inventions

Examines Whitney's cotton gin, including the economical and historical significance of the invention.

Ellie is looking forward to making new friends at Camp Hero, but her cabinmates, the Winter twins, whose power is to freeze things, do not seems to want to play with her, so Ellie uses her parents' latest invention to make them friendly--but it backfires when the twins start fighting each other over who Ellie likes best, and Ellie realizes that forcing someone to like you is not really cool.

Ellie Ultra, third-grade superhero, is running for class president, and her opposition is her nemesis, Dex Diggs, who has got his hands on a wish machine--so when Ellie gets a glimpse of what would happen if Dex wins, she knows this is a fight for the soul and future of Winkopolis Elementary School.

Superhero Ellie Ultra is given the responsibility of caring for Squeak, the class hamster, for the weekend, which is exciting, but also a little worrying, especially since her dog, Super Fluffy, is too interested in the hamster for comfort--but when she accidentally shrinks herself down to three inches tall Ellie discovers that, even for a superhero, pet sitting is a lot harder when you are no bigger than your pet.

A chronicle of the author's life as a maker, an exploration of making and of his own productive obsessions, but it's also a permission slip of sorts from the author to the reader. Permission to grab hold of the things you're interested in, that fascinate you, and to dive deeper into them to see where they lead you. Through stories from forty-plus years of making and molding, building and breaking, along with the lessons learned along the way, this book is meant to be a toolbox of problem solving, complete with a shop's worth of notes on the tools, techniques, and materials that the author uses most often, but advice that can also serve as life lessons for a creator. This toolbox also includes lessons from many other incredible makers and creators, including: Jamie Hyneman, Nick Offerman, Pixar director Andrew Stanton, Oscar-winner Guillermo del Toro, artist Tom Sachs, and chef Traci Des Jardins. And if everything goes well, this book will hopefully save you a few mistakes (and maybe fingers) as well as help you turn your curiosities into creations, inspiring you to build, make, invent, explore, and -- most of all -- enjoy the thrills of being a creator.

Text and illustrations look at the history of how things work, focusing on why cotton candy is fluffy, how scientists built a space suit for Mars, what goes into animating cartoons, and much more.

Second-grade detectives Jigsaw, Mila, and their friends follow clues to learn who is sending threatening notes to their classmates.

For their first assignment in fourth grade Finley has to think of an invention that will help the world--but when her Supersonic Sibling Sublimator appears to work too well, and her annoying older brother vanishes, only to reappear laughing at the trick he played, Finley comes up with a new invention she is sure will be a hit.

". . . told from different perspectives, a high-energy seventh grader, his slightly older, serious sister, and their close friends enter an invention competition"--OCLC.

"A history of the key technologies that made each stage of human civilization possible details the science, engineering, mathematics, art, music, philosophy, facts and figures required for even the most clueless time traveler to build a civilization"--OCLC.