Have you ever been vaccinated against a particular disease? As children, Pearl Kendrick and Grace Eldering both suffered from whooping cough, a life-threatening illness. As adults, they worked together to create a revolutionary vaccine that saved thousands of lives each year. Eldering and Kendrick worked in a Michigan lab at a time when whooping cough was spreading around the country. Determined to stop the illness, the pair tested bacteria late into the night. Soon their new vaccine was helping children across the country. But how did they get there? Find out how Eldering and Kendrick's passion for fixing a problem led them to create an important vaccine.

Have you ever taken something apart to see how it works? As a child, Grace Hopper took apart five alarm clocks in a row, trying to figure out how all the pieces fit together. As an adult, she joined the Naval Reserve during World War II and worked on the world's first large-scale computer. After the war, Hopper served on a committee organized by the Department of Defense to create a standard computer language. That language, Common Business-Oriented Language, or COBOL, quickly became popular. How did a curious little girl grow up to become the "Grandmother of COBOL"? Learn how her outstanding innovations changed the field of computer programming.

Some vaccines may be controversial today, but undoubtedly they have saved millions of lives since their introduction. Mass inoculations began with the polio vaccine in 1952 and since then have become a part of modern life. This important volume makes vaccine technology understandable, describing the different types, how they’re administered, and their side effects and limitations. Readers will feel well-informed as they come to comprehend key topics such as herd immunity, the anti-vaccination movement, and new developments in vaccine technology, including the diseases they may treat in the future and how they’re delivered.

Have you ever dreamed of going to outer space? When Sally Ride was a little girl, she watched on TV as astronaut John Glenn launched into space. Twenty years later, she became the first American woman to go to space. Ride had loved science since she was young. Some of her teachers thought she was wasting her time studying science, but she went on to earn her PhD in astrophysics anyway. When NASA's astronaut training program opened to women, Ride quickly applied. Some people thought women couldn't handle space flight. But Ride worked hard and proved them all wrong. Later, she became a physics professor and started her own business to encourage young people to study science. Learn more about Ride's career as a NASA astronaut and educator.

Do you think science is fun and exciting? Bill Nye does. In fact, he wanted to become an astronaut, but NASA rejected his applications. Instead, Nye has spent his career helping other people understand science and showing them how cool science can be. Nye went to college to become a mechanical engineer, and he got a job working for an aircraft company. But soon, he began focusing more and more on a career in comedy. Eventually, he got his own popular TV show, called Bill Nye the Science Guy. Through songs, skits, and jokes, Nye taught a generation of young people that science is fascinating and important. Learn more about Nye's career as a comedian, TV personality, and passionate science educator.

Do you like to compete against other people? So did cybersecurity engineer Parisa Tabriz. She turned her toughness and her competitive spirit into a job as Google's top security expert. As a child, Tabriz loved to play games with her brothers—and she played to win. When she couldn't outmuscle them, she tried to outsmart them. In high school, she excelled at math and science. She also liked drawing and painting. She considered a career as an artist and even as a police officer. Years later, Tabriz became an information security engineer at Google. How did she go from battling her brothers to fighting cybercriminals at one of the world's most important tech companies? Read on to learn all about the life of Google's top security brain.

Have you ever wished that you could do something heroic to help your country? When Alan Turing was a boy, he was fascinated by math and science. Later, Turing's math skills would help Great Britain win World War II. Turing's parents and teachers thought he'd be better off dropping math in favor of more gentlemanly studies, such as literature and Latin. But he stuck with it, and by the start of World War II in 1939, he was ready to take on the biggest challenge his country faced: Nazi Germany. Turing put his advanced knowledge of math to work decoding secret German messages. His ideas not only helped Great Britain turn the tide of the war—they provided the foundation upon which much of modern computing and artificial intelligence is based.

Do you enjoy visiting animals at the zoo or playing with pets? As a child, Jane Goodall loved watching and interacting with animals. As an adult, she became a scientist working with chimpanzees in Africa. Goodall used unconventional research methods to observe chimpanzees in East Africa. She studied the chimpanzees' behavior and revealed their tool-making abilities. As Goodall grew older, she turned her attention to raising awareness about endangered species and inspiring individuals around the globe to take action. She is one of the world's best-known scientists and activists. But how did she get there? Find out how Goodall's passion for animals helped her become the face of conservationism.

What do you want to be when you grow up? When Katherine Johnson was young, women weren't expected to go into the math and science fields. Johnson loved math, but she never thought she could be a mathematician. After studying math in school and teaching for a few years, she learned that the organization that would later become NASA was hiring women to complete mathematical equations. As an African American woman, Johnson had to work hard to earn the respect of her coworkers, but they soon came to rely on her brilliant calculations. Her contributions to the US space program helped send astronauts to the moon. Learn how Johnson broke barriers as a female African American mathematician.

Presents the life of the NASA engineer and inventor, from his childhood to his invention of the Super Soaker water gun.