BIG IDEAS That Changed the World – serie

Award-winning author/illustrator Don Brown explores the history of rocket building in this installment of the Big Ideas That Changed the World graphic novel series.“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong said those iconic words when Apollo 11 landed on the moon. But it wasn’t just one man who got us to the moon—there was a whole team of people, plus centuries of discoveries and technologies that came before that made it possible.From ancient Chinese rockets to the first steps on the moon, Rocket to the Moon! Reveals which “bombs bursting in air” inspired the writer of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” why the Russians wanted to launch a dog into Earth’s atmosphere, and how exactly astronauts are able to go to the bathroom while in a rocket far off in space!Big Ideas That Changed the World is a graphic novel series that celebrates the hard-won succession of ideas that ultimately changed the world. Humor, drama, and art unite to tell the story of events, discoveries, and ingenuity over time that led humans to come up with a big idea and then make it come true.Big Ideas That Changed the World series:Rocket to the Moon! (#1)Machines That Think! (#2)A Shot in the Arm! (#3)We the People! (#4)All Charged Up! (#5)

Award-winning author Don Brown explores computers and technology in book two of the Big Ideas series Machines That Think! explores machines from ancient history to today that perform a multitude of tasks, from making mind-numbing calculations to working on assembly lines. Included are fascinating looks at the world’s earliest calculators, the birth of computer programming, and the arrival of smartphones. Contributors discussed include Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi, Ada Lovelace, and Bill Gates. From the abacus to artificial intelligence, machines through the ages have pushed the boundaries of human capability and creativity. Back matter includes a timeline, endnotes, a bibliography, an author’s note, and an index.

Award-winning author Don Brown explores a very timely subject: the history of vaccines A Shot in the Arm!,book 3 in the Big Ideas that Changed the World series, is the history of vaccinations and the struggle to protect people from infectious disease. Beginning with smallpox--perhaps humankind's greatest affliction to date--and concluding with an overview of the COVID-19 pandemic, Brown traces the evolution of vaccines and examines deadly diseases such as measles, polio, anthrax, rabies, cholera, and influenza. The book is narrated by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, who historically popularized inoculation in England in the early 18th century. Brown covers the science behind how our immune systems work, the discovery of bacteria, and major achievements from scientists like Louis Pasteur, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, and Edward Jenner, the "father of immunology." Brown also tackles the public and political response to vaccination throughout history, addressing head-on the anti-vaccination movement and debunking false claims that vaccines cause autism. A reminder of progress made so far as well as the millions of lives still to be saved, A Shot in the Arm! is a fascinating deep-dive for readers young and old. Back matter includes an author's note, timeline, bibliography, notes, and index. Big Ideas That Changed the World isa graphic novel series that celebrates the hard-won succession of ideasthat ultimately changed the world. Humor, drama, and art unite to tell the story of events, discoveries, and ingenuity over time that led humans to come up with a big idea and then make it come true.

Award-winning author Don Brown explores the history of democracy in the United States in this installment of the Big Ideas That Changed the World series The Greek word democracy comes from demos (people) and kratos (rule)—meaning “the people hold power.” In this timely graphic novel, acclaimed author-illustrator Don Brown explores the history of democracy—from civilization’s beginnings as hunter-gatherers to the birth of monarchies and vast empires, and from the earliest republics to our present-day government.Narrated by Abigail Adams, We the People! explores how Athenian and Greek assemblies inspired our legislative and judiciary branches; how Enlightenment ideals of reason, toleration, and human progress shaped our founding fathers’ thinking; how Mali’s Manden Charter and England’s Magna Carta influenced our Bill of Rights; and how the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy directly shaped the US Constitution. Explaining the fundamentals of democracy—liberty, equality, and justice for all—in a kid-friendly way, We the People! is a powerful reminder that power rests in the people’s hands. Big Ideas That Changed the World is a graphic novel series that celebrates the hard-won succession of ideas that ultimately changed the world. Humor, drama, and art unite to tell the story of events, discoveries, and ingenuity over time that led humans to come up with a big idea and then make it come true.

