Thomas Edison

Getting to Know the World's Greatest Scientists & Inventors

by Mike Venezia

Meet renowned inventor Thomas Edison!

Getting to Know the World's Greatest Inventors and Scientists series combines a delightful mix of full-color historical reproductions, photos, and hilarious cartoon-style illustrations that bring to life the work and contributions of renowned scientists and inventors, combining poignant anecdotes with important factual information for readers (Ages 8-9).

This book presents the life and accomplishments of the scientist who was responsible for more than one thousand inventions, including the electric light bulb, the phonograph, and the first movie camera.

Genres: Science, Biography, Childrens

32 pages, Library Binding

First published September 1, 2008

Reviews

[JayD · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ouch, I would be terrified of placing this book in the hands of an inventive child: playing around with poisons and explosives--unsupervised. Edison was lucky that he didn't end up blind and fingerless, as well as deaf. It's one thing to be creative and curious--and a whole other to play around with phosphorus on a moving train.

Mostly, I am a huge fan of the author Mike Venezia; he is clear, amusing and writes well for children. But . . . this might be one book by him to skip, unless you are able to fill in the gap about lab security yourself. The world has enough blind and handless "home scientists" playing around with explosives in the kitchen or basement. Seriously.

[anakdenesor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a nice book..i love this series of books. Easy to read and digest. Such a fun way to read a non fiction book

[Melissa Trumbo]

Great informative book on the multi-talented inventor. Thomas Edison came up with more 1,000 inventions that helped modernize the world. I thought he invented the light bulb, he actually didn't invent it but perfected it. He made it more usable and long lasting. I also didn't know he had numerous ear infections that left him partially deaf, which hindered his performance at school. His mother ended up home schooling him. He started working at age 13 and read every book and newspaper he could get his hands on. He wanted to learn as much as he could and would conduct multiple experiments. Another invention of his was improving the way messages were sent over a telegraph wire so people wouldn't have to wait so long to receive messages. His first patented invention was the electric vote recorder, which was a big flop. Another amazing invention was the phonograph that could record and play back someone's voice. He also developed the movie camera and built the first movie studio and even made his own films.

[Amie Sergio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good access features; glossary, index, and bolded vocabulary terms within text. Illustrations contain captions. Some illustrations are cartoon-like and others are primary source photographs and documents. Book is an easy read and shares the story of Thomas Edison.