Scientists and inventors gifts

The acclaimed biography Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson unravels the rollercoaster journey of Steve Jobs, the visionary co-founder of Apple Inc. and a pioneer in the realms of personal computing, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing. This compelling narrative is drawn from more than forty interviews with Jobs himself over two years, as well as interviews with...

Surely You're Joking Mr Feynman is a delightful collection of anecdotes and mind-bending adventures of the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard P. Feynman. This book offers readers an intimate glimpse into the life of a man whose curiosity knew no bounds. Over the course of these anecdotes, Feynman takes us through his childhood, his education at MIT and Princeton, and his...

In the Little People, Big Dreams series, discover the lives of outstanding people from designers and artists to scientists. All of them went on to achieve incredible things, yet all of them began life as a little child with a dream. The book follows Amelia Earhart, whose strong will and self-belief helped her overcome prejudice and technical problems to become...

The inspiring true story of a Malawi teenager who brought electricity to his struggling village—now in the ideal classroom-ready edition. Now a Netflix film starring and directed by Chiwetel Ejiofor, this is a gripping memoir of survival and perseverance about the heroic young inventor who brought electricity to his Malawian village. When a terrible drought struck William Kamkwamba's tiny village...

Einstein by Walter Isaacson offers a gripping and insightful portrayal of one of history's most esteemed scientists. Delving into the complexities of Albert Einstein's life, Isaacson masterfully chronicles the journey of a man whose ideas shattered centuries of scientific tradition and reshaped our understanding of the universe. From his curious and inquisitive youth, through his personal and professional trials, to...

The origin story of one of the most influential and transformative business leaders and philanthropists of the modern age. Bill Gates is one of the most transformative figures of our age. In Source Code, he takes us back to his beginnings. He describes with candour his childhood in Seattle, the centrality of family—his close relationship with his card-playing grandmother and...

In the Little People, Big Dreams series, discover the lives of outstanding people from designers and artists to scientists. All of them went on to achieve incredible things, yet all of them began life as a little child with a dream. The book follows Marie Curie, whose love of learning helped her to revolutionise the fight against cancer with her...

The Invention of Nature by Andrea Wulf is an astonishing and captivating biography that retraces the epic life of Alexander von Humboldt, a visionary scientist whose ideas have had a profound impact on our modern understanding of nature. This page-turner takes readers on a journey through Humboldt's thrilling explorations and his enduring legacy. From scaling the heights of the Andes...

In this book from the critically acclaimed, multimillion-copy bestselling Little People, BIG DREAMS series, discover the life of Steve Jobs, the visionary whose ideas still shape the world. Steve Jobs grew up surrounded by inventors in sunny Silicon Valley, California. He and his friend Stephen Wozniak channelled their love of computers into their own inventions, building a successful company from...

Dava Sobel, acclaimed and bestselling author of Longitude, chronicles the life and work of the most famous woman in the history of science – and the untold story of the young women who trained in her laboratory. ‘A luminous and illuminating contribution to the cause’ Literary Review For decades, Marie Curie was the only woman in the room at international...

The Wright Brothers by David McCullough offers readers an enthralling account of the incredible journey undertaken by two pioneering brothers, Wilbur and Orville Wright, whose groundbreaking achievements would forever change human history. On a brisk December day in 1903, amidst the sandy dunes of North Carolina's Outer Banks, these unassuming bicycle mechanics from Dayton, Ohio, launched the world's first powered,...

The Innovators by Walter Isaacson is an enthralling exploration of the individuals who conceived and built the computer and the Internet. Following the immense success of his biography of Steve Jobs, Isaacson crafts a compelling narrative marking the significant milestones of the digital revolution. This exhaustive chronicle will surely become the definitive history of technological advancements and a timeless guide...

From the critically acclaimed, multimillion-copy bestselling Little People, BIG DREAMS series, discover the life of Charles Darwin, the scientist who changed the way people see the world. Although he didn't do very well at school, Charles Darwin was passionately curious about wildlife, humans, and plants. After a journey to South America, he developed his landmark theory: that all living things...

