Scientific Collaboration

Pierre and Marie Curie made a terrific scientific team. They coined the term "radioactivity" and discovered two new radioactive elements: radium and polonium. Through engaging yet accessible text, readers will follow them as they grow up in loving families dedicated to education, develop into budding scientists, get married, and launch their lab. Students will learn about the Curies' hardships and triumphs and explore how scientific discovery builds upon itself and other scientists into the future. Detailed diagrams and informative sidebars help simplify the details of important scientific concepts, such as piezoelectricity, radioactivity, and Becquerel rays.

Known as the First Family of Paleontology, the Leakey family's fascinating archaeological and paleontological finds in Africa stunned the world and reset prevailing notions about human evolution. Featuring captivating text accompanied by striking images, this book explores the Leakey family's incredible journey from their early-twentieth-century discoveries to the work of their modern-day foundation. It helps learners understand the importance of scientific collaboration. A timeline of significant scientific events and Leakey finds will help learners grasp how valuable the Leakey legacy is. Informative sidebars will draw the readers' eyes toward some of the most interesting archaeological discoveries made by the Leakey family.

Charles Babbage and Ada Byron met in 1833. He was a widowed forty-two-year-old scientist and inventor, who was trying to figure out how to get his Difference Engine built. She was the eighteen-year-old daughter of the poet Lord Byron and Lady Annabella Byron, whose marriage had disintegrated in Ada's youth. Through thoughtful narrative accompanied by direct quotes, readers will learn how in Babbage's plans for the Analytical Engine and Lovelace's algorithm lies the foundation of the computer hardware and software that would not be developed for another hundred plus years. Sidebars, a chronology, and a further reading list provide more information on this inspirational collaboration.

Biophysicist James Till and cellular biologist Ernest McCulloch changed the world when they discovered stem cells in the 1960s. Through informative images and an accessible narrative, readers will learn how differences in their upbringings, fields of study, and even personalities helped their groundbreaking work. In this extensive look at the world of stem cells, then and now, students will experience the excitement of the Canadian duo's discovery and the impact it had, as well as learn the intricacies of the scientists' laboratory work and its long-reaching effects.

Wilbur and Orville Wright are best known for their successful flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in 1903. This heavier-than-air, manned airplane changed the world. Through exciting text, captivating images, and informative sidebars, students will explore how the Wright brothers' use of aeronautical principles, trial and error, testing of components in a wind tunnel, and new approaches to the problems of flight blazed a trail for others to follow. They will discover how the brothers' ability to work together, respect one another's ideas, and support one another during times when nothing seemed to work made it possible for them to create one of the most significant inventions of modern time.

On April 25, 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick published a groundbreaking article in Nature that revealed the double helix structure of DNA. Their work was based on the findings of Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins, who were equally as brilliant yet who did not enjoy the same level of recognition for their scientific contributions. Through accessible yet captivating text accompanied by striking images, students will understand the significance of this discovery and get to know the story of the scientists who played a critical role in describing DNA, including how they worked and what motivated them in their pioneering research.