Innovators

“A must-read for science educators! These vivid vignettes of creative, pioneering scientists tell the surprising backstory of their work, which often included hardships, ridicule, and outright persecution. Importantly, their perseverance and how their discoveries influenced scientific thinking are at the heart of each portrait. Every enlightening chapter conveys the very human nature of scientific thinking and progress.”—Steven R. Heidemann, Professor Emeritus, Dept. Physiology, Michigan State Univ.; Merle L. Heidemann, Senior Specialist Emerita,  Division of Science and Math Education,  Michigan State Univ.

“Don Kirsch’s book is an eye-opening and insightful window into that curious process whereby remarkable innovations and incredible insights can nonetheless take years to be accepted—and then be considered commonplace. This is how science works, and this is how it has been so innovative for the last 400 years, but it is generally hidden from public view by mythologized historical narratives. This selection of some of the most creative ideas in the history of human thought is an important corrective to that distorted view as well as a fascinating insider’s read.”—Stuart Firestein, Professor of Neuroscience , Columbia University and Fractal Faculty, Santa Fe Institute  

“We take for granted many innovations, but once established the struggles of the scientists who gave birth to them are soon forgotten. Donald Kirsch takes a retrospective look at key inventions and the trials of nonacceptance, stigma, and disbelief  their authors faced. He provides a real-world view of the struggles they surmounted in bringing  novel ideas to the world."—Eric Gordon, Adjunct Professor, Stanford University

“With fascinating biographies and revealing histories that tell where new ideas come from and how they become accepted, Innovators recounts the stories of scientists, some little known and some famous, who persisted in finally convincing a skeptical world that their novel ideas were true. This book should be in school and college libraries to inspire students, and community public libraries to inspire adults. These examples demonstrate that innovation is tough, but with perseverance, it may be rewarded.”—David E. Axelrod, Professor, Rutgers University

"In Innovators, Donald Kirsch shares stories of great discoveries in biology, chemistry, physics, geology, and environmental science, each of which was delayed, suppressed, and/or ignored with respect to making it known just how much of an advance each of the discoveries represented. . . .  I learned a lot of science by reading this book and feel that my understanding of many of the systems described has been greatly improved by reading it." —James J. Smith, professor emeritus Michigan State University, The American Biology Teacher