THIS BOOK WILL MAKE YOU A SCIENTIST

An inclusive gallery of historical scientists and inventors paired to projects or experiments related to their achievements offers inspiration to budding STEM-winders.

Decisively countering the notion that science is the exclusive domain of white men, more than half of Kanani’s 25 selected figures are women and more than half of them are people of color. Arranging her short profiles in chronological order, she begins in ancient Mesopotamia with perfume maker Tapputi-Belatekallim, the first named chemist, and ends with Indian aerospace engineer Ritu Karidhal, who helped design a probe her country sent to Mars. Still, most of the names here, from Archimedes to Mary Anning and Jane Goodall, are or should be widely familiar, and her pithy summaries of their significant achievements or discoveries offer sturdy rationales for their appearances on any roster of science greats. Each entry also includes directions for a relevant activity, and though some seem perfunctory—stepping outside at night to look for meteor showers in honor of astronomer Caroline Herschel, for instance—most do offer at least elementary challenges and sometimes surprising results, for all that they employ common household materials. Surrey alternates portraits of serious-looking scientists posing in historical dress or laboratory settings with views of racially diverse groups of modern young researchers busily at work together or alone. In an introductory pep talk the author invites young readers to prepare to do science by sharpening their senses of curiosity and, realistically, expecting failures on the road to success. Savvy advice, no matter the field of enquiry.

Encouraging and unusually broad in historical scope.