Curricular Resources > 1998 Volume IV > Unit 5 (98.04.05) > Section 10

American Political Thought

CONTENTS OF CURRICULUM UNIT 98.04.05

Unit Guide

Who Gets to Invent and How Do Inventors Change Our Lives

Jeanne Kimberley Chandler

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Bibliography for Teachers

Bell, Janet Cheatham, The Soul of Success, Inspiring Quotations for Entrepreneurs , John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1997 Brodie, James Michael, Created Equal, The Lives and Ideas of Black American Innovators , Quill, William Morrow, New York, 1993 Brown, Kenneth A., Inventors at Work, Interviews with 16 notable American inventors , Tempus Books of Microsoft Press, London, 1988, 388 pages ____ Burt, McKinley, Jr., Black Inventors of America , National Book Company, Oregon, 1989, 149 pages Cardwell, Donald, The Norton History of Technology , W.W. Norton and Company, New York, 1995, 565 pages A detailed look at technology over the ages, some good background to innovation and the inventors who caused change. Davies, Eryl, Pockets Inventions, Pockets Full of Knowledge , Dorling Kindersley, London, 1995, 160 pages. Excellent mini book on inventions, including a timeline of inventions. ____ Flatow, Ira, They All Laughed... From Light Bulbs to Lasers: The Fascinating Stories Behind the Great Inventions That Have Changed Our Lives , HarperCollins, New York, 1992 Gardner, Robert, Experiments With Inventions , Franklin Watts, New York, 1990 Haskins, Jim, Outward Dreams , Black Inventors and Their Inventions, Walker and Company, New York, 1991 Holt, Rackham, George Washington Carver, An American Biography , Doubleday & Company, Inc., New York, 1963, 360 pages Ingpen, Robert, and Philip Wilkinson, Ideas That Changed the World, The Greatest Discoveries and Inventions of Human History , Windows 95, Windows 3.1, 1996 (ages 6 and up). Excellent information hidden in the different chapters of this CD-ROM. The visual effects are also very informative. Jeffries, Michael, and Gary A. Lewis, Inventors and Inventions, Smithmark Publishers, New York, 1992, 64 pages. This book shows interesting inventions created by American inventors. However, the book only recounts the inventions of white Americans. Jones, Charlotte Foltz, Mistakes That Worked , Doubleday, New York, 1991, 82 pages. This book looks at inventions with an eye for those appealing to young people, such as Coca Colas and Potato Chips, and describing their origin. Includes how nursery rhymes, like “Ring Around the Rosey” came to be. Macaulay, David, The Way Things Work, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1988, 384 pages A wonderful resource with detailed pictures and explanations; appealing to older children and adults. Messadie, Gerald, Great Inventions Throughout History, Chambers, Edinburgh, 1988, 237 pages. A look at inventions throughout history ranging from fertilizer to the submarine. Originally a French publication. Rummel, Jack, Robert Oppenheimer, Dark Prince, Makers of Modern Science , Facts on File, New York, 1992, 140 pages Petroski, Henry, The Evolution of Useful Things, How Everyday Things-From Forks and Pins to Paper Clips And Zippers- Came to Be as They Are , Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1993, 287 pages. A personal favorite. A step by step look at how simple items have developed that is approached by Petroski in new light often not cast on the minute changes that affect us in large ways. Platt, Richard, Inventions explained, A Beginner’s Guide to Technological Breakthroughs , Henry Holt and Company, New York, 69 pages. Very informative book with sections on early inventions to modern inventions. Platt, Richard, Smithsonian Visual Timeline of Inventions , Dorling Kindersley, London, 1994. Excellent resource for a timeline beginning in 600,000 BC, ending in 1990. Settle, Robert B., and Pamela L. Alreck, Why They Buy, American Consumers Inside and Out , John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1986, 351 pages. An interesting look at why we buy the things we do and what marketing does to influence the consumer. Suid, Murray, How To Be An Inventor , Monday Morning Books, Inc., Palo Alto, 1993 Wood, Richard, Great Inventions , Time Life Books, Weldon Owen Production, Sydney, 1995, 64 pages. This book covers many different kinds of inventions, including those used in everyday life, transportation, and war. This book has a timeline of inventions on the right hand-side of each page. Yankee Magazine, The Inventive Yankee, From rockets to roller skates, 200 years of Yankee inventors and inventions , Yankee Books, New Hampshire, 1989.

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