Early Book Review: Inventors: Incredible Stories of the World's Most Ingenious Inventions by Robert Winston

Inventors: Incredible Stories of the World's Most Ingenious Inventions, written by Robert Winston and illustrated by Jessamy Hawke, is currently scheduled for release on July 7 2020. The stories are as unusual as they are unique. From Mr. Kellogg, who accidentally created cornflakes after leaving grains boiling for too long, to the ancient Turkish polymath Ismail al-Jazari, who decided the best way to power a clock was with a model elephant, to Sarah E. Goode's fold-up bed space-saving solution--the inventors of this book have all used tons of creativity to find ways to improve our world. These groundbreaking inventions include the very earliest discoveries to modern-day breakthroughs in science, food, transportation, technology, toys, and more. Illustrations by Jessamy Hawke  and photography highlight the detail of the designs and hand-painted cross-sections reveal the intricacies of a robotic arm, the first plane, and the printing press. The inventors come from all walks of life and parts of the world, making this the perfect book for every budding inventor.

Inventors is a book that features a well rounded selection of inventors and innovators from through out history, and around the world. I like that so many different countries were included and that women and men were included. Some of the inventors were well known to me already, but I was glad to learn a little bit more about them, and learn about those I only vaguely knew about. I really liked learning about the inventors that I knew nothing about, and think that the book does a good job of detailing the lives and innovations of the individuals- giving readers the context to understand the lives they lived, and how that might have impacted the work they did or how hard they had to work for it. I did think that some of the illustrations were very well done, but overall I found that some of the pages were a little busy, with artwork that felt more like extras or doodles than necessary additions. The overall look will appeal to many, but I have to admit that I found it a little distracting.

Inventors is a nicely varied look at inventors from around the world, and through out time. I think it will appeal to interested readers and just might inspire some readers to work on their own ideas.