How do you sum upthe world's amazing inventions in just 100 words? This striking book takes on the challenge! From helicopters to fireworks, each of the carefully chosen 100 words has its own 100-word long description and quirky illustration, providing a fascinating introduction to inspiring inventions from history to the modern day. Basically, everything you need to know in a nut shell. Along with some expected inventions, such as trains and Internet, you'll also discover less predictable inventions that will give you a fresh perspective. With balloons and submarine, you can explore the risks some inventors had to take. Through paper and pencil imagine how such seemingly simple objects would have been groundbreaking at the time of invention; whereas some inventions, such as skates, had a very funny beginning! With a clean, contemporary design, each word occupies a page of its own. A large striking illustration neatly encapsulates the accompanying 100 words of text. Editorial Reviews "Appealing fare for STEM-centric flipping and dipping."-Kirkus Reviews - From the Publisher 2021-09-15 A gallery of gadgets, gizmos, and groundbreaking innovations, from sliced bread to smartphones. Concept definitely trumps content, as Gifford introduces in no discernible order an arbitrary 100 inventions in a likewise arbitrary 100 words (more or less) apiece. For each, Gu supplies brightly hued representations of a fancifully rendered version, often being used by racially diverse groups of figures sporting stylized features and a range of skin colors. The entries go back to prehistoric times to include the wheel, scratch plow, and writing but mainly comprise more recent innovations like printing and telegraphs, bubble wrap and search engines, lasers and plastics. Amid all these usual suspects lurk some lower-profile picks, from paper bags and Kevlar to the dishwasher and Barbie dolls. All of the inventions in the previous sentence and others besides, the author notes, were invented by women--in fact, for all the brevity of his anecdotes and descriptions, he's careful to identify specific inventors whenever possible, and he also highlights any who are or were particularly young. Closing timeline notwithstanding, this isn't offering any coherent picture of the grand sweep of technological advance, but the format will draw casual browsers and collectors of random facts. 100 Things To Know About Art, by Susie Hodge and illustrated by Marcos Farina, publishes simultaneously, taking a similar approach to visual arts, covering periods, media, techniques, and more. Appealing fare for STEM-centric flipping and dipping. (index, glossary, resource lists) (Nonfiction. 8-11) - Kirkus Reviews