Bankston, John

A biography of the reclusive inventor of dynamite and the story of how he came to establish the prestigious prizes that bear his name.

Examines the life and work of Gregor Mendel, a nineteenth-century monk whose curiosity led to his discovery of the gene.

Presents a short biography on late nineteenth-century African American pianist and composer, Scott Joplin, and chronicles his life and career as one of the country's greatest composers of ragtime music.

Discusses the life of composer, performer, and band leader Duke Ellington, discussing his upbringing, his artistic talent, his decision to concentrate on music, and his rise to fame in the early twentieth century, despite racial prejudice.

Profiles nineteenth- to early twentieth-century cardiologist Willem Einthoven and discusses how he came to develop the electrocardiogram.

A biography of the twentieth-century Austrian scientist who, despite facing discrimination as a Jew and a female, made discoveries in nuclear physics which played a major part in the development of atomic energy.

Examines the life of the Nobel Prize-winning Italian physicist who, among other achievements, developed the world's first nuclear reactor as part of the effort to create the first nuclear bomb.

A biography of the German scientist responsible for developing the use of sulfa as an antibiotic in the early twentieth century.

Reviews the lives and accomplishments of Francis Crick and James Watson, who are credited with solving much of the mystery of heredity by mapping the structure of DNA.

A biography of the physicist whose theories of relativity revolutionized the way we look at space and time.