Inventors Science

Do you have a need for speed? Does power make your heart pound? In Zoom It, you’ll invent a gas-powered boat, a catapult, an electric car, and many other amazing moving contraptions. When it comes to inventing, your imagination has no limits!

Have you ever ridden a Ferris Wheel? Do you know who created it? George Ferris’s wheels can be found around the world today, but it wasn’t an easy path to turn his idea into a reality. Listeners will love learning the story behind the name as they follow along with George’s beginnings in civil engineering, the trouble he had convincing people the Ferris Wheel could be safe, and his eventual world-renowned success.

Learn about Johann Gutenberg and the invention of the printing press.

This audiobook tells the story of how Alexander Graham Bell came up with the telephone, and how his invention changed the way people communicate.

You can control the power of energy with your own two hands. In Harness It, you’ll invent a penny battery, a solar cooker, a trip wire, and many other energy harnessing contraptions. When it comes to inventing, your imagination has no limits!

This audiobook tells the story of Levi Strauss and the evolution of blue jeans.

If you like tinkering with widgets, wing nuts, gadgets, and gauges, you’ve picked up the right book. In Build It, you’ll invent a trash grabber, a newspaper fort, a coin sorter, and other amazing contraptions. When it comes to inventing, your imagination has no limits!

Regarded as a mechanical genius, John Joseph Merlin is sadly remembered most for a party at the Carlisle House, where he careened into the hostesses' plate glass mirror, wearing his newly invented roller skates, and playing the violin.

Why would Geoffrey Pyke propose a strange idea like building an aircraft carrier from a mixture of ice and wood pulp?

When Temple Grandin was born, her parents knew that she was different. It wasn’t until years later that she was diagnosed with autism, a brain disorder that makes communication difficult. Today, Dr. Temple Grandin is a scientist and professor of animal science at Colorado State University. Her career has revolutionized the livestock industry - each year, half the cattle in the United States are handled in cruelty-free facilities she designed. She is also a passionate advocate for autism, using her experience to prove that people with this disorder can have “normal” lives.

Learn about the history of the Printing Press with iMindsJNR audio-learning series for younger minds.

Alongside the invention of the wheel, electric light and the internet, the invention of the printing press was one of history’s great, transformative moments.

Edwin Grosvenor writes of Bell's other extraordinary inventions: the first transmission of sound over light waves, metal detector, first practical phonograph, and early airplanes, including the first to fly in Canada. He also examines Bell's humanitarian efforts, including support for women's suffrage, civil rights, and speeches about what he warned would be a "greenhouse effect" of pollution causing global warming.

In ancient China, an alchemist mixed an exploding medicine and accidentally invented gunpowder. Learn about the development of gunpowder and other explosives, like nitroglycerin and dynamite, in this fun feature.

Can you imagine having to sit still for 30 minutes just to have your picture taken? Or having to send film away to be developed? Technology has come a long way since then! Listen to learn about photography inventions like flashbulbs, Kodak and Polaroid cameras, and more!

Some kids are born missing a hand or fingers, others lose them because of accidents. Find out how people are printing artificial hands on 3-D printers to help those who need a hand. They are cheap, easy to build, and really work!

In medicine, machines can be used to take detailed pictures of bones and even to save people’s lives. Listen to learn about the marvelous machines of modern medicine, like the defibrillator, the x-ray machine, and more!

Have you ever heard of a bed that dumps you out if you try to hit snooze on your alarm clock? The “early rising machine” was one of John Muir’s many inventions. He loved to use his innovation and creativity to come up with new technology. If you could invent anything you want, what would you make?

Have you ever wished you could have Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak? At some point soon, you just might be able to get one! Scientists are experimenting with a special material that bends light so the material is concealed. They still have a long way to go, but if they succeed, it could be one of the coolest inventions of the century!

Follow along this brief history of the pursuit of perpetual motion machines and how this endeavor led to the laws of physics we have today. From Robert Park's generator-rigged bicycle, to Robert Fludd's self-running bicycle, to the steam engines of the 19th century, these stories offer a peek into some of mankind's successes and failures when it comes to the exploration of science and advancement.

Have you ever wondered where glasses came from? This book takes a fun look at the invention of glasses starting with the Greeks and Romans. Then it looks at attempts by the Spanish, Chinese, French, and even inventor Ben Franklin to improve the design.