Inventors: Incredible stories of the world's most ingenious inventions

by Robert Winston, Jessamy Hawke (Illustrator)

Meet the masterminds behind the greatest inventions in history with this nonfiction book for kids aged 7 to 9.

Step into Leonardo da Vinci's workshop, relax on board Hideo Shima's speedy bullet train, and join movie star Hedy Lamarr to bounce ideas around in between takes.  Inventors  looks at the towering achievements of more than 50 inventors in great detail. The stories are as unusual as they are unique. From Mr. Kellogg, who accidentally created cornflakes after leaving grains boiling for too long, to the ancient Turkish polymath Ismail al-Jazari, who decided the best way to power a clock was with a model elephant, to Sarah E. Goode's fold-up bed space-saving solution–the inventors of this book have all used tons of creativity to find ways to improve our world. These groundbreaking inventions include the very earliest discoveries to modern-day breakthroughs in science, food, transportation, technology, toys, and more.

Each page is packed with jaw-dropping facts, with every inventors' achievements written as a story. Beautiful illustrations by Jessamy Hawke bring the inventor's stories to life, and fantastic photography highlights the detail of their designs. With incredible hand-painted cross-sections revealing the intricacies of a robotic arm, the first plane, and the printing press, young readers will marvel at being able to see close-up how these amazing machines work. The inventors come from all walks of life and parts of the world, making this the perfect book for every budding inventor.

Genres: Childrens, Nonfiction, Middle Grade

144 pages, Hardcover

Published July 7, 2020

About the author

The Right Honourable Professor The Lord Robert Maurice Lipson Winston

Reviews

[Alicia Bayer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a brightly illustrated book that goes into detail about over 50 inventors and their inventions. The inventors are very diverse in time period, age, gender and nationality, which I appreciate. They are broken down into categories like around the home and caring for people. You'll meet well known inventors like Marie Curie and the Wright brothers but also many others who will be new to you. The diversity is really great. There's a lot of text so it's not a book to read in one sitting but will make a great, colorful reference book. Bright, somewhat wacky art and tons of colors and illustrations make the whole book pop.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review.

[Victoria Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I initially ordered this anthology from the public library when I had some grade 7 students looking for books on inventors. It came a bit too late but I decided to read because it is only 140ish pages and it is full of short biographies, which I love! The illustrations were great, the writing was clear, and the book as a whole really got me thinking. There were enough examples of both men and women, as well as a huge variety of nationalities and backgrounds, that I feel the book is a very well-rounded resource.

[Sharon Tyler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Inventors: Incredible Stories of the World's Most Ingenious Inventions, written by Robert Winston and illustrated by Jessamy Hawke, is currently scheduled for release on July 7 2020. The stories are as unusual as they are unique. From Mr. Kellogg, who accidentally created cornflakes after leaving grains boiling for too long, to the ancient Turkish polymath Ismail al-Jazari, who decided the best way to power a clock was with a model elephant, to Sarah E. Goode's fold-up bed space-saving solution--the inventors of this book have all used tons of creativity to find ways to improve our world. These groundbreaking inventions include the very earliest discoveries to modern-day breakthroughs in science, food, transportation, technology, toys, and more. Illustrations by Jessamy Hawke and photography highlight the detail of the designs and hand-painted cross-sections reveal the intricacies of a robotic arm, the first plane, and the printing press. The inventors come from all walks of life and parts of the world, making this the perfect book for every budding inventor.

Inventors is a book that features a well rounded selection of inventors and innovators from through out history, and around the world. I like that so many different countries were included and that women and men were included. Some of the inventors were well known to me already, but I was glad to learn a little bit more about them, and learn about those I only vaguely knew about. I really liked learning about the inventors that I knew nothing about, and think that the book does a good job of detailing the lives and innovations of the individuals- giving readers the context to understand the lives they lived, and how that might have impacted the work they did or how hard they had to work for it. I did think that some of the illustrations were very well done, but overall I found that some of the pages were a little busy, with artwork that felt more like extras or doodles than necessary additions. The overall look will appeal to many, but I have to admit that I found it a little distracting.

Inventors is a nicely varied look at inventors from around the world, and through out time. I think it will appeal to interested readers and just might inspire some readers to work on their own ideas.

[April Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've enjoyed DK books for over two decades now, especially their children's books, about which my only complaint is they didn't exist when I was a kid. This is another hit, covering inventors from all over the world, over the centuries, male and female. Some are well-known, or fairly well-known at least, many I was unfamiliar with. There are a few inventions themselves mixed in as well. I personally love the way DK does their spreads, with illustrations and bite-sized bits of information covering the pages- it makes things more interesting to me, and I would've enjoyed it as a child as well. The art is colorful and engaging, with photos mixed in as available (obviously, some subjects existed before the advent of photography). A fun and interesting book!

#Inventors #NetGalley

[MK · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book introduces Inventors who have made the world a better place, along with their Incredible stories. I would like to express my respect for their great achievements.

Leonardo da Vinci seems to have lived the lifespan of 100 inventors.
And I didn't know that the Wi-Fi pioneer was a Hollywood actor named Hedy Lamarr.

NIKOLA TESLA (1856-1943) is introduced in the second half of the book.

★NIKOLA TESLA（1856-1943）
Serbian-American electrical
In 1889, he invented the Tesla coil, which transforms a weak electric charge into a more powerful one.

As times changed, that dream was passed on to ELON MUSK.

★ELON MUSK
South African entrepreneur （1971-present）
He founded the company SpaceX to build space-travel technology.

[Kristy Thiel · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was very cool to be able to learn about the lives and the people behind some of the greatest inventions of all time. The illustrations kept my daughter engaged, and the stories about each inventor was packed with facts and information given in a very engaging way.