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Inventor Biography
Book Resources |
African
American Inventors
by Otha Richard Sullivan, James Haskins / Library Binding - 176 pages (1998) / John Wiley
& Sons
For more than three centuries, African American inventors have been coming up with
ingenious ideas. In fact, it is impossible to really know American history without also
learning about the contributions of black discoverers. |
American
Computer Pioneers
by Mary Northrup / Library Binding - 112 pages (July 1998) / Enslow Publishers, Inc.
Covers major players in the development of the computer, from Herman Hollerith, the
inventor of punch cards, through the inventors of ENIAC and UNIVAC, as well as Bill Gates,
Steve Jobs, and Marc Andreessen of Netscape. |
American
Inventors of the 20th Century
by Laura S. Jeffrey / Library
Binding - 112 pages (March 1996) / Enslow Publishers, Inc.
The clear text and the interesting inventions described
combine to make this an appealing choice for the age group, especially for students
needing biographies of scientists or inventors or researching the process of invention |
Black Pioneers of Science and Invention
by Louis Haber / Paperback - 264 pages Reprint edition (January 1992) / Harcourt Brace
Dr. Haber has lifted from obscurity 14 remarkably gifted black Americans who played
crucial roles in this country's scientific and industrial progress. Includes photos and
illustrations. |
Brainstorm!: The
Stories of Twenty American Kid Inventors
by Tom Tucker, Richard Loehle (Illustrator) /
Paperback: 144 pages / Farrar, Straus and Giroux (1998)
Ever eaten a Popsicle, kept your ears warm with earmuffs
or resealed your breakfast cereal with the built-in cardboard tab on the box top? Thank a
kid inventor, because all those things, and quite a few more described in this book, were
invented by children. A great inspiration for your own young scientist. |
Feminine
Ingenuity: Women and Invention in America
by Anne L. MacDonald / Paperback - 540 pages (March 1994) / Ballantine Books (Trd Pap);
Chronicles women's patented inventions, beginning with the first patent obtained by a
woman (in 1809). Discusses some of the economic, political, and social obstacles, and sets
the women and their inventions in historical context. |
From Immigrant to Inventor
by Michael Pupin / Paperback: 436 pages / Kessinger Publishing (March 1,
2003)
Pupin's main objective in this narrative was to describe the rise of
idealism in American science and particularly in physical sciences and
the related industries. He was a witness to this gradual development and
everything he describes was an attempt to qualify as a witness whose
testimony has competence and weight. A 1924.Pulitzer Prize winning book. |
Girls
Think of Everything: Stories of Ingenious Inventions by Women
by Catherine Thimmesh, Melissa Sweet (ill.) / Paperback: 64 pages
/Houghton Mifflin; Reprint (2002)
A dozen women are profiled in this collection of short, anecdotal
biographies demonstrating that necessity, ingenuity, and luck all play a
part in successful inventions. The final section tells girls how to
patent their inventions, and an informed bibliography. |
Great Lives:
Invention and Technology
Milton Lomask, John Pope Paul II / Hardcover - 262 pages / Atheneum, 1992
Brief life stories of twenty-seven persons whose inventions or discoveries have
altered the environment to a marked degree. Includes a list of important dates in the
history of invention and technology. |
Inventing Modern America
This book simplifies technical data and uses an enthusiastic, almost
proselytizing tone: "We can all be inventors, just like the ones in this
book. They show us the way. Full color photographs, diagrams and
intriguing tidbits like how a "tiny mistake led to the invention of the
modern pacemaker" make this a good book for most to browse |
Inventors:
A Library of Congress Book
by Martin W. Sandler / Paperback - 96 pages (September 1999) / HarperTrophy
Composed mainly of historical photographs, reproductions, and period writing
culled from the Library of Congress archives, the volume explains to young readers how the
great inventors of America revolutionized life with such world-altering creations as the
television, airplane, skyscraper, and spaceship. |
Kids Inventing! A Handbook for Young Inventors
by Susan Casey / Paperback: 144 pages / Jossey-Bass (2005) / Ages 9+
You'll meet inspiring kids just like you who designed their own
award-winning inventions. Discover how exciting it can be to rethink the
world around you, solve problems, and surprise and delight others with the
results. Anything's possible with Kids Inventing! |
The Kids'
Invention Book
by Arlene Erlbach / Library
Binding (August 1997) / Lerner Publications Company
The stories of twelve kid inventors. Erlbach uses the
success of 15-year-old Chester Greenwood, who invented earmuffs in 1873, as the takeoff
point for introducing more than a dozen contemporary children who have created their own
inventions. Each double-page spread profiles one child and his or her invention, some of
which have won national recognition in inventors' contests. |
The
Kid Who Invented the Popsicle: And Other Surprising Stories About Inventions
by Don L. Wulffson / Paperback - 128 pages (1999)
/ Puffin
Brief factual stories about how various familiar things were invented,
many by accident, from animal crackers to the zipper. |
Outward Dreams : Black Inventors and Their Inventions
by Jim Haskins / Paperback: 112 pages / Walker Books for Young Readers;
(September 1, 2003)
Discusses black inventors and their contributions, including Benjamin
Bradley, Madam Walker, and George Washington Carver. The art of
invention knows no color. |
Patently
Female
by Ethlie Ann Vare, Greg Ptacek / Hardcover - 240 pages (November 9, 2001)
/ John Wiley & Sons
Patently Female will reveal the stories behind
remarkable innovations, and introduce you to the even more remarkable women who made them. |
Rube
Goldberg: Inventions
by Maynard Frank Wolfe, Rube Goldberg / Hardcover - 192 pages (2000) / Simon &
Schuster
Welcome to the world of that archetypal American, Reuben Lucius Goldberg, the dean of
American cartoonists for most of the twentieth century. For more than sixty-five years,
Rube Goldberg's syndicated cartoons -- he produced more than fifty strips -- appeared in
as many as a thousand newspapers annually He was earning a hundred thousand dollars a
year...in 1915. |
Scientists,
Mathematicians, and Inventors: Lives and Legacies: Encyclopedia of People Who Changed
the World
by Doris Simonis (Editor), Caroline Hetzenber (Editor) / Hardcover - 256 pages / Oryx Press
(1998)
Biographies of 200 men and women. Subjects were selected on the basis of
work that had significant influence on society in general or on scientific disciplines in
particular, influence that extended beyond a lifetime. |
The Sky's the Limit : Stories of Discovery by Women and Girls
This compilation by Catherine Thimmesh presents a respectful glimpse at
the stunning, too-often overlooked accomplishments and revelations of
women--and girls--through time. Especially with the stories about 11-
and 12-year-old girls. |
So You Want to Be An Inventor?
by Judith St. George, David Small / Paperback: 56 pages / Puffin; (2005)
/ Ages 9+
Are you a kid who likes to tinker with
machines that clink and clank, levers that pull, bells that ring, cogs
that grind, switches that turn on and off, wires that vibrate, dials
that spin? You maybe inspired by what other
inventors have accomplished. |
They Made America: Two Centuries of Innovators from the Steam Engine to
the Search Engine
by Harold Evans / Hardcover: 496 pages / Little, Brown (October 12,
2004)
Profiles 70 of America's leading inventors, entrepreneurs and
innovators, some better known than others. Along with such obvious
choices as Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and the Wright brothers. Shows
innovation as both a product of and a contributor to the grand apparatus
of American society. |
Women
Invent: Two Centuries of Discoveries That Have Shaped Our World
by Susan Casey / Paperback
- 144 pages (October 1997) / Chicago Review Press
These inspiring stories of women inventors take the
reader on a step-by-step journey through the process of inventing. |
