Books in STEM Trailblazer Bios series

Do you enjoy playing computer games or learning programming code? As a child, Ada Lovelace loved learning about math and science. As an adult, she used that knowledge to create the first computer program―before electronic computers even existed! When Lovelace was a child, girls didn't typically study math. But she loved the subject and often dreamed about new machines. Lovelace learned from famous mathematicians and became friends with inventor and engineer Charles Babbage. Realizing the full potential of his calculating machines, she became a pioneer of computer programming. But how did she get there? Find out how Lovelace's determination helped her become the first computer programmer.

Have you ever been vaccinated against a particular disease? As children, Pearl Kendrick and Grace Eldering both suffered from whooping cough, a life-threatening illness. As adults, they worked together to create a revolutionary vaccine that saved thousands of lives each year. Eldering and Kendrick worked in a Michigan lab at a time when whooping cough was spreading around the country. Determined to stop the illness, the pair tested bacteria late into the night. Soon their new vaccine was helping children across the country. But how did they get there? Find out how Eldering and Kendrick's passion for fixing a problem led them to create an important vaccine.

Have you ever wished that you could do something heroic to help your country? When Alan Turing was a boy, he was fascinated by math and science. Later, Turing's math skills would help Great Britain win World War II. Turing's parents and teachers thought he'd be better off dropping math in favor of more gentlemanly studies, such as literature and Latin. But he stuck with it, and by the start of World War II in 1939, he was ready to take on the biggest challenge his country faced: Nazi Germany. Turing put his advanced knowledge of math to work decoding secret German messages. His ideas not only helped Great Britain turn the tide of the war―they provided the foundation upon which much of modern computing and artificial intelligence is based.

Have you ever taken something apart to see how it works? As a child, Grace Hopper took apart five alarm clocks in a row, trying to figure out how all the pieces fit together. As an adult, she joined the Naval Reserve during World War II and worked on the world's first large-scale computer. After the war, Hopper served on a committee organized by the Department of Defense to create a standard computer language. That language, Common Business-Oriented Language, or COBOL, quickly became popular. How did a curious little girl grow up to become the "Grandmother of COBOL"? Learn how her outstanding innovations changed the field of computer programming.

Do you enjoy snapping photos or taking movies of your adventures? So does Nick Woodman―but when he was growing up, most of his activities weren't camera-safe. Woodman was a diehard surfer. He couldn't hold a camera―or keep it dry―while he was boarding. So many of his memorable moments went unrecorded. As an adult, Woodman set out to invent a camera that's easy to use anywhere. The result was GoPro―a company that builds sturdy, waterproof, wearable cameras. GoPro cameras have been used everywhere from the ocean floor to outer space. They've captured athletic thrills, exotic journeys, and everyday moments on the go. Discover how Woodman turned his tech vision into reality.

Have you ever scrolled through a news feed on Facebook? Ruchi Sanghvi helped design this and other Facebook features. She joined Facebook―then a small Silicon Valley startup company―after moving from India to the United States to study computer engineering. With her help, Facebook quickly became one of the largest social networking sites in the world. Sanghvi was the first female engineer at Facebook, and it wasn't easy blazing a trail for women in her field. But nothing stopped her from following her dreams. Her contributions at Facebook helped connect people from around the globe. Even women from Sanghvi's home country of India used Facebook to speak out for equal rights. Discover how this young female immigrant became a top-notch engineer who changed the tech world forever.

Do you think science is fun and exciting? Bill Nye does. In fact, he wanted to become an astronaut, but NASA rejected his applications. Instead, Nye has spent his career helping other people understand science and showing them how cool science can be. Nye went to college to become a mechanical engineer, and he got a job working for an aircraft company. But soon, he began focusing more and more on a career in comedy. Eventually, he got his own popular TV show, called Bill Nye the Science Guy. Through songs, skits, and jokes, Nye taught a generation of young people that science is fascinating and important. Learn more about Nye's career as a comedian, TV personality, and passionate science educator.

Do you enjoy performing experiments or studying how the universe works? Growing up in China, Chien-Shiung Wu enjoyed learning about science. As an adult, she earned her PhD in physics and made a discovery that changed the field forever. Wu came to the United States to study physics. Soon she was a sought-after physics professor. As an expert in the field, she left teaching to work on secret government programs. She even helped disprove a major law of physics. But how did she get there? Find out how Wu's persistence drove her contributions in the field of physics.

What do you want to be when you grow up? When Katherine Johnson was young, women weren't expected to go into the math and science fields. Johnson loved math, but she never thought she could be a mathematician. After studying math in school and teaching for a few years, she learned that the organization that would later become NASA was hiring women to complete mathematical equations. As an African American woman, Johnson had to work hard to earn the respect of her coworkers, but they soon came to rely on her brilliant calculations. Her contributions to the US space program helped send astronauts to the moon. Learn how Johnson broke barriers as a female African American mathematician.

Do you like to gaze at the stars? So did the young Stephen Hawking. Eventually, he turned his fascination with the night sky into a career of trying to figure out how the universe began and how it works. As a child, Hawking loved the stars and he loved math class. In college, he studied physics and cosmology, or how the universe came to be. But then he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a disease that shuts down the nerves that control muscles. His doctors thought he had two years to live, so Hawking started working hard to meet his goals. He studied black holes and made discoveries that earned him recognition around the world. He wrote several books about the universe to help people understand his ideas. More than fifty years after his diagnosis, Hawking still has ALS, but he continues to ponder the night skies, trying to find one theory that will explain the universe.

Have you ever wished you could use technology to improve people's lives? Ever since he was a teenager, Sebastian Thrun wanted to build machines that helped people. So far, Thrun has developed robots that can be tour guides and nurses and can help save miners trapped underground. In 2004, he won a US Department of Defense contest by building a car that could drive itself. Since then, the self-driving cars he developed have been tested on more than 140,000 miles (225,308 kilometers) of road without fail! Thrun more recently developed a free website for online education and worked on Google Glass, a computer that can be worn like a pair of eyeglasses. But how did he get involved in all these cool projects? Follow his rise from a computer enthusiast to robotics innovator!

Do you like to compete against other people? So did cybersecurity engineer Parisa Tabriz. She turned her toughness and her competitive spirit into a job as Google's top security expert. As a child, Tabriz loved to play games with her brothers―and she played to win. When she couldn't outmuscle them, she tried to outsmart them. In high school, she excelled at math and science. She also liked drawing and painting. She considered a career as an artist and even as a police officer. Years later, Tabriz became an information security engineer at Google. How did she go from battling her brothers to fighting cybercriminals at one of the world's most important tech companies? Read on to learn all about the life of Google's top security brain.