BOOKS FOR CHILDREN, EDUCATION, AND HOMESCHOOLING
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BIOGRAPHIES OF MATHEMATICIANS AND SCIENTISTS

MATHEMATICIANS

Agnesi to Zeno: Over 100 Vignettes from the History of Math by Sanderson Smith. This 265-page survey of mathematical thought and achievement for the secondary level contains Blackline Activity Masters and links mathematics to the whole of human development. It traces the history of mathematics from the earliest counting systems to modern developments in chaos theory -- in an easily presentable format. The vignettes feature both brief biographies of influential mathematicians and introductions to mathematical concepts, while activities encourage in-depth research, critical thinking, and class discussion. Included are over 100 exercises from almost every branch of mathematics that give students the opportunity to apply the concepts developed by Euclid, Maria Agnesi, Benjamin Banneker, and many others. Answers are provided for selected exercises for which answers do not vary, and there is an extensive bibliography to aid in research. Index is provided. Punched for 3-hole notebook. BTH-729. $26.06-D.

Albert Einstein by Ibi Lepscky. Barron's trade paper, 1992. When Albert was a little boy, his parents were disappointed because he didn't do well in his school subjects or at sports. Instead he loved to count and examine numbers. He like to study the night sky. The adults in his life wrote him off as a dreamer. Little did they know that he was developing a scientific mind and that he would later be recognized as a genius. For very young readers.  Cat #BAR-14529. 5.26-D

Along Came Galileo written and illustrated by Jeanne Bendick. Trade paper, Beautiful Feet Books, 1999. He was a man who liked to ask questions, and he also liked to test the answers he had been given by experimenting to see if the answers were true. . The leaders of his day were furious with him for challenging the ideas of Aristotle. For grades four and up. BT #2057. $9.95*

Dear Benjamin Banneker by Andrea Davis Pinkney. Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1998. Unpaginated. Benjamin Banneker is remembered today for his almanac, the first written by an African American, and his courage in writing to Thomas Jefferson, then Secretary of State, in in 1791, challenging him to be consistent in his position that all men are created equal in the sight of God. He offered his almanac as evidence of what black men could accomplish when they had freedom to learn. Benjamin himself was a self-taught mathematician and astronomer. His own grandmother had taught him to read and write, using the Bible as a textbook. This book mentions Benjamin's many accomplishments in the author's note at the beginning of the book, but most of the book itself focuses on Benjamin's almanac, his difficulty in finding a publisher, and his eventual success in selling it. The gorgeous color full-page paintings by Brian Pinkney are, alone, worth the price of the book, which is one of the best picture biographies I've seen. BTH-2595. $5.40-D

Carry On,  Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee latham. Trade paper. This fictionalized biography of Nathaniel Bowditch, the father of modern navigation, is a Newbery award winner that my own son loved. Just right for junior age readers. HM-137136. $6.26-D

Exploring the Live of Gifted People in the Sciences by Kathy Balsamo. A Good Apple Gifted learning Activity Books for Grades 4-8. Student activity pages may be reproduced for classroom use. Helps students explore careers in the sciences by introducing them to adults who have become successful in achieving their goals. Political scientists include Barbara Jordan, first female African American Texas Senator and then Congresswoman, and Leon Jaworski, attorney and special investigator. Those in science and technology include physician Victor Satinsky, science writer De. Isaac Asimov, space scientist Sally Ride, and first space health physicist Vernon Bailey. Each unit includes introductory guided imagery, language development activities, a profile or interview with the subject, cross curriculum experiences affective investigations, a bibliography, and career related activities. 72 pages in all. Illustrated with B/W drawings and photos. Cat.#GA-1038. $9.85-D

Leonardo da Vinci by Diane Stanley. Trade paper oversize picture book for children 7 and up. He was born in 1452 to a peasant woman and a country gentleman and became one of the most amazing people who ever lived. As a boy he was apprenticed to a famous artist, but quickly became more skillful than his teacher. He was fascinated with the human body, but because of prejudice at the time, he had to carry out his own experiments in secret. He wrote thousands of pages of journals with plans for incredible inventions a submarine, an air-cooling system, and even a flying machine. There is a pronunciation guide for the foreign words in the front and there are some of Leonardo's drawings on the text pages. Every other page is a full color illustration similar to the one on the cover. Cat. #HC-1553. $6.26-D.

