Wyckoff,
Edwin Brit. The Woman Who Invented the Thread That Stops Bullets. Enslow
2014
48p
$23.93
ISBN 978-7660-4141-7 elem
series: Genius Inventors and Their Great Ideas Biography
VG
Stephanie Kwolek, a chemist working for
DuPont Industries, invented Kevlar when she was working to develop a lightweight
polymer that would be strong enough to replace the steel fibers found in tires.
In her early
childhood her father taught her the value of patience and true listening, both
of which paid off throughout her life and work. With
photographs on almost every page and simple sentences, the author has
created a very interesting biography about a relatively unknown inventor. It is obvious that
many of the photographs are simply
fillers, although
they still relate to the text, such as the full-page photograph of
the woods on page 11. Considering the elementary-age readership, this makes some sense, but it still
seems a tad much. The text is well
written and informative. One
interesting component of the book is the “You be the inventor!” section, which walks youngsters
through the invention process from idea to patent. The book concludes with a timeline,
glossary, and index.
What keeps this from being a book of
note, for this reader, is that several of the photographs/images in the book are
pixelated or blurry. Just as in editing text, publishers should take the time to ensure that
images of all types are of an excellent quality. There is
so much software out there to ensure this, that to have subpar illustrations just shows a lack
of concern for quality.
All of the inventors in this series
will be of interest to youngsters, and these books to a good job of presenting
their biographies in a very easily read format. There may be image quality issues, but they should not detract
from the quality of the text.
Summary: Stephanie Kwolek, a chemist working for DuPont Industries, invented
Kevlar when working to develop a lightweight polymer that would be strong
enough to replace the steel fibers found in tires. In her early childhood her
father taught her the value of patience and true listening, both of which paid
off throughout her life and work.
Invention,
Biography --Lynn
Fisher
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