The spirit of adventure has long driven Americans to explore the unknown and broaden the knowledge of the world. All of the men and women in this book are American heroes from the twentieth century. Some trekked to the North or South Poles, others ventured into the sky and flight, while some even journeyed into space and to the Moon. They all succeeded in accomplishing historic feats of exploration or flight. Some died doing what they love most. They all captured the hearts and imagination of millions of others. Adventurers profiled in this volume: Orville and Wilbur Wright, Matthew Henson, Robert Peary, Richard Byrd, Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, Jacqueline Cochran, Neil Armstrong, and Sally Ride.

The spirit of adventure has long driven Americans to explore the unknown and broaden the knowledge of the world. All of the men and women in this book are American heroes from the twentieth century. Some trekked to the North or South Poles, others ventured into the sky and flight, while some even journeyed into space and to the Moon. They all succeeded in accomplishing historic feats of exploration or flight. Some died doing what they love most. They all captured the hearts and imagination of millions of others. Adventurers profiled in this volume: Orville and Wilbur Wright, Matthew Henson, Robert Peary, Richard Byrd, Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, Jacqueline Cochran, Neil Armstrong, and Sally Ride.

The ten Americans profiled in this book may not be familiar to some people, but their inventions certainly are. Today, we take for granted devises such as televisions, microchips, lasers, and even the Super Soaker® water gun. Within the last one hundred years in the United States, creative individuals such as those introduced in this book have pushed technology beyond the dreams of just a few years ago. Each of these inventors began with an idea for improving some aspect of life. Through ingenuity, hard work, and talent, they made their ideas a reality. Includes profiles of William Lear, Philo Farnsworth, Beatrice Kenner, Gertrude Belle Elion, Gordon Gould, Charles Ginsburg, Robert Shurney, Jack Kilby, Stephanie Kwolek and Lonnie Johnson.

Harlem, New York in the early 1920's and 1930's was the backdrop for an outpouring exploration of black identity through music, writing, poetry and social commentary. This period in history became known as the Harlem Renaissance. Ignited by a great migration from the rural South to the industrial North, the Harlem Renaissance celebrated unique aspects of African American culture and attracted audiences around the world. Author Wendy Hart examines the appeal of this era and the people who took part in it. James Weldon Johnson, Alain LeRoy Locke, Zora Neale Hurston, Bessie Smith, Aaron Douglas, Duke Ellington, Langston Hughes, Arna Bontemps, Countee Cullen, and Josephine Baker are profiled.

What is a popular kind of music that originated in the United States? The answer is Jazz. Mixing folk and blues influences, talented artists from Scott Joplin to Wynton Marsalis have kept jazz at the forefront of the American music scene. The musicians portrayed in this book played different instruments and had different styles, but all helped keep jazz fresh and new. Readers follow ten prominent jazz musicians (Scott Joplin, Daniel Louis Armstrong, Edward Kennedy Ellington, Mary Lou Williams, Benjamin David Goodman, John Birks Gillespie, Charles Christopher Parker, Jr., Miles Dewey Davis, III, John Coltrane, and Wynton Marsalis) through their many successes and varied hardships.

It is hard to imagine a world without computers. The people found in this book are largely responsible for creating the high-tech world in which we live today. These computer geniuses include early programmers like Grace Hopper and Herman Hollerith, computer chip inventors like Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce, and business people like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. Readers take a look at thirteen individuals whose work has helped bring modern computers to their current level. Other people profiled in this volume are John von Neumann, John W. Mauchly, J. Presper Eckert, Jr., An Wang, Stephen Wozniak, Marc Hannah and Marc Andreessen.

In 1927, Charles Lindbergh took a big risk flying from New York City to Paris nonstop. He wanted to do it in a single-engine plane alone, something that had never been attempted before. Through a detailed account of Lindbergh’s remarkable flight, readers are introduced to the history of aviation and the innovations that followed his feat. Full-color photographs allow readers to travel aboard the Spirit of St. Louis with Lindbergh and further onto the first airlines, World War II bombers, and more. Sidebars offer historical context to bring Lindbergh’s flight into focus with other events of the 20th century.