Great Canadian Scientists

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

Virtually every Canadian can name at least a dozen famous athletes,
movie stars, or musicians from Canada, yet few could name just one of
the nine living Canadian scientists who have won a Nobel prize. If
science writer Barry Shell had his way, names like Sid Altman, Rudolph
Marcus, Michael Smith, and David Hubel would be as familiar to Canadians
as those of any reigning sports star or entertainment celebrity.

This book contains the biographies of more than 130 great Canadian
scientists. Active in fields ranging from classical geometry to primate
anthropology, all of these individuals have achieved international
recognition for their work over the past 100 years. Shell provides
in-depth profiles of 19 Canadian scientists who are prominent in science
circles today. Using diagrams and accessible language, he explains what
these scientists are working on and gives them a human face by
discussing their personal and professional challenges.

The CD-ROM accompanying the book contains video clips of some of the
scientists profiled in the book, a quiz, and video games based on the
text. The book’s Web site (www.science.ca) features excerpts from both
the book and the CD-ROM, and gives visitors an opportunity to e-mail
science problems to a Canadian scientist. All in all, this is a
first-rate production. Highly recommended.