STEM trailblazer bios

Presents the life of the astrophysicist, including his childhood in the Bronx, his academic career, and his status as a scientific expert.

An uplifting portrait of a leading NASA engineer describes her childhood ambition to pursue a life in science, her achievement as her university's first woman to receive a Ph. D. in her field and her pivotal role in building history-making spacecraft. --Publsiher's description.

"Growing up, Joanna L. Kelley was quizzed at the dinner table. As an adult, she's answering even tougher questions. Her research helps scientists treat tumors and understand evolution. Learn how Joanna became a genetics superstar."--

When Diana Trujillo was little, working for NASA was her greatest dream. She loved to gaze at the stars in the sky. She also enjoyed math and art. Then she learned that engineers use math and art in their work. So Trujillo decided to be a NASA engineer. Although she didn't speak English, she was determined to live her dream. Trujillo believed in herself enough to move from Colombia to the United States to learn English. After years of hard work, she...

Have you ever wondered how the universe began? Growing up, Brian Greene's father taught him to think about the world in different ways. Greene was curious about how it all worked. He set out to find answers to big science questions. At Harvard University, Greene studied physics and was named a Rhodes Scholar, an honor only the most gifted students receive. He was fascinated by the new theories explaining the universe, but he wanted to share his fascination...

Do you play video games? If you do, you've probably played a game designed by Shigeru Miyamoto. Miyamoto pioneered a new kind of game based on story and characters, rather than competition with other players. As a child, Miyamoto was fascinated by animated movies. He drew his own cartoons and designed children's toys. In college, Miyamoto studied art and design. He was hired as an artist at Nintendo, a toy company that was just starting to make video...

Ada Lovelace loved math and dreaming about new machines. She became friends with inventor and engineer Charles Babbage and realized the full potential of his calculating machines. Find out how Lovelace's determination helped her become the first computer programmer.

After earning degrees studying animal behavior, Danielle Lee wanted to share her love of science with young people. Through urban outreach she has brought budding scientists into professional labs. She's walked them through the steps of the scientific method. And she's shown them that science doesn't have to be intimidating. In her popular Urban Scientist blog, Lee shares backyard science and outreach work. She also writes about her own research and...

"Jean Bartik was one of the first programmers of the Electronic Numeric Integrator and Computer (ENIAC). Learn how her love of math led her to work for the Army and then help develop the ENIAC."--

As a kid, Lonnie Johnson liked to invent things. He often faced prejudice as an African American growing up in the segregated southern United States, but he eventually became an engineer for the US Air Force and NASA. He was working on a different invention when he came up with the idea for a new type of water gun. Johnson knew his toy was more powerful than other squirt guns, he just needed to find a way to make the Super Soaker available to kids...