The Young Scientists Series

by Nury Vittachi

Scientists are often presented as old men in white coats, but this series shows that great discoveries have been made by people of all ages and cultures –  some are young, and many are female.

Free downloadable and editable worksheets with activities which can be used in school (extensive or class reading periods) or at home.

Volume 1: Secrets in the Rocks — Five Astounding Tales of People Solving Mysteries Beneath Our Feet:

• The Girl Who Found a Flying Dragon (Mary Anning)

• The Boy Who Went Searching for Giants (Georges Cuvier)

• Love, Rocks and the First Dinosaur (Mary Morland)

• The Bug Boy Solves a Huge Mystery (Louis Agassiz)

• The Woman Who Saw Deep into the Earth (Inge Lehman)

Volume 2: Fabulous Physics — Five Amazing Stories of People Who Solved Nature's Puzzles:

• The Man Who Saw a Living Skeleton (Wilhelm Rontgen)

• The Servant Girl Who Beat Einstein (Marie Curie)

• The Boy Who Climbed to the Top (Abdus Salam)

• The Quiet Queen of Physics (Wu Chien-Shiung)

• The Boy Who Secretly Read the Books He Was Binding (Michael Faraday)

Volume 3: Magical Mathematics — Five Astonishing Stories of People Who Did Miracles with Numbers:

• The Girl, the Pearl and the Not-So-Sad Story (Lilavati)

• The Boy with No Birthday (Carl Gauss)

• The Math Girl Who Stunned the World (Philippa Garrett)

• The Penniless Youth Who Amazed the Professors (Srinivasa Ramanujan)

• The Good Witch Who Made an Amazing Decision (Maria Agnesi)

Volume 4: Breakers of Barriers — Five Stunning Stories of People Demolishing Walls to Make History:

• The Unloved Teenager Who Found Her Place (Ada Byron Lovelace)

• The Scientist and the Secret in the Ancient Book (Tu Youyou)

• The Impossibly Young Doctors (Balamurali Ambati and Sho Timothy Yano)

• The Motherless Child Who Solved His Father's Problem (Blaise Pascal)

• The Girl Torn Between Two Careers (Rachel Carson)

Volume 5: Scientific Pioneers — Five Incredible Tales of People Who Helped Develop the Scientific Method:

• The Woman Who Hid the Moon (Aglaonike)

• The Man Who Stayed in His House for Ten Years (Al-Haytham)

• The Boy Who Was Curious All His Life (Shen Kuo)

• The Grumpy Nun Who Was Forbidden to Sing (Hildegard of Bingen)

• The Boy Who Sorted Out the Living World (Carl Linneaus)

Volume 6: The Amazing Quantum — Five Awesome Stories of People Who Made a Revolution in Physics:

• The Boy Who Didn't Listen to His Teacher (Max Planck)

• How a Compass Inspired a Genius (Albert Einstein)

• The Boy Secretly Reading a Book Behind His School Desk (Wolfgang Pauli)

• The Student Whose Schools Kept Closing (T D Lee)

• The Boy Who Had a Dispute with His Father (John von Neumann)

Volume 7: The Science of Humanity — Five Fascinating Stories of People Who Helped Us Understand Ourselves:

• The Boy Who Found Different Ways of Thinking (Jean Piaget)

• The Woman Who Taught Us Love and Remembrance (Artemisia)

• The Mother with Six Boys and Six Girls (Lillian Gilbreth)

• The Girl Born in the Shadow of the Moon God (Enheduanna)

• The Explorer Girl Who Travelled Far Without Leaving Home (Alice Hamilton)

Volume 8: Women of Discovery — Five Super Stories of Fab Females Who Made Scientific History:

• The Girl Who Found Her Sisters on the Other Side of the World (Harriet Noyes)

• The First Woman Doctor in History (Merit Ptah)

• The Girl Who Had to Hide Behind a Man's Name (Sophie Germain)

• The Murderous Princess Who Found Salvation (Anna of Byzantium)

• The Bug Hunter Who Dreamed of the Jungle (Maria Merian)

Volume 9: The Inventor's Spark — Five Marvelous Stories of People Who Helped Shape the Modern World:

• The Boy Who Combined a Bike and a Train to Invent the Car (Karl Benz)

• The Failed Doctor Who Sparked an Idea (John Walker)

• The Woman to Thank If You Like Chocolate (Mary the Alchemist)

• The Man in the Burning House (Garrett Morgan)

• The Boy Who Lost His Chance but Got It Back (Gregorio Zara)

Volume 10: Advances in Alchemy — Five Startling Stories of Chemistry and Biology:

• The Strange Adventures of Doctor Poison (F F Runge)

• The Young Woman Who Was Forgotten (Rosalind Franklin)

• The Girl in the Chamber of Corpses (Alessandra Giliani)

• The Farm Girl Who Made Your Milk Safe (Alice Evans)

• A Tasty Treat Found by Accident (Frank Epperson)

Volume 11: The Call of the Stars — Five Wonderful Stories of People Looking to the Heavens:

• The Boy Who Decoded the Dance of the Stars (Jeremiah Horrocks)

• The Poet–Scientist Who Detected an Earthquake (Zhang Heng)

• The Farm Boy Who Saw the Galaxies Flying Away (Vesto Slipher)

• The Girl Who Named the Stars in the Sky (Annie Jump Cannon)

• The Boy Who Understood Einstein (Michio Kaku)

Volume 12: The Mystery of Nature's Laws — Five Striking Stories of People Investigating the Deepest Puzzles of Reality:

• The Girl at the Back of the Boys-Only Classroom (Amalie Emmy Noether)

• The True Story of the Philosopher's Stone (Jabir Ibn Hayyan)

• The Bullied Boy Who Fought Back (Isaac Newton)

• The Teenager Who Saw the Light (Galileo Galilei)

• What We Learn from the Strange Tale of the Human Computer (Shakuntala Devi)