Girls Think of Everything: Stories of Ingenious Inventions by Women

Bought this for my young (8+) niece for Christmas. Enlightening stories, inspirational people. Giving the gift of reading an actual BOOK is so important today. She loved it and wanted to tell me all about the people she read about. Interesting backstories to many people and inventions you seldom think of.

This book helps women realize how capable they are! I grew up with a pushy mean older brother and I thought I was dumb until I took a national equivalency test in high school and found out it was in the top 5%. Wake up ladies!

I read this book in combination with Rachel Ignotofsky's Women in Science, regretting that civilization has not as yet advanced a point when achievements no longer need be identified as gender-specific. Be that as it may, both books provide valuable information and insights about creative thinking. Catherine Thimmesh's coverage covers a timeframe from 3000 BC when fourteen-year-old Hsi-ling-shi develops a method of gathering and weaving silk until 1994 when eleven-year-old Alexia Arnold designs the Ooops! Proof No-Spill Feeding Bowl. In between, we learn about other women -- often teenage -- who come up with ideas that also illustrate the prescience of these comments by Francea Hodgson Burnett: "At first people refuse to believe that a strange new thing can be done, then they begin to hope it can be done, then they see it can be done -- then it is done and all the world wonders why it was not done centuries ago." I wish I had a dollar for every time I learned about the origin of a breakthrough idea and asked, "Why didn't I think of that?" Here are some other examples: o Ruth Wakefield: Toll House chocolate cookies o Mary Andersen: windshield wipers o Stephanie Kwolek: Kevlar o Bette Naismith Graham: Liquid Paper® o Patsy O. Shernan: Scotchgard™ o Margaret E. Knight: paper bags o Becky Schroeder: the Glo-sheet More often than not, someone becomes exasperated, asking "Why hasn't someone come up with a way -- or a better way -- to ...?" and then provides the answer. That's essentially what happened to several men: Spencer Silver (Post-it Notes), George de Mestral (Teflon), Wilbert and Robert Gore (Goretex) and lso what happened with many of the inventors that Catherine Thimmesh discusses in her book. She concludes, "Suppose you have an invention of your own. It's different, it's new, it's neat. Now what? Obtaining a patent may be an important first step." She then explains how to proceed, noting that obtaining a patent can be an extended and expensive process. "Not all inventions will benefit from having a patent." It makes sense to contact the U.S. Patent Office at its website and check out the resources available, then obtain legal counsel. As with Women in Science, this book challenges young women to "think of everything" that can be improved, or replaced by something else that is better. It also challenges others -- parents, other family members, friends, teachers, coaches, and clergy -- to support their efforts.

Purchased as a gift for my 5 year old daughter. GOOD: The book provides a chronological timeline of known inventions and their female inventors spanning from 3000BC to the 20th century. This timeline sandwiches the book's content. An introduction into the historical role of women in inventing is then presented as well as a history as to why women weren't credited with inventions subject to existing patent laws of the times. It also includes 3 additional female inventors within the Intro. The meat of the book presents individual female inventors and their stories through a sweet anecdote for each that describes the "necessity" and/or context that led to each individual's invention. The stories and descriptions are each generally 2-3 pages with colorful and vivid illustrations. While not extensive or exhaustive by any means it does provide insight into simple inventions like the paper grocery bag to the more complex of Kevlar. The book's intended audience are young girls. As such, not much life detail is provided about each "inventress" outside of the context of their invention. It easily serves as a jumping off pointing for exploring further and providing subject matter for potential research papers...etc..etc. Also provides a list of contact information for contests and organizations that encourage youth creativity. BAD: It's a small book that provides about 12 stories in total. Again, the personal life history of each is briefly touched on if at all. These are quick and easy stories to be read by parents without occasion.

I bought this as a birthday gift and I’m so glad I did! I did a quick read to make sure it’s appropriate and it’s fantastic!!I love the stories, the style, the timelines, it’s better than I ever could have expected! It has timelines detailing other inventors and their inventions. It has stories and quotes. It has illustrations. The inventions span from important life saving ones to simple everyday fun and I think that’s perfect! I love this book!

The 8 year old recipient LOVED this book and so did her parents! Perfect role model book.

Great read for young girls to encourage them to think “outside the box”!

A wonderful accounting over an expanse of time of ingenious inventions by women. The unwritten backstory consist of inventions when women weren't allowed to hold patents and their husbands had to apply. Hence, many inventions true inventors have been subsumed in the patriarchy. Another part of the backstory comes from reading the types of inventions and realizing that very many of them were conceived to make domestic life more efficient since women were relegated to the domestic sphere. This is a great primer for all people and especially young women to impart some of the many ways women excelled in times of oppression.

Sadly I received a bent damaged copy and a perfect copy in the same flat parcel I am sick of being sent things that were clearly damaged when packaged

Bought this as a gift to my 8 year old niece and she said she loved it. Apparently she laerned a "great deal" about the fact that women can achieve anything :)

En un mundo que ha sido "dominado" por hombres, como si fuéramos los únicos que podemos desarrollar inventos, es muy gratificante saber sobre mujeres de diferentes épocas, como inventoras, descubridoras, desarrolladoras de tantos productos que actualmente disfrutamos y no conocemos quién esta detrás de ellos. Escrito para niñas y niños, aún como adulto es muy disfrutable e invita a conocer más de estas magníficas mujeres.

Interesante y curioso, lleno de historias de mujeres que crearon grandes invenciones. Se lo regale a mi sobrina de 9 años y le encanto

I bought this for my niece last year (she was 8 years old). She is an avid reader, maybe slightly beyond her age level. I loved the idea of helping build confidence in her own abilities by educating, and showing concrete examples of women and their own unique challenges and accomplishments. We live far apart, but her mom tells me she's still engaged and continues to read it over and over. Yay!! Great outcome...I wish they had books like this when we were younger!