In this book from the critically acclaimed, multimillion-copy bestselling Little People, BIG DREAMS series, discover the life of Albert Einstein, the legendary scientist. Little Albert grew up in Germany, where it took him four years to formulate his first word. He was fascinated by how objects worked and, although he didn't love school, he loved physics and maths books. His...

The official book behind the Academy Award-winning film The Imitation Game, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley, Alan Turing: The Enigma by Andrew Hodges is a riveting biography that delves into the life of one of the most exceptional minds of the 20th century. This meticulously researched biography presents a comprehensive and humanising portrayal of Alan Turing, the brilliant mathematician...

Learn about the incredible story of Katherine Johnson! The trailblazer whose calculations changed the future of space exploration. Little Katherine loved learning, and her favourite subject was maths. In class, she worked so hard that she was able to move up to high school four years early! Due to the racist laws of the time, Katherine's family had to move...

New in the Little People, Big Dreams series, discover the life of Stephen Hawking, the genius physicist and author, in this true story of his life. As a child, Stephen used to look up at the stars and wonder what else was out there. After gaining his education at Oxford University, Stephen went on to make a groundbreaking discovery to...

New in the Little People, Big Dreams series, meet Ada Lovelace, the British mathematician and daughter of poet Lord Byron. From her early love of logic, to her plans for the world's first computer program, learn about Ada's life in this mini biography for readers as young as four years. With stylish and quirky illustrations and extra facts at the...

Sleeping Beauties is a brilliant idea that is ahead of its time. So many breakthroughs in arts or science were like this, lost on their initial audience and only later revived and acknowledged to be great. This book asks, why do some ideas fall asleep? And how do they wake up? The next great book for everyone who loved The...

Little Rosalind was born in London to a Jewish family who valued education and public service. Having studied physics and chemistry at Cambridge University, Rosalind moved to Paris to perfect her life's work in X-ray crystallography. She then moved back to Kings College London, where she would work on finding the structure of DNA with Maurice Wilkins. After a fallout,...

The story of two brilliant nineteenth-century scientists who discovered the electromagnetic field, laying the groundwork for the amazing technological and theoretical breakthroughs of the twentieth century. Two of the boldest and most creative scientists of all time were Michael Faraday (1791-1867) and James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879). This is the story of how these two men - separated in age by...

What makes a quark? How many quarks make a proton? How many protons make an oxygen atom? How many oxygen atoms make a carbon dioxide molecule? How many carbon atoms make you? In this accessible little book, packed with helpful diagrams and interesting information, science writer Matt Tweed takes us on a whirlwind tour into the tiny realms, the stuff...

The Inventions, Researches and Writings of Nikola Tesla is the definitive record of the pioneering work of one of the modern world's most groundbreaking inventors. During the early twentieth century, Tesla blazed the trail that electrical technology followed for decades afterward. Although he pioneered inventions like alternating current (AC), radio, wireless transmission, and X-rays, and worked with innovators like George...

Little Sally grew up in California, USA, and soon realised that she had a passion for science. She loved it so much that she studied it at university and became a Doctor of Physics. One day, whilst reading the student newspaper, Sally saw that NASA was looking for astronauts. Women could apply, having never been able to before... so she...

Meet Marie, the Nobel Prize-winning scientist! New in board book format in the Little People, Big Dreams series, this inspiring and informative little biography follows the life of Marie Curie, from her childhood in Poland to conducting pioneering research on radioactivity and going on to become the first woman to win a Nobel Prize. With stylish and quirky illustrations and...

Young Hedy Lamarr was fascinated with machines. At 5 years old, she would take apart her music box and put it back together to see how it worked. A gifted musician and actress, she soon found fame on the stage, but her scientific curiosity never stopped. Electronics, chemistry, engineering—whatever Hedy put her mind to, she came up with ingenious inventions,...

Now a Netflix original film, this is the inspiring true story of a heroic young inventor who brought electricity to his Malawian village. Now a Netflix film starring and directed by Chiwetel Ejiofor, this is a gripping memoir of survival and perseverance about the heroic young inventor who brought electricity to his Malawian village. When a terrible drought struck William...