Award-winning author-illustrator Don Brown explores the history of electricity in this installment of the Big Ideas That Changed the World series.  In 600 BCE, the Greek mathematician Thales observed a seemingly strange phenomenon: amber, when rubbed with a cloth, had the ability to attract lightweight objects like feathers, straw, and leaves. He had unknowingly discovered an electric charge. His experiments wouldn’t be picked back up until about 2,000 years later, when another curious mind, inspired by the Greek word for amber (elektron), declared the rubbed object to have an invisible power: electricity. From phones to light bulbs to electric cars, electricity is something we can’t live without today.  Narrated by Jagadish Chandra Bose, a Bengali pioneer in radio technology from the previous century, All Charged Up! is the fascinating story of both tireless experimentation and accidental discovery, of inspiring human progress and dramatic scientific rivalries. Full of facts and colorful historical figures, this nonfiction graphic novel highlights key inventors and breakthroughs, through the earliest discoveries to the Age of Electricity to today, including: Musschenbroek’s Leyden jar, which proved that electricity could be stored; founding father Benjamin Franklin’s famous experiment using a kite as a lightning rod (don’t try this at home!); a fierce competition between two Italian scientists that resulted in the first battery (and inspired Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein); and Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison’s War of the Currents; uses of wind and solar energy, and many more. Breaking down concepts like atoms, current, electromagnetism in a kid-friendly, accessible way, acclaimed author-illustrator Don Brown demonstrates how our world became plugged in and connected by electricity.  Big Ideas That Changed the World is a graphic novel series that celebrates the hard-won succession of ideas that ultimately changed the world. Humor, drama, and art unite to tell the story of events, discoveries, and ingenuity over time that led humans to come up with a big idea and then make it come true.

Award-winning author-illustrator Don Brown explores the science of time in It’s About Time!, part of the Big Ideas That Changed the World graphic novel seriesIn It’s About Time!, narrator Albert Einstein takes kids through time—literally. Measuring time is explored, from the stone circles and giant pyramids of ancient cultures to hourglasses and sundials to early time pieces and watches to atomic clocks.This fun and fast-moving graphic novel for young readers explains why there are 12 months a year, 24 hours in a day, 60 minutes in an hour, and 60 seconds in a minute. And seven days in the week.From Stonehenge to Greenwich Mean Time to James Hutton’s Deep Time, the book helps kids understand the passage of time, and why sometimes it seems so slow and other times way, way too fast.Also includes: Time Timeline, Who was Albert Einstein?, endnotes, and a bibliography.Big Ideas That Changed the World is a graphic novel series that celebrates the hard-won succession of ideas that ultimately changed the world. Humor, drama, and art unite to tell the story of events, discoveries, and ingenuity over time that led humans to come up with a big idea and then make it come true.Big Ideas That Changed the World series:Rocket to the Moon! (#1)Machines That Think! (#2)A Shot in the Arm! (#3)We the People! (#4)All Charged Up! (#5)It’s About Time! (#6)

This entertaining graphic novel from award winner Don Brown will get kids talking, since it's all about the history of dealing with poop, pee, and dirty hands.Part of the Big Ideas That Changed the World graphic novel series, this full-color book is appropriate for the classroom and includes a timeline, endnotes, and a bibliography.In 1895, an engineer named George Waring was appointed New York City’s first commissioner of street cleaning. His task? To make a city with millions of people livable.Narrated by Waring, Keep It Clean! explores the concept of public health, which means ensuring clean water and adequate sewage disposal for everyone, and covers topics such as personal hygiene, sewer systems, and chemical water treatment.Acclaimed author-illustrator Don Brown takes readers on a journey through history and around the world, from Greek, Roman, and Aztec aqueducts and the dawn of bathing (including social public bathing in Japan and religious bathing ceremonies in Machu Picchu) to the invention of soap in the Middle East, the first use of flush toilets approximately 4,000 years ago, and the first toilets used in outer space—a Big Idea when you consider that early astronauts on Apollo 11 had none!Full of facts and colorful historical figures, Brown chronicles both historical mishaps—like rivers full of human waste and King Henry VI’s notorious basement of poop—and monumental scientific breakthroughs including Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch’s discovery of the link between microbes (germs) and disease.Brown also highlights how social classes became divided not only by wealth and culture but also by smell, and calls attention to modern-day health crises.Today, nearly two billion people around the world live without clean water and about 3.6 billion people—nearly half of the world’s population—live without proper sanitation. Breaking down concepts in an accessible, kid-friendly way, this nonfiction graphic novel shows why “keeping it clean” is vitally important whether it’s a city, town, home, or person.Big Ideas That Changed the World is a graphic novel series that celebrates the hard-won succession of ideas that ultimately changed the world. Humor, drama, and art unite to tell the story of events, discoveries, and ingenuity over time that led humans to come up with a big idea and then make it come true.More from the Big Ideas That Changed the World series:Rocket to the Moon! (#1)Machines That Think! (#2)A Shot in the Arm! (#3)We the People! (#4)All Charged Up! (#5)It’s About Time! (#6)