With a Little Luck: Surprising Stories of Amazing Discoveries
Grade 6 Up–This anthology documents the lives and work of scientists whose intelligence, mixed with a bit of luck, led to groundbreaking discoveries: anesthesia, vulcanized rubber, penicillin, Pluto, bacteria, nuclear fission, and more. There is a good balance of text and images, and particularly notable is the author's gift of brevity. Grayscale reproductions of relevant photographs and sketches appear throughout. Fradin's writing is engaging. He concludes with Alex Wolszczan's 1990 discovery of millisecond pulsars to make his point: Discoveries are still being made. Readers are invited to welcome serendipity and be vigilant to follow up and explore where it may lead.–Jodi Kearns, University of Akron, OHCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.