Inventions & Inventors

From the New York Times–bestselling author of Where Good Ideas Come From and Extra Life, a new look at the power and legacy of great ideas. In this illustrated history, Steven Johnson explores the history of innovation over centuries, tracing facets of modern life (refrigeration, clocks...

Fuel your curiosity and gain a deeper understanding of the inventive spirit that revolutionized our world. Discover the ingenious minds and fascinating anecdotes behind each invention, and find inspiration in their revolutionary impact.

Moving, funny, and totally true childhood biographies of Bill Gates, Madam C. J. Walker, Hedy Lamarr, Walt Disney, and 12 other international innovators....

As young boys, Orville and Wilbur Wright loved all things mechanical. As young men, they gained invaluable skills essential for their success by working with printing presses, bicycles, motors, and any sort of machinery they could get their hands on. As adults, the brothers worked together...

One day in 1882, Thomas Edison flipped a switch that lit up lower Manhattan with incandescent light and changed the way people live ever after. The electric light bulb was only one of thousands of Edison’s inventions, which include the phonograph and the kinetoscope, an early precursor to the...

From machine learning to virtual surgery practice, this exploration of scientific inquiry celebrates the greatest developments to date in medical artificial intelligence....

You have a start-up idea but ... where do you go from there? Two teen entrepreneurs bring together 51 influential business leaders for Q&As about starting a business, finding success, and, yes, making money. Fifteen-year-olds Fenley Scurlock and Jason Liaw had both started businesses by the time...

Our world runs on energy! But traditional fossil fuels are doing great damage to the environment, and they will eventually run out. How might solar, water, wind and geothermal power come to our rescue?

Informative and celebratory, this collective biography tells the story of the experiments, failures, and successes of visionaries who changed the way the world moves....

History's amazing secrets and codes—and how to crack them yourself. This fascinating look at history's most mysterious messages is packed with puzzles to decode and ciphers that kids can use themselves. Here are the encrypted notes of Spartan warriors, the brilliant code-crackers of Elizabeth...