Stephanie Kwolek has passed away at the age of 90

Stephanie Kwolek, the American chemist who invented Kevlar®, has passed away.

Countless lives have been saved using products made with Kevlar®, a superstrong fiber invented by Stephanie Kwolek. From bullet-resistant vests to brake pads, her efforts have made the world a safer place.

Written for the upper elementary reader, this title (and the others in the Genius Inventors and Their Great Ideas series) are available in library, paperback, and ebook formats, and can be purchased through your preferred vendor, local bookstores, enslow.com, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.

On this day in 1893, the first open heart surgery was performed

Or so I thought. Then I started looking into it. Doctor Daniel Hale Williams, an African-American physician,  repaired a wound to the pericardium (the sac surrounding the heart), but did not operate on the heart itself. It also appears that this was not the first time this type of operation was done. Approximately two years earlier, another physician by the name of Henry Dalton performed a nearly identical procedure.

Vivien Thomas, subject of an Enslow Elementary title, was not a physician, but worked with Alfred Blalock, including assisting Blalock in an operation on the first blue baby syndrome case in November 1944. The two worked together for many years. Even though Vivien Thomas never received his medical degree, he trained many aspiring surgeons using his efficient surgery techniques.

Posted by Pam.

Today is National Video Game Day!



Library ISBN 978-0-7660-3450-1
Grades 3-4

 One day, a television engineer named Ralph Baer began to wonder whether our TVs would be able to play games with us. His experiments led to the development of the first video game console, marketed by Magnavox as Odyssey. Honored by President George W. Bush as the father of video games, Baer is still at work developing new ideas.

Part of the "Genius at Work! Great Inventor Biographies", other titles in this elementary series include biographies on W. K. Kellogg, Les Paul, George Ferris, Igor Sikorsky, Vivien Thomas, James Naismith, Stephanie Kwolek, and more!

Video Games

I bet video games are on your Christmas shopping list. I know they're on mine. Still popular with kids and adults, the first video game was invented by Ralph Baer in 1968 and looked more like a console covered with brown wood-grain paper. It was stuffed with three hundred parts and could run several simple games. It wasn't until 1970 when Magnavox, a leading TV set manufacturer, offered to pay Baer royalties to develop and market his game ideas that his work finally paid off. Baer's first check in the amount of $100,000 was presented to him in the hospital where he was waiting for an operation.

Enslow's title The Guy Who Invented Home Video Games: Ralph Baer and His Awesome Invention is part of our Genius at Work Great Inventor Biographies series. If your school or library hosts a gaming program, you may want to introduce this title to your participants so they can have a better understanding as to how millions of video games today are the result of Ralph Baers lone question, "What Else Can a TV Do?"

James Naismith would have celebrated a birthday today

Who was James Naismith? He was the inventor of basketball! He was told to invent an indoor game, and had two weeks to create it. He wanted a fun and fast game, not wanting  it to be risky, like football or rugby, and he didn't want it to be rough, so that the participants would get hurt. As a child, he used to play duck on a rock, which was the inspiration for his new creation of basketball. Want to learn more about duck on a rock and James Naismith? Click here.

The Cornflake King: W. K. Kellogg and His Amazing Cereal

The Cornflake King: W. K. Kellogg and His Amazing Cereal, by Edwin Brit Wyckoff has been published.

W.K. Kellogg was working as a salesman and accountant for his brother's health food company when one day a mistake produced a different-tasting cereal flake. Despite his brother's objections, W. K. Kellogg did some more experimenting and developed Kellogg's Corn Flakes. His advertising methods made the cereal world-famous and made his name synonymous with breakfast.

32 pages, full color, Enslow Publishers, Inc.
ISBN-13: 978-0-7660-3448-8

http://www.enslow.com/displayitem.asp?type=1&item=3072

Others covered in the Genius At Work! Great Inventor Biographies series are: Samuel Colt (revolver); Thomas H. Gallaudet (sign language); Igor Sikorsky (helicopters); W.K. Kellogg (cereal); Les Paul (electric guitar); George Ferris (Ferris wheel), Ralph Baer (video games); Madam C.J. Walker (hair care); Vivian Thomas (heart surgery); Theodore H. Maiman (lasers); James Naismith (basketball); Stephanie Kwolek (Kevlar); and Philo T. Farnsworth (television).

The Man Behind the Gun: Samuel Colt and His Revolver

The Man Behind the Gun: Samuel Colt and His Revolver, by Edwin Brit Wyckoff has been published.

