Books in Inventions That Changed the World series

Not even a century ago, a computer took up an entire room. Today, a computer can fit inside your pocket! Over decades of technological advancement, the personal computer has shaped the world in ways that are still being determined. This powerful invention has changed everything from the way people communicate to how we entertain ourselves. With a series of fun facts, profiles, and a timeline, this title will fascinate anyone who has ever booted up.

The Wright Brothers famously made the first flight in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. But the history of human flight goes back much further! This title details the experimentation and innovation that went into the creation of the airplane. Special features highlight important airplanes as well as pioneers who had a lasting influence on the world of air travel. Buckle up and prepare for takeoff! This exciting title is sure to interest anyone with a love of planes.

Not even a century ago, a computer took up an entire room. Today, a computer can fit inside your pocket! Over decades of technological advancement, the personal computer has shaped the world in ways that are still being determined. This powerful invention has changed everything from the way people communicate to how we entertain ourselves. With a series of fun facts, profiles, and a timeline, this title will fascinate anyone who has ever booted up.

Inside the Reformation is a visual journey through the Reformation with concise text and richly designed pages. While not laid out as a traditional history book, it communicates the same information through pictures, illustrations, and short articles in a fun way. This book makes a great addition to school libraries, classrooms, and personal collections. Get the inside story of the ReformationThe PeopleLearn all about the people and everyday life during the time of the Reformation. You may have heard of Martin Luther, but who were the other people of the Reformation? How did people live in the sixteenth century?What did they do for fun? What was school like?The Ideas & EventsLearn about amazing inventions and ideas that helped shape the world as we know it today like how could Martin Luther's writings change the history of the world? What inventions helped make the Reformation possible? What events changed the course of history?

Read all about it! The history of the printing press started centuries ago. Through the years, it has been used to share news, make books more affordable, and make information more accessible. And it still helps people communicate today! This title explores the history of the printing press, from its first use in the 1300s to uses tomorrow and beyond. Readers will use fun facts, profiles, and a timeline to learn all about how this life-changing invention got its start.

Thomas Paine was one of the greatest advocates of freedom in history, and his Declaration of the Rights of Man, first published in 1791, is the key to his reputation. Inspired by his outrage at Edmund Burke’s attack on the French Revolution, Paine’s text is a passionate defense of man’s inalienable rights. Since its publication, Rights of Man has been celebrated, criticized, maligned, suppressed, and co-opted. But in Thomas Paine’s Rights of Man, the polemicist and commentator Christopher Hitchens, “at his characteristically incisive best,” marvels at its forethought and revels in its contentiousness (The Times, London). Hitchens is a political descendant of the great pamphleteer, “a Tom Paine for our troubled times.” (The Independent, London) In this “engaging account of Paine’s life and times [that is] well worth reading” he demonstrates how Paine’s book forms the philosophical cornerstone of the United States, and how, “in a time when both rights and reason are under attack,” Thomas Paine’s life and writing “will always be part of the arsenal on which we shall need to depend.” (New Statesman)

Smartphones put a camera in just about everyones pocket, but it hasnt always been so easy to take a snapshot. The 18th century brought a new innovation that allowed people to easily preserve a moment in time. That innovation carries on today! Through informative text, fun facts, and special features, this fascinating title explores how the camera was invented and how it continues to develop!

Electricity was not the invention of one individual, but the work of many over generations, from civilizations around the world. This book comprehensively covers the invention of electricity, from the cultures that tried to harness the power of lightning over centuries to Benjamin Franklin's tests with a kite and a key, the industrialization of the lightbulb by Thomas Edison, and the use of electric power today. Through sidebars, fact boxes, and colorful photographs, this book highlights the key moments, positive and negatives impacts, and technological innovations relating to one of the most revolutionary technologies today.