The Man from the Future by Ananyo Bhattacharya paints a riveting portrait of John von Neumann, a polymath whose groundbreaking work laid the foundation for much of modern science and technology. This vivid biography delves into the intricate life of a man whose intellect spanned numerous disciplines, reshaping our understanding of the world and steering the course of history. Born...

LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2025 When Lulu Miller's relationship falls apart, she turns to an unlikely figure for guidance—the 19th-century naturalist, David Starr Jordan. Pouring over his diaries, Lulu discovers a man obsessed with nature's hidden order, devoted to studying shimmering scales and sailing the world in search of new species of fish. After the 1906 San...

A pyrotechnic examination of Elon Musk as a symptom and avatar of our postliberal age Who on earth is Elon Musk and what is he doing? Is he a hero, a villain, or does he swing constantly between those two poles? According to the constant media gush driven by his every act and pronouncement, Musk is best understood in personal...

Nikola Tesla (1856-1943), credited as the inspiration for radio, robots, and even radar, has been called the patron saint of modern electricity. Based on original material and previously unavailable documents, this acclaimed book is the definitive biography of the man considered by many to be the founding father of modern electrical technology. Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla...

Great Lives in Graphics: Marie Curie is a graphic retelling of Curie's story, providing children with a visual snapshot of her life and the world she grew up in, while educating them on everything from how radioactivity works to the importance of self-belief. You may already know that Marie Curie was a scientific genius who pioneered the study of radioactivity,...

Women have won their political independence. Now is the time for them to achieve their economic freedom too. This was the great rallying cry of the pioneers who, in 1919, created the Women's Engineering Society. Spearheaded by Katharine and Rachel Parsons, a powerful mother and daughter duo, and Caroline Haslett, whose mission was to liberate women from domestic drudgery, it...

From the author of Steve Jobs and other bestselling biographies, this is the astonishingly intimate story of the most fascinating and controversial innovator of our era—a rule-breaking visionary who helped to lead the world into the era of electric vehicles, private space exploration, and artificial intelligence. Oh, and took over Twitter. Australian Financial Review Top 20 Read for 2023​ When...

From the critically acclaimed, multimillion-copy bestselling Little People, BIG DREAMS series, discover the life of Nikola Tesla, the scientist and inventor whose groundbreaking inventions we continue to use today. Since he was a young boy growing up in the Austrian Empire, Nikola was fascinated by science and numbers. His teachers knew he had a brilliant mind, but Nikola's irregular routines...

Little Louis was born in France during a time when doctors were still trying to figure out what made people sick. During his teen years, he discovered a love for science and became famous for figuring out how to kill off damaging microbes. Through his curiosity and creativity (and lots of trial and error), his research led to the development...

AN OBSERVER BOOK OF THE YEAR ‘A peerless intellectual biography. The Glass Universe shines and twinkles as brightly as the stars themselves’ - The Economist #1 New York Times bestselling author Dava Sobel returns with a captivating, little-known true story of women in science. Before they even had the right to vote, a group of remarkable women were employed by...

In this beautiful nonfiction biography, a Robert F. Sibert Medal winner, the Newbery Honor–winning author Joyce Sidman introduces readers to one of the first female entomologists and a woman who flouted convention in the pursuit of knowledge and her passion for insects. One of the first naturalists to observe live insects directly, Maria Sibylla Merian was also one of the...

When Mary was little, her family was very poor. She used to help her dad to comb for shells and bones up high on dangerous cliffs. After receiving a book as a gift from a kind benefactor, Mary learned all about fossils. She continued to hunt for them and made the startling discovery of a complete skeleton of an ichthyosaur....

From bestselling author Walter Isaacson comes Steve Jobs, the landmark biography of the iconic Apple co-founder. This compelling narrative delves deep into the very essence of one of the most influential figures of our time. From illuminating his visionary work to detailing his personal triumphs and tribulations, Isaacson crafts an extraordinary account, revealing the many facets of Jobs' life that...

AN ECONOMIST, GUARDIAN AND CHURCH TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR Winner of the Hatchards First Biography Prize 2025 'The definitive backstory of one of the towering figures of 20th-century science' – Guardian 'Brilliant and inspiring. A landmark biography' – Adam Rutherford Francis Crick was a restless, relentless thinker, as fascinated by Beat poetry and psychedelics as the genetic meaning of...