Mathematicians are People, Too: Stories from the Lives of Great Mathematicians, by Luetta and Wilbert Reimer, published by Dale Seymour.  This book focuses on moments of mathematical discovery experienced by Thales, Pythagoras, Hypatia, GalieoGalilei,  Blaise Pascal, Isaac Newton, Leonhard Euler, Joseph Louis Lagrange, Sophie Germain, Archimedes, John Napier, Carl Gauss, Evariste Galois, Emmy Noether, and Srinivasa Ramanujan. These are high-interest stories for grades 3-7. The book also includes a glossary and a list of resources in mathematical history. Illustrated with B/W line drawings. 143 pages. Cat.#DS-5097, $12.56-D

Mathematicians are People, Too: Stories from the Lives of Great Mathematicians, Volume Two by Luetta and Wilbert Reimer, published by Dale Seymour. This book dramatizes the lives of Euclid, Omar Khayyam, Leonard of Pisa (Fibonacci), Girolamo Cardano, René Descartes, Pierre de Fermat, Maria Agnesi, Benjamin Banneker, Charles Babbage, Mary Somerville, Neils Abel, Ada Lovelace, Sonya Kovalevsky, Albert Einstein, and George Pólya. These are high-interest stories for grades 3-7. The book also includes a glossary and a list of resources in mathematical history. 144 pages.  Illustrated with B/W line drawings. Cat.#DS-8231, $12.56-D

Robert Boyle: Trailblazer of Science by John Hudson Tiner. Part of the Sower Series. This Christian gentleman became one of the greatest scientists of all time who worked bravely against persecution and injustice, but, in spite of this, he always remained humble. He used his science to glorify God. BT#2058. $7.19-D

Story of Thomas Alva Edison by Margaret Cousins. Trade paper, Random House. A Landmark Book. This is the story of the genius who had always asked "Why?" and forever changed life in the 20th century by inventing the light bulb and improving almost every means of communication in use today. For grades 4-6. Cat #RH-48837. $5.39-D

Thomas A. Edison: Young Inventor by Sue Guthridge. Trade paper, part of the Childhood of Famous Americans Series. For children reading at chapter book level and above. Large, eye-friendly print with lots of white space. Attractive B/W drawings enhance the text. Cat. #Alad-18157. $4.49-D

Usborne Book of Inventors From Da Vinci to Biro by Reid and Fara. This book for ages ten and up looks at the lives of men and women whose ideas and creations have changed our lives. It races the history of technological development from cave days to the computer age. It is packed with illustrations and photographs of inventions from the arch and the sewing machine to modern weapons and computers. Step-by-step guides, reconstructions, and detailed cutaway diagrams help capture the excitement of discovery and innovation. Cat.  #EDC-07051. $8.05-D

Usborne Book of Scientists From Archimedes to Einstein by Reid and Fara. This books introduces the men and women whose research and discoveries have changed the world. it traces the history of scientific ideas from ancient civilizations up to the present age. it includes the Oriental,Indian, and Middle Eastern ideas in addition to those in the West. The book is packed with colorful illustrations that tell the stories of people such as Plato, Aristotle, Galen, Ibn Sina, Al-Razi, Thomas Aquinas, Roger Bacon,Copernicus, William Harvey,Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo,  Descartes, Isaac Newton, Robert Boyle, Rober Hooke, Carl von Linné, Charles Darwin,Michael Faraday, Edward Jenner, , Louis Pasteur,  Marie Curie, Gregor Mendel,Albert Einstein, Ernest Rutherford, Edwin Hubble, Caroline Herschel, and many, many more. 48 pages. Index and list of Key Dates in Scientific Discovery in back. CAt. #EDC-10095. $8.05-D

What Are You Figuring Now? A Story About Benjamin Banneker by Jeri Ferris. Lerner, 1988. Benjamin Banneker was a free black man, self-educated, a farmer, astronomer, and a man appointed by George Washington to help survey the city of Washington, D.C. He was also the first black man to publish an almanac. And that's only part of the story of his many accomplishments. 64 pages. BTH-2900. $4.95*

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