Reviews

it’s a light, multi-topic science history read which examines the stories of the objects around us, and the people who made them.

this is not the kind of book you need to read all in one go—it’s definitely something you could revisit every once in a while.

pros:

discusses history and inventors from all over the world (lots of stories about women and people of color)
interesting stories about objects that surround us every day
explanations of simpler mechanisms are effective

cons:

the book is a little repetitive. the way that the author transitions between objects can be a little fluffed out.
the book doesn't use many pictures or diagrams. instead, the audience is asked to visualize by way of written explanation. I feel the lack of images was to the book’s deficit—it made the explanations of complex machines more difficult to understand. (I had no problem with the section about nails, screws, and rivets, but Agrawal’s explanation of how gyroscopes work was incredibly difficult to follow.).

this book is more effective as a light history of objects or a collection of stories, than as a guide to how they work.

bmv0220's review against another edition

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informative inspiring medium-paced

3.75

lmneal87's review against another edition

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hopeful informative medium-paced

4.5

rob_sosnowski's review against another edition

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informative reflective medium-paced

3.25

Not bad as “history of science” books go. It was slightly disappointing that she only offered 25 pages per invention, and chose to go deep on only 1 or 2 important examples. I would have preferred 50 pages per, and a few dozen examples but only surface level, perhaps pointing to deeper references for those that want to go deep

ruthyalice's review against another edition

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informative inspiring medium-paced

4.5

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