Sally Ride soared into outer space on the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1983, the youngest astronaut and the first U.S. woman in space. Just 32 years old that year, this California girl was already an accomplished astrophysicist when NASA chose her. Since then, she has written several books introducing young readers to the subject of space exploration and encouraging them to study the sciences.
From the earliest times humans have shaped and changed the landscape. Historical and modern-day examples in this interesting book show how natural habitats and wilderness areas are destroyed as people need more land for farming and to build towns and cities, and how increasing urbanization of populations is adding to the problem of carbon emissions that cause climate change.
Culture gives humans a sense of identity. This title examines how cultures around the world mix and change in response to migration and settlement. This fascinating book examines examples from history including: the slave trade and the impact of African culture on North America and then the world; the forcing of Native Americans to adopt European culture; and the cultural interchange between the British Empire and India.
This intriguing book explores the reasons why people migrate: pushesinvoluntary migrationsand pullsvoluntary migrations. Historical migrations examined include: the slave trade; the relocation of Native Americans; migrations due to famine in Africa; migrations linked to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq; the Irish potato famine; the migrations of Jews around the world; and the Great Migration of African Americans from the south to the north.
Sonia Sotomayor became a household name when President Barack Obama nominated her to the United States Supreme Court in 2009. Her confirmation made her the country's first Hispanic Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. But even before that, Sonia was an inspiration to others. Sonia Sotomayor has built a life as a jurist, activist, and mother, committed to the rights and advancement of people of all backgrounds and ethnicities.
Irena Sendler was born into a Catholic family in Poland in 1910. Throughout the German occupation in World War II, Irena worked tirelessly to help save Polands Jews from the Nazi horror. Irena saved at least 2,500 Jewish children from certain death during the Holocaust. By the time of her death in 2008, Irena had been honored by the governments of Poland and Israel, Pope John Paul II, and many of those she had rescued.
With the founding of his own newspaper, Garrison used the paper and his association with other abolitionists to advocate for the immediate and complete freeing of all slaves. Through his editorials, he became a symbol of the abolitionist movement by pointing out the hypocrisy of the countrys actions versus the ideals set out by the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
Harriet Tubman served as an abolitionist, emancipator of slaves, military spy, and advocate for womens rights. Tubman helped lead more than seventy slaves out of captivity and guide them to freedom along the Underground Railroad. When Civil War broke out, Tubman guided an expedition of Union soldiers on a raid in South Carolina that freed over seven hundred slaves.
John Brown joined the side of free-staters in the conflict in the Kansas Territory, fighting to have Kansas enter the Union as an anti-slavery state. History has shown that his actions and the reactions to them were among the most potent precursors of the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861.
Sojourner Truth lived a truly remarkable life. She had the ear of President Abraham Lincoln and fellow abolitionists Frederick Douglass, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and William Lloyd Garrison. One of the most persuasive and influential activists of her day, Truth was also an effective recruiter of African Americans into the Union army during the Civil War.
Born into slavery, Douglass became an eloquent spokesperson for both blacks and womens rights. During and after the Civil War, Douglass became a confidant of presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson. Douglass also argued for African Americans to be allowed to join the Union army in the fight for their own freedom.
Following the passage of a law that made it a crime to aid in the escape of slaves, Stowe lent her actions and her words to the effort to help slaves and put an end to slavery. She actively aided fugitive slaves and, with the publication of the anti-slavery novel Uncle Toms Cabin, focused the nations consciousness on the inhumanity of slavery.
In 1912, German meteorologist Alfred Wegener proposed that the continents were once a single land mass but had slowly moved apart over millions of years. This fascinating book examines the scientific process behind Wegener's theory and how it challenged prevailing views of the time. Learn how years after Wegener's death his theory was embraced by scientists and is now the basis for modern earth science.
Learn how John Dalton developed his influential theory that explains the shape, structure, and behavior of atoms. This title also explores how Dalton's major breakthrough made later discoveries, such as atomic fission, possible.
In this colorful book, students will learn about the roles and relationships of the heroes and gods in ancient Roman myths and legends. Several ancient Roman myths are retold, describing how these stories helped ancient people interpret their world.
In this colorful book, students will learn about the roles and relationships of the heroes and gods in ancient Chinese myths and legends. Several ancient Chinese myths are retold, describing how these stories helped ancient people interpret their world.
In this colorful book, students will learn about the roles and relationships of the heroes and gods in ancient Greek myths and legends. Several ancient Greek myths are retold, describing how these stories helped ancient people interpret their world.
This amazing book provides a snapshot of the arts and cultures across various ancient civilizations. Read about: Egypt's pyramids, temples, royal tombs, and palaces; Chinese games and pastimes; Rome's sports arenas-the Colosseum and Circus Maximus.
The scientific contributions of the early Islamic empires to science, medicine, and mathematics is considerable. This revealing book explores: their public hospitals, libraries, and universities; their achievements in mathematics and astronomy, and the pursuit of alchemy; Arabic numbers; optics; music and musical instruments; poetry; and education.
This informative book describes how the Muslim religion started, including the life of the Prophet Muhammad; the Hegira and Kaaba; caliphs; the split of the Sunni and Shi'a and the beliefs of both; Sufism; the Muslim calendar; key events that are remembered in Islam today; and the Hajj, or pilgrimage to Makkah.
Why do people migrate to and settle in the places they do? Fascinating examples from history help explain the determining factors of migration. Readers will fascinated to read about the settling the Nile in ancient Egypt; the Industrial Revolution in Britain; the opening up of the American West; the Gold Rush; and the colonization of Australia.
With fossil fuels and water running out, and temperatures and sea levels rising due to climate change, whole communities will need to move and resettle. How will human migrations on this scale be managed in our modern world? This foreward-looking book explores these important issues as well as the solutions being put forward by politicians, experts, NGOs, and private citizens.
As our world becomes smaller, how do governments and citizens manage and react to migration and settlement? Themes explored in this intriguing book include: rights and lawsfreedom of movement across borders, human rights, seeking asylum, and immigration controls; the different types of migrantsasylum seekers, refugees, illegal immigrants, the undocumented labor force; coping with migrationmigrants need safety, schooling, health care, and housing.
In the days before performance-enhancing substances, the great Hank Aaron hit a career-record 755 home runs, a mark he held for 33 years. Hammerin' Hank began his baseball career in the Negro Leagues when black players were still banned from Major League Baseball. Hank played for 23 years in Milwaukee and Atlanta and made the All-Star team in both the National and American Leagues for 20 straight years.
Dolores Huerta grew up in a climate charged by political activism. Fueled by her own contact with migrant farm workers, most of them Mexican immigrants with virtually no access to the system of labor laws and conditions under which they lived and worked, Dolores became an outspoken activist and organizer. She founded the United Farm Workers in 1962 with legendary Mexican American labor leader Cesar Chavez, and also worked toward improving the lives of workers, voters, immigrants, and women.