Step into a world of star-crossed lovers, magical winds, mischievous giants, and trolls, through some of the most exquisite illustrations in publishing history. In this gorgeous abridged edition, TASCHEN revives the most ambitious publication project of beloved Danish artist Kay Nielsen, one of the most famous children's book illustrators of all time. First published in 1914, East of the Sun...

Age range 5 to 9If you've ever felt different, if you've ever been low, if you don't quite fit in, there's a name you should know...Meet Dr. Temple Grandin - one of the world's quirkiest science heroes! When young Temple was diagnosed with autism, no one expected her to talk, let alone become one of the most powerful voices in modern science....

The first book on aviation history of its kind, covering everything that flies in one spectacular comic album about our conquest of the skies. Sky High! introduces you to a whole ensemble of scientists, inventors and builders: those from the distant past, such as Leonardo da Vinci and the Montgolfier brothers; those closer to our time, such as the Wright...

David Attenborough tells the story of this famous figure, covering his childhood in Leicester and studies at the University of Cambridge through his work in natural history and broadcasting, his famous educational documentaries for the BBC and his enduring scientific and popular legacy today. For children working through book bands, it is suitable for those reading at book band 12:...

Forty articles expertly curated by biographer Andrew Robinson provide an unrivalled account of the lives and personalities behind the greatest scientific breakthroughs of all time. Who made us see the atom, our minds, our planet and the universe afresh? How did we uncover the mysteries of life on earth? What next? The theories, discoveries, and inventions of scientists have revolutionised...

Acknowledged internationally for his ground-breaking scientific research in the field of magnetic resonance, Sir Paul Callaghan was a scientist and visionary with a rare gift for promoting science to a wide audience. Paul Callaghan: Luminous Moments brings together some of his most significant writing, offering eloquent narratives spanning science, fatherhood, illness and life that will endure in this country's literature....

Isaac Newton is generally regarded as one of the greatest scientists in history, yet the spectrum of his interests was much broader than that of a contemporary scientist. He was deeply involved in alchemical, religious, and biblical studies, and in the later part of his life, he played a prominent role in British politics, economics, and the promotion of scientific...

Discover the life of William Kamkwamba, the Malawian inventor and engineer, who overcame poverty and famine to build windmills from recycled materials that brought electricity to his village. Little William grew up in a small village in Malawi. His parents were farmers, so every day after school, William and his six sisters helped them tend the corn. One year, it...

One of Esquire's 50 Best Biographies of All Time One of The Economist's Best Books of 2022 A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice Nominated for The Next Big Idea Club The Week Magazine Book of the Week From Alec Nevala-Lee, the author of the Hugo and Locus Award finalist Astounding, comes a revelatory biography of the visionary designer...

“This rich volume is a national treasure.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “Captivating, informative, and inspiring…Easy to follow and hard to put down.” —School Library Journal (starred review) The inspiring autobiography of NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson, who helped launch Apollo 11. As a young girl, Katherine Johnson showed an exceptional aptitude for maths. In school, she quickly skipped ahead several grades...

Did you know a woman scientist discovered the first dinosaur bones? Learn all about how she changed the world in this new picture book biography! A beautifully illustrated picture book biography of Mary Anning that will enlighten children about the discovery of the dinosaurs and the importance of female scientists, perfect for fans of The Girl Who Thought in Pictures....

Now a docuseries from Ken Burns on PBS! The #1 New York Times bestseller from Walter Isaacson brings Leonardo da Vinci to life in this exciting new biography that is “a study in creativity: how to define it, how to achieve it…Most important, it is a powerful story of an exhilarating mind and life” (The New Yorker). Based on thousands...

A Mind at Play by Rob Goodman and Jimmy Soni is a captivating biography chronicling the life and brilliance of Claude Shannon, a figure often hailed as the father of the Information Age. This engaging book delves into Shannon’s groundbreaking contributions to science and technology, insights that spark the creativity behind every computer, email, and application today. The authors masterfully...

