Albert Einstein: his name has become a synonym for genius. His wild case of bedhead and playful sense of humor made him a media superstar—the first, maybe only, scientist-celebrity.
He wasn’t much for lab work—in fact he had a tendency to blow up experiments. What he liked to do was think—not in words, but in “thought experiments.” What was the result of all his thinking? Nothing less than the overturning of Newtonian physics.
Once again, Kathleen Krull delivers a witty and astute look at one of the true Giants of Science, and the turbulent times in which he lived.
Sure, almost all kids know Benjamin Franklin as one of America’s Founding Fathers, a man with a hand in both the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution. And they may even have some vague idea that he once flew a kite during a lightning storm. What Kathleen Krull sets out to do in this very different biography is show Ben Franklin as the “natural philosopher” (the term for scientists back in the 1700s), whose experiments led to important discoveries about the nature of electricity—including his famous demonstration that electricity and lightning were one and the same.
As always, this much-lauded series presents a true Giant of Science in a juicily anecdotal way. This is social history at its best … who knew that Franklin became such a megastar that Paris shops sold Ben dolls, Ben ashtrays, and even Ben wallpaper?
Witty and engaging, this is a worthy addition to the Giants of Science series.
By blending historical details with "amusing anecdotes that put flesh and blood on dry literary bones," best-selling kids author Kathleen Krull "knows exactly how to captivate her audience" (Publishers Weekly). In this playful look at hair, Krull draws upon centuries of hairy history-including the fake beards of Egyptian queens, the hair-filled medicine of the Incas, and the diverse wigs of Queen Elizabeth I-to show just how hair-brained people can be.
All his life, Charles Darwin hated controversy. Yet he takes his place among the Giants of Science for what remains an immensely controversial subject: the theory of evolution.
Darwin began piecing together his explanation for how all living things change or adapt during his five-year voyage on the HMS Beagle. But it took him twenty years to go public, for fear of the backlash his theory would cause.
Once again, Kathleen Krull delivers a witty and astute picture of one of history’s greatest scientists.
One minute you can't live without them . . . the next minute you don't want them breathing your air! Siblings everywhere will relate to this humorous look at famous brothers and sisters whose important bonds have shaped their accomplishments . . . (mostly) for the better.
They blame you when they get in trouble. They seem like your parents' favorite. They are the only enemy you can't live without. Almost everyone has a juicy story about their siblings-even famous people. Meet those who got along, those who didn't, and everyone in between!
* Demi Lovato and her sister
* Tennis superstars Serena and Venus Williams
* Walt and Roy Disney
* Princes William and Harry
* Stephen Colbert and his eleven older siblings
* Quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning
* The Jacksons (Michael, Janet, and family)
* Reality TV sensations, the Gosselins
* Queen Elizabeth I and the queen who history remembers as Bloody Mary
* Conjoined twins Chang and Eng Bunker
* John Wilkes Booth (the man who assassinated Abraham Lincoln) and his brother Edwin
* Vincent and Theo van Gogh
* Airplane inventors, the Wright brothers
* The Romanovs
* The Kennedys
Oh, brother! This could get ugly. . . .
Harvesting Hope is an ALA Notable book. As a young boy, Cesar lived happily on his family's ranch in Arizona. But when a severe drought lost them the entire crop, his family also lost their home. With thousands of other unlucky families, the Chavez's moved to California where they lived in poverty and worked as migrant workers. It bothered Cesar greatly that the workers were treated like slaves by the landowners. So he organized the workers and marched to the state capital in protest.
Award-winning author Kathleen Krull celebrates our most important Hispanic civil rights leader.
Cesar Chavez is known as one of America’s greatest civil rights leaders. When he led a 340-mile peaceful protest march through California, he ignited a cause and improved the lives of thousands of migrant farmworkers. But Cesar wasn’t always a leader. As a boy, he was shy and teased at school. His family slaved in the fields for barely enough money to survive.Cesar knew things had to change, and he thought that—maybe—he could help change them. So he took charge. He spoke up. And an entire country listened.
Kathleen Krull has received numerous accolades from publications such as Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal for her biographies for young readers. Here she profiles Sir Isaac Newton-the father of calculus and the man who pioneered studies of gravity. Krull details Newton's lonely childhood, his education, and his sometimes tumultuous relationship with contemporaries in this captivating and concise look at one of history's greatest geniuses.
Kathleen Krull’s biographies for young readers have received accolades from publications such as Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal, and here she profiles Sir Isaac Newton—the father of calculus and the man who pioneered studies of gravity
What was Isaac Newton like? Secretive, vindictive, withdrawn, obsessive, and, oh, yes, brilliant. His imagination was so large that, just “by thinking on it,” he invented calculus and figured out the scientific explanation of gravity. Yet Newton was so small-minded that he set out to destroy other scientists who dared question his findings.
This compelling portrait of Newton, contradictions and all, places him against the backdrop of 17th-century England, a time of plague, the Great Fire of London, and two revolutions. Krull details Newton’s lonely childhood, his education, and his sometimes tumultuous relationship with contemporaries in this captivating and concise look at one of history’s greatest geniuses.
Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks are mind-boggling evidence of a fifteenth-century scientific genius standing at the edge of the modern world, basing his ideas on observation and experimentation. This book will change children's ideas of who Leonardo was and what it means to be a scientist.
New York Times best-selling author Kathleen Krull is known for compelling children's biographies like Harvesting Hope), a Jane Addams Award winner. Her concise yet informative Leonardo da Vinci presents a vivid and highly accessible portrait of a true renaissance man- an artist, scientist, and inventer of unparalleled genius. Themes include homosexuality.
Not all governments have been run by men. Lives of Extraordinary Women turns the spotlight on the women who have wielded power, revealing their feats-and flaws-for all the world to see. Here you'll find twenty of the most influential women in history: queens, warriors, prime ministers, first ladies, revolutionary leaders. Some are revered. Others are notorious. But they were all real people with private interests and personalities. What were they really like? What did they do for fun? Did their neighbors gossip about them? What were their tragedies and their triumphs? In this grand addition to their highly praised series, Kathleen Krull and Kathryn Hewitt celebrate some of the world's most noteworthy women-including Elizabeth I, Harriet Tubman, Eva Peron, Eleanor Roosevelt. Wild or mild, hated or beloved, each of these women dared to stand up and be a leader. Recommended for Grades 4 and up.
