100 inventions that made history

100 inventions that made history – Brilliant breakthroughs that shaped our world.
Published at DK Canada

About the Book

Applying engaging, innovative design and fun, informative text, 100 Inventions That Made History looks at the trailblazing inventions that have advanced technology and transformed the way we live, as well as the gadgets and gizmos that we couldn't live without!

Divided into five chapters — On the Move, Getting Connected, Ordinary Things, For Better or Worse, and Culture Shock — all areas of inventions are covered as well as showcasing the inspirational people who brought them to life. From antibiotics to the atomic bomb, microscopes to the microwave, and wind turbines to the World Wide Web, 100 Inventions That Made History is a discovery not to be missed.

Our Thoughts

A few years ago I had the opportunity to review 100 People Who Made History and when 100 Inventions That Made History was available to review, I knew this would be a great book for our family.   This book presents in less that 130 pages the most incredible inventions and the stories behind them.   Whether it is an essential item or something that is just nice to have, I think it is always fun to learn more on how things were made.   I used to watch a television show titled How Things Are Made and really enjoyed it.   Every once in a while, the kids and I watch some of their episodes on the net.  

The table of content is pretty detailed and you can discover with a simple glance what kind of things the book covers.  I took the liberty to list it here so you can determine if the book would be interesting for your own kids.

• On the Move – Discover how the wheel, caravel, submarine, navigational novelties, steam engine, steam locomotive, electric motor, bicycle, elevator, car, airplane, helicopter, rocket, and nuclear energy were invented.
• Getting Connected – How to we keep connected through life?   By using one of the inventions created for this like the paper, the printing press, the telegraph, braille, the phonograph, the telephone, the radio, anything that takes pictures, the television, the transistor, the microprocessor, the computer, the satellite, the telescope, the internet and the World Wide Web.
• At Your Convenience – What are the things that are part of our everyday life that you couldn’t live without them?  Not a clue?  How about the flush toilet, the pendulum clock, the light bulb, the washing machine, the vacuum cleaner, the can opener, the dishwasher, the microwave oven, the refrigerator, the plastic, the battery, the hook and eye, the safety pin, the snaps, the zipper or the velcro?
• Work and Play – In this section, you will learn more about things that were created to help our work and play like money, bar code, plow. crane, dynamite, cement, steel, glass, Kevlar, titanium, robot, lead pencil, ballpoint pen, post-it note, pocket calculator, sticky tape, blue jeans, sports shoes, musical instruments, video games, personal stereo, movies, fireworks, and chocolate.
• Medical Marvels – This specific section is very interesting if you like medical information.  My oldest son really like anything and everything medical.   In here, he can read how anesthetics, antiseptics, antibiotics, the microscope, the laser, the diagnostic devices, the aspirin, the defibrillator, the vaccination, the bionic body parts (makes me think of the Bionic Woman or the 6,000,000 Dollar Man) as well as micro machines were invented and use when treating patients.

The book is great for science and/or history lessons.   You can incorporate some of the inventions mentioned in the book when you study a specific era or an inventor as well.   Or you could simply encourage your kids to read one invention per day in order to expand their knowledge.   I also think this is a great book to have if you travel long distance with the kids in the car as it is fun and different than other kind of books.  The book is packed with photos, drawings and sketches to help you better understand how the various items included in it have been created.    Sometimes, the item presented also introduce you to other products which were created because of the one you are learning from.  For example, in the page presenting the printing press, you will discover how Johannes Gutenberg created it, which book was the first one to be printed on it, discover that the invention changed the world but that Gutenberg never made money with it, how printing is made today and how it paved the way for newspapers, magazines, paperback books and even the e-readers. 

I really enjoy reading that kind of book because you have a feeling that you are learning something when you are done with it.  This book is definitively a great addition for your personal homeschool library.

100 inventions that made history is available at your favourite bookstore like amazon.ca and amazon.com.

Disclaimer: Thanks to DK Canada for sending me the above mentioned title for review purposes. I was not monetarily compensated for this review. Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.