Make a water rocket and engineer the perfect paper airplane. Play with mirror images. Use atmospheric pressure to push an egg into a bottle. Crush a mint to create a flash of light.

This engaging guide offers a series of snapshots of 25 scientists famous for their work with physics, from ancient history through today. Each lab tells the illustrated story of a scientist along with some background about the importance of their work, and a description of where it is still being used or reflected in today's world.

A step-by-step experiment paired with each story offers kids a hands-on opportunity for exploring concepts the scientists pursued, or are working on today. Experiments range from very simple projects using materials you probably already have on hand, to more complicated ones that may require a few inexpensive items you can purchase online. Just a few of the incredible people and scientific concepts you'll explore:

Galileo (b. 1564)
Play with pendulums

Sir Isaac Newton (b. 1642)
Center of gravity balancing trick

Albert Einstein (b. 1879)
Playground ball relativity

Stephen Hawking (b. 1942)
Collapsing stars and black holes

Christine Darden (b. 1942)
Engineer a perfect paper airplane

With this fascinating, hands-on exploration of the history of physics, inspire the next generation of great scientists.

Dig into even more incredible science history from The Kitchen Pantry Scientist series with: Chemistry for Kids (May 2020), Biology for Kids (May 2021), and Math for Kids (August 2022).