In What Linnaeus Saw, Karen Magnuson Beil chronicles Linnaeus's life and career in readable, relatable prose. As a boy, Linnaeus hated school and had little interest in taking up the religious profession his family had chosen. Although he struggled through Latin and theology classes, Linnaeus was an avid student of the natural world and explored the school's gardens and woods,...

A Beautiful Mind by Sylvia Nasar is a deeply moving narrative that explores the enigmatic life of John Nash, a mathematical prodigy whose groundbreaking work laid the foundations for game theory. Set against the backdrop of mid-20th century academia, the biography delves into Nash's extraordinary intellectual prowess and his eventual descent into schizophrenia. With an unparalleled talent that saw him...

In 1969, mankind successfully left our atmosphere and landed on the moon. It took the hard work of countless men and women to make that landing happen. One of those people was Margaret Hamilton. A computer engineer, young Hamilton was hired to develop the completely new software used in the groundbreaking Apollo Space Program. Soon she was the lead engineer,...

A poetic picture book celebration of the life and scientific discoveries of groundbreaking astronomer Cecilia Payne! Astronomer and astrophysicist Cecilia Payne was the first person to discover what burns at the heart of stars. But she didn't start out as the groundbreaking scientist she would eventually become. She started out as a girl burning with curiosity, chasing the thrilling lightning...

'When one is faced with the possibility of early death, it makes one realise that life is worth living.' - Stephen Hawking An insatiable curiosity and appreciation for life powered Stephen Hawking to the furthest reaches of the universe and human achievement. During his remarkable lifetime, he shed light on many of the mysteries of black holes and made key...

A fresh approach to a timely topic, Stolen Science is a fascinating compendium of stories of uncredited scientists and inventors throughout the ages. Over the centuries, women, people from underrepresented communities, and immigrants overcame prejudices and social obstacles to make remarkable discoveries in science—but they weren’t the ones to receive credit in history books. People with more power, money, and...

Along with Mother Courage, the character of Galileo is one of Brecht's greatest creations, immensely live, human and complex. Unable to resist his appetite for scientific investigation, Galileo's heretical discoveries about the solar system bring him to the attention of the Inquisition. He is scared into publicly abjuring his theories but, despite his self-contempt, goes on working in private, eventually...

Wangari Maathai tells the story of this scientist and women's rights activist. It explores how she inspired thousands across Africa to plant 30 million trees in 30 years, saving many from hunger and poverty. Great Scientists are first biographies introducing some of the world's great scientists, simply retelling their lives and explaining why their work was important. Perfect for children...

Katherine Johnson tells the story of this famous figure, whose work for NASA helped the US land astronauts on the moon during the space race. Great Scientists are first biographies introducing some of the world's great scientists, simply retelling their lives and explaining why their work was important. Perfect for children aged 7 plus. Each book has been book banded...

Oliver Sacks, one of the great humanists of our age—who describes himself in these pages as a 'philosophical physician' and an 'astronomer of the inward'—wrote to an eclectic array of family and friends. Most were scientists, artists, and writers, even statesmen: Francis Crick, Antonio Damasio, Jane Goodall, W. H. Auden, Susan Sontag, Stephen Jay Gould, Björk, and his first cousin,...

From Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edmund Morris comes a revelatory new biography of Thomas Alva Edison, the most prolific genius in American history. New York Times bestseller. From Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edmund Morris comes a revelatory new biography of Thomas Alva Edison, the most prolific genius in American history. Named one of the best books of the year by Time, Publishers...

In this book from the critically acclaimed, multimillion-copy bestselling Little People, BIG DREAMS series, discover the life of Steve Jobs, the visionary whose ideas still shape the world. Steve Jobs grew up surrounded by inventors, in sunny Silicon Valley, California. He and his friend Stephen Wozniak channelled their love of computers into their own inventions, building a successful company from...

Join Annie and Nico as they learn about Marie Curie! Who was Marie Curie? Learn about the renowned chemist and Nobel Prize winner with modern-day kids, Annie and Nico. Join them as they go back in time and roam around the globe, learning about the noble French-Polish woman that furthered the sciences and discovered radium. Strap on your goggles and...

