Similar in style and format to How the First Men Lived, (P. 641). and working through a great deal of anthropological information, this world history of inventions is a bit too tightly-packed for comprehension and retention at this age level. The first great inventions -- plows, use of animals, wheels, manufacture of clothes, written language, utilization of coal, steam, electricity etc. -- are briefly treated in one or two pages each. Again the bright drawings by Marie Neurath -- men and materials abstracted in the interests of science, decorating charts and diagrams. However, the flood of names, countries, and rapid shifting of times and places weakens the appeal of the simplification. But schools should find this useful.