The cover of "The Thinkers"

The Thinkers

Brad Herzog ’90

Herzog—a prolific author of travel memoirs, kids’ books, and more—teams up with artist Zachary Pullen to profile nearly 70 of the most impactful scientists and inventors in human history. They include not only the usual cadre of famous white men like da Vinci and Edison (and Cornell’s own Carl Sagan) but lesser-known names—such as Nobel Prize winner C.V. Raman of India and Chinese-American Chien-Shiung Wu, dubbed the “first lady of physics.” The hardcover volume features Pullen’s lush illustrations, as well as an introduction by Ira Flatow of NPR’s Science Friday. “You’ll discover when you read the remarkable stories of these thinkers that science and knowledge do not run in a straight line,” Flatow writes. “One success does not guarantee another. The road is filled with failure. Personal and professional. Those scientists who triumph do so, many times, after working in obscurity or battling long odds. Whether it’s racial, gender, economic, or just plain stupidity.”

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