The “delightfully macabre” (The New York Times) true tale of a brilliant and eccentric surgeon... and his quest to transplant the human soul. In the early days of the Cold War, a spirit of desperate scientific rivalry birthed a different kind of space race: not the race to outer space that we all know, but a race to master the...

Called a madman by some, a genius by others, and an enigma by nearly everyone, Nikola Tesla was possibly the greatest inventor the world has ever known. He was, without a doubt, a trailblazer who created astonishing, sometimes world-transforming, devices that were virtually without theoretical precedent. It was Tesla who introduced us to the fundamentals of robotry, computers, and missile...

The Starship and the Canoe is neither a wilderness survival manual nor a book of blueprints. It is another of those rare books impossible to define: the kind that seeks you in time. And you will know it, live it, and consult it thereafter simply by name." --Chicago Sun-Times "In the tradition of Carl Sagan and John McPhee, a bracing...

How did a shy Polish immigrant kid - Karl Sven Woytek Sas Konkovitch Matthew Kruszelnicki - evolve into the fabulously eccentric Dr Karl? The only child of Holocaust survivors who fled to Australia in 1950, Karl has always forged his own destiny in an idiosyncratic way. Before he became one of the world's favourite scientific storytellers, he ambled through a...

Albert Einstein's theory of relativity and the endeavours of Bertrand Russell and David Hilbert to establish the fundamental rules of mathematics inspired some of the most brilliant minds of their generation to convene in post-World War I Vienna. This assemblage, known as the Vienna Circle, consisted of intellectual giants like Kurt Gödel and Rudolf Carnap, who sought to advance the...

The explosive story of the tech giant Nvidia - the producer of the only chip anyone involved in AI wants - and its charismatic, uncompromising, complicated CEO, Jensen Huang. The riveting account of Nvidia, the tech company that has exploded in value for its artificial intelligence computing hardware, and Jensen Huang, Nvidia's charismatic, uncompromising CEO. In June of 2024, spurred...

This instant New York Times bestselling “dynamic detective story” (The New York Times) reveals the hidden history of Rudolf Diesel, one of the world’s greatest inventors, and his mysterious disappearance on the eve of World War I. September 29, 1913: the steamship Dresden is halfway between Belgium and England. On board is one of the most famous men in the...

The hidden history of one of the world’s greatest inventors, a man who disrupted the status quo and then disappeared into thin air on the eve of World War I—this book answers the hundred-year-old mystery of what really became of Rudolf Diesel. September 29, 1913: the steamship Dresden is halfway between Belgium and England. On board is one of the...

A voyage of discovery, nature and untold histories - in the vein of Clare Wright, Edmund de Waal and Helen Macdonald. When the first woman to circumnavigate the world completed her journey in 1775, she returned home without any fanfare at all. Jeanne Barret, an impoverished peasant from Burgundy, disguised herself as a man and sailed on the 1766 Bougainville...

Remarkable... Exciting, provocative, and illuminating — John Banville, Wall Street Journal Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges was madly in love when his life was shattered by painful heartbreak. But the breakdown that followed illuminated an incontrovertible truth — that love is necessarily imbued with loss, that the one doesn't exist without the other. German physicist Werner Heisenberg was fighting with...

Everything you think you know about Nikola Tesla is wrong. The Truth About Tesla sets the record straight. Nikola Tesla was one of the greatest electrical inventors who ever lived. For years, this engineering genius was relegated to relative obscurity, with his contributions to humanity obscured by a number of nineteenth-century inventors and industrialists who took credit for his work...

Every innovator started out as a kid—and in some cases, were kids when they began experimenting with ideas to change the world! Kid Innovators tells the stories of a diverse group of trailblazers in fields like technology, education, business, science, art, and entertainment. Featuring kid-friendly text and full-colour illustrations on nearly every page, readers will learn about the exciting discoveries,...

A prismatic look at the meeting of Marie Curie and Albert Einstein and the impact these two pillars of science had on the world of physics, which was in turmoil. In 1911, some of the greatest minds in science convened at the First Solvay Conference in Physics, a meeting like no other. Almost half of the attendees had won or...