Until the late nineteenth century, guns took a long time to load and could only make one shot at a time. But Samuel Colt invented a hand gun that held six bullets and could be fired without reloading every time. This changed weaponry forever.

32 pages, full color, Enslow Publishers, Inc.
ISBN-13: 978-0-7660-3446-4

http://www.enslow.com/displayitem.asp?type=1&item=3131
Others covered in the Genius At Work! Great Inventor Biographies series are: Samuel Colt (revolver); Thomas H. Gallaudet (sign language); Igor Sikorsky (helicopters); W.K. Kellogg (cereal); Les Paul (electric guitar); George Ferris (Ferris wheel), Ralph Baer (video games); Madam C.J. Walker (hair care); Vivian Thomas (heart surgery); Theodore H. Maiman (lasers); James Naismith (basketball); Stephanie Kwolek (Kevlar); and Philo T. Farnsworth (television).

Sign Language Man: Thomas H. Gallaudet and His Incredible Work

Sign Language Man: Thomas H. Gallaudet and His Incredible Work, by Edwin Brit Wyckoff has been published.

When he was a young man, Thomas Gallaudet saw a young girl who could not hear, and he taught her how to spell "hat" and her name, "Alice." The girl's father encouraged him to start a school for the deaf. Gallaudet traveled to Europe, where he learned French sign language. He became instrumental in the development of American Sign Language, or ASL, and the teaching of the deaf.

32 pages, full color, Enslow Publishers, Inc.
ISBN-13: 978-0-7660-3447-1

http://www.enslow.com/displayitem.asp?type=1&item=3132

Others covered in the Genius At Work! Great Inventor Biographies series are: Samuel Colt (revolver); Thomas H. Gallaudet (sign language); W.K. Kellogg (cereal); Igor Sikorsky (helicopters); Les Paul (electric guitar); George Ferris (Ferris wheel), Ralph Baer (video games); Madam C.J. Walker (hair care); Vivian Thomas (heart surgery); Theodore H. Maiman (lasers); James Naismith (basketball); Stephanie Kwolek (Kevlar); and Philo T. Farnsworth (television).

Helicopter Man: Igor Sikorsky and His Amazing Invention

Helicopter Man: Igor Sikorsky and His Amazing Invention, by Edwin Brit Wyckoff has been published.

Leonard da Vinci drew pictures of helicopters; Wilbur Wright said they would never work. But Igor Sikorsky proved him wrong, inventing the first working helicopter and building the company that still bears his name. Many period photos of Sikorsky and his trademark fedora hat.
32 pages, full color, Enslow Publishers, Inc.ISBN-13: 978-0-7660-3445-7

http://www.enslow.com/displayitem.asp?type=1&item=3130

Others covered in the Genius At Work! Great Inventor Biographies series are: Samuel Colt (revolver); Thomas H. Gallaudet (sign language); W.K. Kellogg (cereal); Les Paul (electric guitar); George Ferris (Ferris wheel), Ralph Baer (video games); Madam C.J. Walker (hair care); Vivian Thomas (heart surgery); Theodore H. Maiman (lasers); James Naismith (basketball); Stephanie Kwolek (Kevlar); and Philo T. Farnsworth (television).

On this day in history

TV pioneer Philo T. Farnsworth succeeded in transmitting an image through purely electronic means by using a device called an image dissector.

In The Teen Who Invented Television, Edwin Brit Wyckoff shows how Farnsworth, a fifteen-year-old farmer's son, dreamed of using electrons carried by radio waves to create the first electronic television and went on to develop over 100 other patents.

On this day in 2009

Guitar virtuoso Les Paul died at age 94.

Today would have been Les Paul's birthday

Electric Guitar Man The Genius of Les Paul
Author: Edwin Brit Wyckoff
ISBN-13: 978-0-7660-2847-0

Publication Year: 2008
Interest Level: Grades 3-4
Page Count: 32

Without the electronic guitar invented by Les Paul, music would never have been the same. In this biography of Paul's life and career, Edwin Brit Wyckoff shares how the rambunctious boy from Waukesha, Wisconsin, was propelled to stardom by his unrivaled playing ability and technological prowess. Revered by generations of musicians and fans, Paul and his inventions have forever changed the way music is produced, recorded, and enjoyed.

Today would have been Igor Sikorsky's birthday

Coming in the fall, Enslow will add a biography of Igor Sikorsky to it's list. This biography, part of our Genius at Work! Great Inventor Biographies series, is geared toward grades 3–4.