School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-8-The innovative efforts of nine men and one woman are presented here. Some of the names will be familiar (Galileo, Franklin, Edison, Curie) while others will prove less so (Isambard Kindgom Brunel, Glenn Curtiss, Sergei Korolev). Starting in ancient times with Archimedes, the chronology ends in modern times with Korolev, a Soviet-era rocket designer. Each section offers a succinct yet thorough biography of the inventors. Striking graphic-novel-style art is a visual aid to draw readers into each setting and era. Life-link boxes connect the inventors to one another. In this way Gifford demonstrates how they influenced, or were influenced by, other great thinkers. With the appeal of a graphic novel, and clear language, this title will draw in reluctant readers and provide enough information for brief reports.-Anne Chapman Callaghan, Racine Public Library, WI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
Gifford opens with a look at the achievements of Archimedes, fast-forwards quickly to Galileo, Benjamin Franklin, James Watt, and other Industrial Revolution inventors, then finishes up with aviator Glenn Curtiss and rocket designer Sergei Korolev. Supplemented by caption balloons providing either quick highlights or details, the author lays out a short but coherent account of each figure's career and major discoveries. Entries for Nikola Tesla and Korolev add variety to the mix, as do closing capsule introductions to five lesser-known inventors like Clarence Birdseye and the twelfth-century Al-Jazari. Cousens draws on a comics artist's tool kit of furrowed brows, strong chins, craned necks, and dramatic perspectives to infuse his sharply drawn gallery of inventors at work with attention-grabbing intensity. Readers attuned to the visual punch of superhero comics and graphic novels will be drawn by the look of the pictures, and will likely stick around to meet some important-to-know figures in the history of science and technology.--Peters, John Copyright 2009 Booklist