Explore these biographies of real people who made things connected to mathematics and patterns.
Ernő Rubik and His Magic Cube: Ernő Rubik invented the world-famous Rubik’s Cube puzzle.
Close Up and Far Out: Seeing the World Differently: Galileo Galilei made a better telescope lens to see very faraway things, like planets and stars. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek made a better microscope lens to see very tiny things, like organisms in a drop of water
Six Dots: A Story of Young Louis Braille: As a child, Louis Braille created a new tactile alphabet for people who are blind or visually impaired that doesn’t require sight to read.
Classified: The Secret Career of Mary Golda Ross, Cherokee Aerospace Engineer: Mary Golda Ross designed classified airplanes and spacecraft.
Jerry Changed the Game! How Engineer Jerry Lawson Revolutionized Video Games Forever: Engineer Jerry Lawson created a new kind of video game console that let people switch out games via cartridges instead of only playing a single game per game console.
Pass Go and Collect $200: The Real Story of How Monopoly Was Invented: Lizzie Magie invented a new board game that became the worldwide sensation Monopoly.
Gamer Girls: 25 Women Who Built the Video Game Industry: Many women made important contributions to the development of video games, including:
- Roberta Williams (one of the creators of the adventure genre)
- Mabel Addis Mergardt (the first person to write a video game)
- Muriel Tramis (the French “knight” of video games)
- Keiko Erikawa (creator of otome romance genre of games)
- Yoko Shimomura (composer for Street Fighter, Final Fantasy, and Kingdom Hearts)
- Rebecca Heineman (first national video game tournament champion)
- Danielle Bunten Berry (creator of the pioneering 1983 game M.U.L.E. and early advocate for multiplayer games)