a social worker in the mid-1960s before writing The Liberated Couple, a feminist tract, in 1971. She wrote eleven gothic romances and mysteries under the penname Elizabeth St. Clair between 1974 and 1981. Susan and Daniel Cohen began collaborating on books in 1982 to help alleviate Daniel's workload. They have written books primarily on popular entertainment, advice for teenagers, and animals. The Cohens currently live in Cape May Court House, New Jersey.

Reviews

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up at a recent Half Price Books warehouse sale - I just couldn't resist the reference to the stones - and was not expecting much. It was a quick read. It is one of those Scholastic books that serves more to whet the appetite of kids than to really explain things.
But it was interesting enough. It did discuss some things in this realm that I had never heard of before, and the overall tone of it was not sensationalist or reverent but simply interested.
I admit, I love these mysteries, these types of things with no explanation. Maybe that is why I'm writing what I'm writing!

[B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember this book being longer and more detailed than it actually was. That said, on this re-read, it was pretty neat. Why? Because several of these unsolved mysteries are still in the process of being solved - I read not just one, but TWO updates on two of these mysteries in the news this week. How cool is that? The kid in me thinks it's amazing. :)

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I needed to read a light,easy book for reading during DEAR time. For this purpose this book suited the purpose beautifully.

[I Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cohen mixes in info about real world things and brings them to reality.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun starting point for anyone interested in unsolved mysteries. They are all pretty much well-known, and although brief, the book gives a fairly rounded summary.[return][return]The topics covered are: The Tunguska explosion, the Mary Celeste, UFOs, alien abductions, Stonehenge, Atlantis, Kaspar Hauser, the Bermuda Triangle, the Oak Island mystery, King Arthur, spontaneous human combustion, and crop circles.

[Eden Silverfox · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this book you'll find mysteries of Stonehenge, UFOs, King Arthur and others.
I think that Daniel Cohen writes wonderful book about true ghost stories and other strange things, but I didn't like this book as much as the others I've read. It was still a good read and it would probably be interesting to those who are into Stonehenge and other strange, yet unsolved mysteries of our world.

[Bryce Emley · Rating 2 out of 5]

an awesome read for 3rd graders who love enigmas like aliens and the bermuda triangle and spontaneous combustion and the ending of donnie darko. which is exactly what i was in third grade. you'll also probably never find this book unless you find mine.

[SETSS Readopoly]

Lexile level: 1080