Book of the Week:
What a Great Idea!: Inventions That Changed the World by Stephen M. Tomecek, illus. by Dan Stuckenschneider

From SLJ April 2003 (Starred Review)

Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State University, Mankato -- School Library Journal, 4/7/2003

TOMECEK, Stephen M. What a Great Idea!: Inventions That Changed the World. illus. by Dan Stuckenschneider. 112p. diags. maps. bibliog. index. Web sites. CIP. Scholastic. 2003. Tr $18.95. ISBN 0-590-68144-3. LC 2001020937.

Gr 5-9--Rather than presenting a "how it works" compendium or a series of mini-biographies, Tomecek puts significant inventions and discoveries in a historical context. Dividing the text into five broad time periods, he offers a series of essays on important advances that occurred in each "age." For example, the Metal Age (3500 B.C.-A.D. 1) includes discussions of measurement, money, irrigation, waterwheels, and maps. Each two-page explanation provides some background and a brief description of how the invention works as well as information about its impact on society and on later discoveries. What emerges is a sense of interconnectedness that other books often lack. Especially in the early essays, the influence of Chinese, Egyptian, and other civilizations is clear. However, even the explanations of recent discoveries acknowledge that inventions seldom occur in isolation. Full-color diagrams and illustrations are well integrated into each spread, providing additional insights into the topic without cluttering the pages. Although Tomecek mentions only a fraction of the inventors and inventions covered in Roger Bridgman's 1000 Inventions and Discoveries (DK, 2002), his work not only highlights past accomplishments but also encourages further explorations.